Story
William’s parents lived down in Bilston, Staffordshire, and were William Wilks and Eliza Mills. Their son William was born in 1848 in Bilston. William married a widow who was 8 years his senior, Mary Jepson (née Williamson) on 19th February 1872. Mary passed away in 1884, and by this time, William was living in Micklefield. In 1885, William re-married another widow, Jane Ball (née Shooter). Jane was born in 1855 in Kirkby Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire, so was 15 years younger than William’s first wife. She had married Samuel Ball (1853-1885) in Basford, Nottinghamshire in 1874, and is pictured below around 1910 outside 2 Crescent, Micklefield.
On Thursday 30th April 1896, William left home at 6:15am, and headed along the West Level, and down No.5 Dip. He was about to start work with Thomas Oakley, Elias Clark, Amos Whitaker, and two brothers: Joseph and Walter Jackson when the explosion occurred to their immediate North, about 570 metres from their location. They moved into a path which connected the No.4 dip with the No.5 dip, which had 4 sheets erected. The explosion carried down the No.5 dip, which was an intake. The six men in their path would have heard the explosion pass them on their left. It carried on round the back and then passed them again on their right, as it made its way back up the No.4 dip towards the West Level.
William and his five companions were unhurt by the explosion, but the No.4 and No.5 dips had sustained heavy damage in the blast, and they were the only two routes by which they could escape. The men did everything they could to survive. They rigged up a piece of brattice cloth at one end of the roadway to reduce the afterdamp they knew would follow the explosion. Their path had three South facing paths which they explored to no avail. Rescuers reported seeing the footprints of the six men in the dust as they tried to find a way out. Finding that all the gates were blocked, the six men sat down and covered their heads with cloth as afterdamp overwhelmed them.
William’s body was found by Arthur Cawood of 6 East View. His brother George Carter Cawood was one of the men rescued. Arthur reported that William was either face down, or resting his head sideways on his hands, with elbows on the floor. His widow Jane identified his body at the inquest, and said she had seen his dead body in the shed during the afternoon, and there was no sign of violence about him.
William was 57 years-old, and did not have any children. His widow Jane was one of three remaining widows from the disaster when she passed away in 1941 aged 86.
30th April 1896. The Peckfield Colliery Disaster at Micklefield 