Story
William Sheldon was the son of William Sheldon (1829-1891) and Rosanna Davis (1827-1871), who married on 5th December 1857 in Cotmanhay, Derbyshire. William was their first child, and was born 25th January 1860. His father was a Banksman at Cotmanhay Colliery, and William joined his father down the pit, before the Colliery closed in 1880. As a consequence, the Sheldons moved further North to Monk Bretton, Barnsley, where they started work at Denaby Main Colliery (pictured below). This was not a pleasant colliery, as the owners refused to invest in technology, and insisted the coal should be ‘hand-got’ without spending money on coal-cutting machinery or conveyor belts, so the coal was shovelled into corves for removal along a track using pit ponies. At the end of the 19th Century, Denaby was named as the worst village in England. There were disputes in 1877 and 1885, and the owners were known to evict trouble-makers. Miners were unhappy that as soon as they received their wages, they paid much of it back to the Owners for their rent, and the pit management also owned the local pub, so much of what they paid out, the colliery owners quickly got back.
Despite this, William became good friends with the Evans family, who had moved to Monk Bretton from Telford. The father was William Evans (1829-1914) and his wife Abigail Steadman (1830-1898), and the couple had several children including Isaiah Evans (1860-1920) and Abigail Evans (1869-1938). William Sheldon and Abigail Evans married in Monk Bretton on 5th December 1886, and as can be seen from their marriage certificate below, William’s brother-in-law Isaiah was a witness.
William and Abigail had a daughter Rose Anna (1888-1960) and a son Samuel (1890-1947), before they moved to Micklefield in 1891. They lodged with the Evans family, who had moved to Micklefield before them, and were living at 31 East View. Whilst in Micklefield they had a son William (1893-1936) and their last child was a daughter Mary (1896-1974) who was born on 18th March 1896.
On Wednesday 29th April 1896, William spent the night with Abigail and Isaiah, before both men went to work the following morning. Isaiah was working with Caleb Atack, and William made his way along the West Level, and turned North up New North Road. He walked passed John Goodall Gate just moments before the explosion, and was the third closest miner to George Henry Whitaker, who inadvertently triggered the explosion. Whitaker and John Simpson were killed immediately by the blast, but William, Edward Goodall, Herbert Winfield and Job Millership had just turned off the New North Road. The explosion carried on up the path, and the force of it killed Thomas Longdon and burnt Henry Edward Tallett. Despite being close to the explosion, the fire was not extensive here: the majority of the flame moved back down New North Road, and reacted with the increased flow of oxygen in the West Level, before making its way to the surface. Job Millership was the furthest of the four men from the site of the explosion, and suffered injuries in the blast, but died from after damp poisoning. Herbert Winfield was next to him, and was crushed by a roof fall, Edward Goodall was next to Herbert, and was also injured by the roof fall, or by the force of the blast. William Sheldon was next to Edward Goodall, however his body was later identified by his brother-in-law Isaiah Evans, who had escaped the disaster with Caleb Atack. He stated that William’s head seemed swollen, which was a common symptom of men killed by afterdamp poisoning. William was buried in Micklefield on the 4th May at 4pm.
William’s widow Abigail re-married David Hollingworth (1855-1905) in 1898, and moved back to Monk Bretton, where she passed away in 1938. Her son William Sheldon (1893-1936) went on to marry Edith Edginton (1896-1957) who lived nearby at 26 East View. Her father James Edginton was one of the survivors of the disaster. Another of James’ daughters, Nora Bella, married Oscar Atack, whose father William Atack was another survivor of the disaster, as was William’s brother Caleb, who had been working with Isaiah Evans.
30th April 1896. The Peckfield Colliery Disaster at Micklefield 