Story
Albert Steel was born in 1870, and was the son of John Steel (1835-1897) and Hannah Whitaker (1836-1894) who married in Sherburn on 21st June 1856. Hannah’s brother was Joseph Whitaker, who was killed in the Pit Disaster.
Albert had a brother, Absolam, who was two years older than him, and they both worked at Peckfield Colliery, until Absolam married Jane Ann Rafton in 1882, and they left Micklefield (see article below from 1932). Albert married Alice Mollitt (1870-1959) in Sherburn on 29th December 1888, and they lived at 10 Crescent, Micklefield.
Albert had an incredibly fortunate escape. He was the engineman, and was working at the bottom of the shaft where the explosion was at its strongest. However, he left the pit around 7:05am, along with Joseph Lillyman and William Flowers, after realising he needed a pulley to do his work, so he headed into the joiner’s shop, which was later used as the morgue for the dead bodies. Albert had just returned to the pit head and was waiting for the lift to go back down, when the explosion came up the shaft and blew him backwards. He escaped with severe cuts to the head, but was back with a bandaged head the following day to join the rescue parties. His uncle Joseph Whitaker wasn’t so fortunate.
Albert named one of his 5 children Absolam after his brother, who also named one of his sons Albert. Albert and Alice moved to 7 Crescent, then 9 Prospect Terrace, before they moved to Kippax. Albert was living at 48 New Street, when he passed away aged 60. Alice subsequently moved to 28 New Street, Kippax, and was 88 years-old when she died.
30th April 1896. The Peckfield Colliery Disaster at Micklefield 