Story
Henry and Herbert Martin were father and son. Henry was born in Bulwell, Nottingham in 1837, and was the son of James Martin (1811-1889) and Hannah Harmon (1814-1877). Henry married Eliza Cooper (1842-1881) in Basford, Nottingham in 1861, but after the early death of his wife, he got into trouble when he was caught stealing boots and sent to jail in Wakefield. This occurred on 22nd September 1882, and he had already been sent to prison in Nottingham for neglect of his family. Henry had ten children, including Herbert, who was born in Whitemoor, Nottinghamshire in 1867. Henry was 5 ft 6½ inches tall, and had a tattoo on his right forearm which said “Mary and Sarah”, and had a tattoo of “T.M.” on his left forearm. In 1887, Henry re-married widow Mary Ann Sidebottom (née Franks), who lived in Micklefield, and had married Isaac Sidebottom (1835-1885) in Sherburn on 5th December 1864. Before his death, Isaac had been a witness in 1887 after William Martin (not a relative of Henry and Herbert) plunged to his death down the Main shaft. He had been lowering the boiler when the fence he was standing on gave way. Isaac saw him hang on the rope over the shaft for a second, before falling 180 yards to his death. Mary Ann had children of her own from her marriage to Isaac, but both families managed to live at 8 Bland’s Cottages, Micklefield.
On 30th April 1896, Henry was 59 year’s old, and his son Herbert was 29. Herbert was still single, and lived with his father at 8 Bland’s Cottages. They were working in the North West section of the mine, at the far end of the Old North Road, beyond Capell’s Bord, and they were about 500 metres from the site of the explosion. Close by them were Thomas Everett, Samuel Goodall, and George Moakes. Although the explosion travelled up the Old North Road, killing Alfred Norton, only Samuel Goodall looked to have been injured, and he was close to the top of the Old North Road. Thomas Everett, George Moakes, and Henry and Herbert Martin were in a side path, behind doors. However, they could not escape down the Old North Road, as the explosion has caused substantial roof-falls, and the four survivors died when the afterdamp gas overwhelmed them. Henry and Herbert died next to each other.
Both men were recovered from the mine on 3rd May, and were identified at the Inquest at 5pm by another of Henry’s sons, Alfred Martin, who was living at Lock Lane, Castleford. He reported that both their heads seemed swollen, but otherwise they looked uninjured. Relatives from Nottingham attended their funerals. Mary Martin, Henry’s youngest daughter, was given permission to leave school, and she returned to Nottingham in July 1896.
Henry’s second wife, Mary Ann did not remarry, and continued to live at 8 Bland’s Cottages until her death in 1909, aged 63.
30th April 1896. The Peckfield Colliery Disaster at Micklefield 