Story
John Hardwick was born in Leabrooks, Derbyshire in 1857, and his younger brother Henry William Hardwick was born in 1860. Their parents were William Hardwick (1828-1901) and Mary Wright (1825-1889) who married in 1846.
John left Derbyshire and moved to Morley where he worked as a coal miner, and married Emma Jackson (née Heath) a widower on 8th June 1878 in Morley. They continued living in Morley after they married, but had moved to Newthorpe by 1891, and John was working at Peckfield Colliery. His brother Henry left his parents’ home when he married Mary Wright (1857-1953) in 1884. They had their third child Annie in Leabrooks, Derbyshire in 1889, and then moved to South Milford, working at Peckfield Colliery.
On the morning of the disaster, John was 39 years-old, and Henry William was 35. Both brothers look to have been working close to the No. 1 Dip, and after surviving the initial explosion, they joined a group of around 15 miners, who debated their next steps for 15 minutes before the after-damp gas grew too strong, and two miners (Thomas Crosthwaite and William Dobson) volunteered to clear a path up the No.1 Dip. John was amongst the last group of miners to leave the mine, and was brought out with Lot Mosby, Dan Warwick, Fielding Pickard, William Atack, Reuben Winfield and Joseph Day. John was reported deceased on 2nd May, but this was a result of him joining the rescue parties, and not being present on the surface. After the disaster, John moved away to Leeds, but continued working as a coal miner. John and Emma had no children, and John passed away in 1919.
Henry William Hardwick had moved to 16 Station Row, before the disaster, and managed to escape the pit by noon. After the disaster, he was promoted to Deputy and moved to 17 Prospect Terrace. His daughter Annie (1890-1967) later married the son of John Wallis who was killed in the disaster: William Wright Wallis (1886-1962). Their daughter, Winifred Wallis (1908-1984) married Thomas Henry Hind (1903-1963), who was the son of Pharoah Hind (1865-1932) who was a rescuer at the Peckfield Colliery Disaster. Henry Hardwick passed away in 1949, at the age of 89.
30th April 1896. The Peckfield Colliery Disaster at Micklefield 