Story
George, John, Fred and Thomas Moakes were sons of Thomas Moakes (1835-1910) and Ann Marriott (1840-1907) who married in Tibshelf, Derbyshire on 26th December 1859. The couple had other children, the eldest Sarah Ann Moakes (1860-1894) married William Meakin, the older brother of John Meakin who was killed in the Peckfield Colliery Disaster. The second child, William Moakes (1861-1886) also passed away at a young age, after the family moved to Micklefield in 1881. George was their next son, born in Blackwell, Derbyshire on 8th April 1862. After moving to Micklefield in 1881, he married Sarah Addy (1862-1911) in 1883. They lived at 23 East View. After hearing the explosion, George quickly left home, and made the short distance to the Colliery. He formed an early rescue party with the night deputy Joseph Backhouse and William Honniball. They descended the upcast shaft, and made their way down No.1 dip, where they helped Thomas Crosthwaite and William Dobson’s group of 15 miners, and passed them on to Colliery Manager Charles Houfton and George Robertshaw. George Moakes was interviewed by a member of the press, who reported his conversation with George:
“I live in Micklefield, and work in the Peckfield pit. When I heard the noise of the explosion, being then at home, I at once set off for the pit, and took my place in the cage, and descended the upcast shaft along with Backhouse and [Honni]Ball. On reaching the bottom, we went down No.1 Dip, passing about 15 men making their way to the bottom of the shaft. They were not injured, but apparently a bit dazed. We afterwards went into the new drift, and found a lad and pony lying dead. Having examined the “places” there, and found no one else, we went into the old drift, and came to three lads lying dead. We next visited No.2 air way and No.3 air way. There Backhouse was overcome by the foul air, and Ball and I had to do our best to get him back to the pit bottom. We dragged him two or three hundred yards; then I left Ball and him, and went in advance to get assistance, and we afterwards managed to get him out.
What was the state of the roads, so far as you traversed them?
They looked wrecked.
Are the falls of roof serious?
They can’t be called big ones, and there are not many of them.
How far did you get in?
Perhaps about half a mile from the bottom of the shaft.
I suppose the most serious damage you saw was at the bottom of the shaft?
Yes. Of course, I cannot say anything about the roads we did not go into. We went into No.2 main air way.
Were you at all overcome by the foul air?
I had as much as I could travel with.
Were the boys you saw burnt?
No; they had been overcome by the afterdamp.
Can you account for the explosion?
Nay, I can’t. It was one of the safest pits in the world. I’ve worked here for fifteen years, and I durst have dared my life that there would be nothing of this kind.
The ventilation was good?
There was always plenty of air; often too much. Many a time we have asked them to send less.”
Joseph Backhouse was sent home to recover, after being saved by George and William Honniball. After the disaster, George married Ann Whitaker on 8th November 1911 in Castleford, and he passed away on 19th December 1941, aged 79.
John Moakes was born 1865 in Newton Grange Derbyshire, and married Annie Luford (1869-1937) in 1894. They lived at 10 Station Row, Micklefield. John (pictured below) played for Micklefield Cricket team. He was working at Peckfield Colliery at the time of the explosion, but fortunately he was on surface duties, so like his older brother George, he was on hand to help the first rescue party. He passed away in 1912, aged 47, at 10 Cliff Terrace, by which time he had risen to Colliery Check Weighman.
Fred Moakes was also born in Newton Grange, in 1868, and was 28 years-old at the time of the disaster. He lived at 26 Crescent, so was soon on hand to help the rescue efforts. He married Bertha Mary Winfield on 13th September 1902, who had lost 3 brothers in the pit disaster. Fred passed away on 23rd September 1929.
The last brother involved in the rescue efforts was Thomas Moakes who was born in 1876. He later married Clara Westerman (1875-1954) in 1900, and became Colliery Check Weighman, like his brother John. Thomas passed away on 4th April 1941. Another sister Eliza Moakes (1870-1955) married Nathaniel Rawnsley (1864-1938), the brother of Henry Firth Rawnsley who survived the pit disaster, only to die at the colliery on 11th May 1910.
30th April 1896. The Peckfield Colliery Disaster at Micklefield 