Story
George was born in Newthorpe in 1875, and was the first child of James Dunnington (1846-1916) and Edith Tennant (1853-1920) who married in Wetherby in 1873. Edith was from Tockwith, and James was a farmer from Askham Bryan. After their marriage, the couple moved to South Milford, then Newthorpe, as James started work as a Lime Burner in the Lime Quarry, whilst his son George worked as a pony driver at Peckfield Colliery.
George was 20 years-old and still unmarried when left home at 6:20am and walked to work. On arrival at the Colliery, he descended in the lift, picked up his pony from the stable, and was walking down the No.1 Dip when the explosion happened. George was just over 400 metres away from the main shaft as the explosion tore through the stable and the office. Unfortunately, one of the secondary explosions travelled down the No.1 Dip. It killed Richard Shepherd, and then caught up to George, killing both him and his pony.
George’s body was found by William Mills, who described him as sitting with his feet against the neck of his scorched pony. His skin had been ripped from both hands. His body was brought out at 12:30 in the afternoon on 1st May, and was identified by his father James, who stated that his son’s face and arms were burnt. The Dunnington family continued to live in Newthorpe. George’s nephew Jack Dunnington, born in 1914 served in Burma during the Second World War, and had a lucky escape which was covered in the press on 26th February 1943:
30th April 1896. The Peckfield Colliery Disaster at Micklefield 