Story
Mark Morritt was born on 22nd September 1866 in Temple Hirst, Selby. He was the son of a Platelayer, George Morritt (1842-1905) and Eliza Arneal (1843-1915) who married in Birkin on 8th December 1861. The family lived in Brayton, Selby in 1871, but by 1881 Mark was already earning money as an agricultural labourer, working and lodging on a farm in Chapel Haddlesey. He was a Carter by 10th March 1888 when he married Emily Jackson (1862-1906) in Garforth. The Morritts and Jacksons lived next door to each other, and Emily’s younger brothers Joseph and Walter Jackson were both killed in the Peckfield Colliery Disaster. Mark and Emily continued to live in Garforth, but Mark worked at Peckfield Colliery as a coal miner. He was not at work on the day of the disaster, but volunteered to join the rescue parties. After Emily passed away, Mark re-married Elizabeth Render (1886-1969). His new father in-law was John Render (1860-1932), who survived the explosion, his new brother-in-law, Lewis Render was later killed at Peckfield Colliery on 24th June 1964, and his new mother-in-law, Lavinia Holden (1863-1939) had her own family ties to the Peckfield explosion. Her brother William was severely injured in the blast, and was the only survivor in the West Level, and her father Henry Holden was the engineman on the surface, who took the miners down in the lift. He had to secure the brakes before fleeing his cabin as the explosion from the pit shaft rain debris down around him. Lavinia’s sister Emma Holden (1875-1922) even married Fred Jackson after the disaster on 5th December 1896, and he was the brother of Joseph and Walter who were killed.
Mark continued to live at Strawberry Avenue, Garforth, and remained a coal miner. By 1939, he was living at 4 Oak Drive, Garforth, and passed away in 1948, aged 81.
<< George, John, Fred & Thomas Moakes
30th April 1896. The Peckfield Colliery Disaster at Micklefield 