Story
Elias was born in 1877, and was the fourth child born to Royal Clark (1844-1921) and Elizabeth Woolder who married in Nottinghamshire in 1865. His parents separated shortly after Elias was born. His eldest sibling, John Royal Clark, apprenticed as a 14 years-old Blacksmith, whilst the second eldest, Sarah Jane Clark was able to work as a 12 years-old domestic servant. However at the age of 4 years, Elias was placed in Basford Union Workhouse, along with his older sister, 6 years-old Adeline Clark. Elias’s father Royal, who was originally from Codnor, Derbyshire, was a coal miner, who took work wherever he could find it, and briefly moved to Micklefield to work at Peckfield Colliery, and brought Elias with him. When Royal moved on to the Prince of Wales Colliery in Pontefract, he moved to Glasshoughton, and Elias was entrusted to the care of Noah and Jane Ball at 7 East View.
Elias was a Rope Rider on an Incline, which meant he had to balance precariously on the hitches between coal tubs as they wound through darkened tunnels. When the tubs were full, Rope Riders had to signal that it was time to return to the surface, all the while balancing between the two tubs Elias was working in the no. 4 Dip on the day of the explosion, and was about to start work with Thomas Oakley, Amos Whitaker, William David Wilks, and two brothers: Joseph and Walter Jackson when the explosion occurred to their immediate North, about 570 metres from their location. They moved into a path that connected the No.4 dip with the No.5 dip, which had 4 sheets erected, so the six men were shielded from the explosion, but the No.4 and No.5 dips had sustained heavy damage in the blast, and they were the only two routes by which they could escape. They rigged up a piece of brattice cloth at one end of the roadway to reduce the afterdamp they knew would follow the explosion. Rescuers reported seeing the footprints of the six men in the dust as they tried to find a way out. Finding that all the gates were blocked, the six men sat down and covered their heads with cloth as afterdamp overwhelmed them. The cause of death on Elias’s death certificate was: “Accidentally suffocated by afterdamp caused by explosion of Firedamp and coal dust.” Royal Clark had been laid up at home with a sprained ankle, and heard news of the explosion on Thursday night. He managed to reach Castleford the following day, where he was told his son and Noah were not involved in the disaster, so went back home. He saw in the newspaper the following morning that both had been killed, and made his way to Micklefield again.
Elias was identified at his Inquest by the eldest child of Noah Ball, Ann Maria Ball, who was only 15 years-old. Ann Maria reported that the last time she saw Elias and her father Noah was Wednesday night, and Elias’s lips were swollen when she saw his body in the Joiner’s Shed. She thought Elias was 17 years of age (he would have been 19 years-old), and said he had been lodging with them since 1899, however she was not sure what relation Elias was to her father, if any.
30th April 1896. The Peckfield Colliery Disaster at Micklefield 