Story
William Herring was born in 1865, and was the son of George Herring (1838-1921) and Mary Thompson (1840-1918) who were from Belper, Derbyshire, and married on 27th September 1858 in Alfreton, Derbyshire. George had started Colliery work from the age of 12, as a furnace boy, then worked as a colliery engineman. George and Mary’s first child was Hephzibah Elizabeth Herring (1859-1937) who married William Francis Dean in 1879, and then moved to Micklefield. Her younger brother, William Herring, remained in Belper until he married Hannah Gaunt in Ripley, Derbyshire on 18th January 1891. William was a colliery labourer at the time, and his wife Hannah was a school teacher. They began their married life lodging with Hannah’s parents, before moving to 10 New Row, Micklefield. And William joined his brother-in-law William Francis Dean working at Peckfield Colliery. William and Hannah had their first child, a daughter, Doris Edna Herring on 16th July 1895, and Hannah was about 6 weeks pregnant on the day of the disaster.
On 30th April 1896, William descended in the lift together with his brother-in-law, William Francis Dean, and made their way to the No.1 South Bord, and then to No.2 South Bord, and would have been approaching the No.3 South Bord when the explosion occurred. There were several other miners nearby. William Naylor Whitaker and George Benson remained in a well-ventilated area at the No.3 South Bord, whilst William Varey, Charles Noble, John Meakin, and both William Herring and William Francis Dean all tried to retrace their steps to escape the mine which was filling with afterdamp gas. Both Williams fell together at the bottom of the No.2 return airway, whilst making their way towards No.1 South Bord. William Francis Dean was a few yards ahead of William Herring. Their bodies were found by William Francis Dean’s older brother, George Dean, who had lived in Micklefield, worked at Peckfield, but had recently moved to Hemsworth. When he heard his brother was in the mine, he arrived at Micklefield on Thursday night, and joined the rescue teams, going down at 3am on Friday morning. He was with John Plowright Houfton’s party when he discovered his brother, and William Herring. Due to afterdamp, they were forced to leave the bodies until 11am the following day, when George returned with additional support. He stated at the Inquest that he had been well acquainted with William Herring for some years, and said his body was apparently uninjured.
After the disaster, William Herring’s widow Hannah left Micklefield and moved back to her parents’ house in Ripley, Derbyshire, and gave birth to her second daughter on 12th December 1896. She resumed working as an assistant school teacher, and re-married a coal miner, Arthur Pack in 1910. She passed away in 1920. Her first daughter died in 1924 aged 28 without marrying, and her youngest daughter Gladys Irene Herring, who was born after her father died, married George Shepherd in 1934 and reached the aged of 83, before she passed away in Belper.
30th April 1896. The Peckfield Colliery Disaster at Micklefield 