Story
Joseph was born in 1839. His parents were Joseph Whitaker (1797-1858) and Jane Crosthwaite (1808-1880) who married in Whitkirk on 21st July 1828. It was his father’s second marriage after his first wife Hannah Stainburn passed away in 1827, aged 25. Joseph never married and lived in his parents’ house until they passed away, and then carried on living at the house, which was 20 Bland’s Row. His parents also had a daughter Mary, who married John Naylor, and Joseph lived with his nephew: Mary and John Naylor’s son, William Naylor Whitaker, who was born out of wedlock.
Joseph was no stranger to the dangers of colliery life. On 26th April 1884, it was reported that Joseph had been taken to Leeds General Infirmary on the previous Tuesday with a severely crushed hand after it was caught in a cog wheel of a mortar mill belonging to the Peckfield Colliery.
By the time of the Colliery Disaster, Joseph was 56 years-old and worked as a Hanger-on. His responsibilities included pushing full coal waggons on to the cage at the shaft bottom and taking out the empty waggons. He also worked as the brakesman. On Thursday 30th April 1896, Joseph was working as the brakesman when the explosion occurred. The blast gathered momentum as it expanded along the West Level, through the stables and the offices, and carried up the main shaft. Joseph was working at the bottom of the shaft, so received the full force of the explosion, along with George Shillito. They were both blown into the Sump, which was essentially a hole made in the floor of the level for the purpose of ventilation, and then both men were buried under tonnes of debris from the damaged shaft. On Friday 8th May at 1am, his body was found at bottom of the sump by a party of Garforth miners who were clearing the debris. They were anticipating the discovery, and Joseph was the fourth-last body to be recovered. He was identified at 2am by his brother Charles Whitaker who lived in Fairburn. There were no cuts to Joseph’s face, but his hair had been burnt off, and he was so scorched as to make him unrecognisable. His watch had stopped at 4:55. Charles only survived his brother by a few months, as he died later in 1896, at the age of 59.
Joseph’s nephew William Naylor Whitaker survived 3 days in the mine before being rescued alive, but he died later in Leeds General Infirmary.
30th April 1896. The Peckfield Colliery Disaster at Micklefield 