George Whitehead was born in Micklefield on 19th May 1872. He was the youngest son of Benjamin Whitehead (1828-1891) and Emma Marshall (1832-1909, pictured below) who married in Leeds on 12th December 1852.
George started work at Peckfield Colliery at the age of 13. He was identified as a rescuer at the Peckfield Colliery Disaster by Samuel Cheesbrough, who interviewed him. George stated the colliery disaster was his most vivid and sad memory. He said that the miners were not working full-time, so he was ‘playing’. After hearing the explosion, he hurried to the colliery and helped with the rescue work. He said it was a harrowing task piling the dead bodies together, particularly as almost all 63 were personally known to George.
The colliery disaster had a huge impact upon George’s family. His brother James (1865-1940) had married Ruth Wallis in 1893, who was the daughter of John Thomas Wallis, who was killed. His sister, Mary (1869-1943) had married survivor and rescuer George Carter Cawood in 1889. Shortly after the disaster, George married Annie Martha Simpson (1872-1962) in Micklefield on 16th June 1896. Annie was the daughter of Edward Simpson who survived the disaster. On their diamond wedding anniversary, Annie recalled that their wedding day was so warm that the train taking them to their honeymoon in Teasdale was so warm, it had to be delayed to cool down.
George found that music was a particular delight to him. As a boy and adult, he sang for many years in the Micklefield Church choir, saying with a smile: “We could make some noise”, and added he was proud of the choir’s achievements. He was also a fast bowler for Micklefield during their successful period in the Barkston Ash League, known as “Hellfire Jack”. His best performance was taking 7 wickets conceding 3 runs playing against Kirkstall Education. George and Annie had two daughters who died in infancy. Their eldest son, Benjamin served in the First World War, and survived, but was died on 7th October 1919, shortly after demobilisation when he was killed in a motorbike accident (below):
George went on to become an underground Colliery Deputy at Garforth Colliery, and then an overman. Garforth Colliery closed in April 1925, which was followed by the Great Depression. For ten years, George was unable to find regular employment, as he explained “you were too old at 45 for mining then.” He posed the question: “What would miners think today if they were asked to work for £2 a week”, as this was his average wage for many years. George had to take up various other jobs to provide for his family until he retired.
George and Annie lived on Oak Road Garforth, and George passed away on 2nd December 1960, at the age of 88. Two of his sons are pictured below: Denis Whitehead (1903-1976, left) and Harry Whitehead (1909-1998, right):
30th April 1896. The Peckfield Colliery Disaster at Micklefield 