Story
William Mills was born on 18th June 1853 in Black Bank, Warwickshire. He was the son of William Mills and his second wife Ann Jones, who married 16th July 1848. William Mills jnr. married Pamela Gregory (1860-1942) in Basford, Nottinghamshire in 1877, and they moved to Micklefield around 1884. William was living at 12 East View at the time of the disaster. He was off work that morning, but made the short distance to the pit-top and was part of the early rescue parties. Two of William’s brothers-in-law (John Wallis and George Moakes) were killed in the disaster, and a third (William Clarke Gregory) joined him in the rescue efforts. William was interviewed by a reporter from the Leeds Mercury, who wrote:
‘William Mills, who also joined one of the early morning exploring parties, is a heavy sufferer by the calamity, two of his relatives being among the victims. John Wallis, the deputy, whose body was found in the office, was his brother-in-law, and while Mills was at work at one part of the pit, the remains of another brother-in-law – George Moakes – were recovered from one of the drifts of the West Level. It is only one of the many pathetic incidents of the catastrophe that these two deaths alone have left seventeen children fatherless. It must have been with a heavy heart that he pursued his labours, but he was in the mine from half-past five till after one o’clock. “We got,” he said, “to the far end of the No.1 Dip, running North from the West Level, and we found seven bodies. First we discovered that of a lad from Kippax lying in the middle of the way. He was not burnt at all. About 500 yards on we came upon the body of another little lad. He was sitting with his feet against the neck of a dead pony, and both were badly scorched. Then 150 yards farther on we came upon George Hayes, Alf Wilson, and Arthur Howson. They had not been touched by the fire; the after-damp had caught them, and they had just fallen all in a heap. The last two we found were three-quarters of a mile from the shaft, and just against the workings. These were William Barker and William Stead. Barker was on his hands and knees, and Stead was lying full length face downwards. They had both got their shirts on.”
“It seems very strange, does it not, that the lad and pony should be burned and the bodies found in front and behind them remained untouched by the flame?”
“Yes. I cannot account for it at all.” “Did you find the work fatiguing?”
“Yes. I was thoroughly exhausted when I came out, and I feel queer yet. We found the air much better than we expected at first. Right up to the workings it was all right; but we went a few yards beyond, and it got very bad then, so we returned. There is one body, that of the deputy, George Shillito, still left in ‘Number one’. At least we think he is there, and if so, he must be buried under a fall.”
“Oh! Then you encountered some falls in the drift?”
“Yes. Two large ones and another of a small size.”’
In 1911, William and Pamela were living at 16 Sunnybank, with William still working as a coal miner at Peckfield. He passed away on 6th May 1935, and is buried in Micklefield.
John, George, Fred & Thomas Moakes >>
30th April 1896. The Peckfield Colliery Disaster at Micklefield 