The lives of 26 men and boys lost in the Gwendraeth Colliery tragedy have been remembered 170 years on since the community was left heartbroken. Flooding swept through the colliery on May 10, 1852, and it took 18 months to recover the bodies.
The coal mining industry flourished during the late 19th and early 20th centuries with four principal mines in the Pontyberem area, including Pontyberem colliery, Pentremawr, Glynhebog and Gwendraeth colliery (Watney pit). Pontyberem, which is based in the Gwendraeth Valley halfway between Carmarthen and Llanelli, grew as the coal mining industry in the area developed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The origin of the catastrophe was unknown but reports that the water came in from the canal are said to be untrue.
According to the London Times, among those who lost their lives, William Hughes left a wife and four children; John Hughes, 22, also died and David Jones left six children without a mother, along with Griffith Lewis, 18; Morgan Griffiths, 18; William Davies, 12 and Thomas Morris, 18. Stephen Phillips left a wife and three children, Thomas Richards left a wife and a child, while David Rees left a wife and two children.
Rhys Davies left a wife and mother while John Evans left a wife and six children. Brothers David and John Williams lost their lives alongside brothers John, 15, and David Harris, 10; George and David Evans, the former of whom left a wife and three children; William, 15, and Daniel Wilkins, 17 and brothers Edward and Evan Thomas, the former of whom left a wife and four children. Brothers David and Daniel Aubrey are also among the tragedy victims, the former of whom left a wife and four children, and the latter a wife and two children.
Brothers Daniel and David Thomas, aged around 11 and 12 years, also died. In the report at the time, it said: “It was a most fortunate occurrence that the accident happened at night instead of by day, or the loss of life would have been nearly four times greater, the number of men working in the pit by day being 100, and by night 27.
“Of the latter all were drowned but one, namely, David Evans, who gives a graphic narrative of his escape. He states that at 10 o’clock at night, when all 27 men were at work in the pit, himself, with two other men and two boys, were at the bottom of the shaft engaged near an empty ‘cage,’ which is used to wind the men up and down the shaft, and gave the usual signal for the engineer at the top to wind them up.
“The signal had hardly been given, however, when a vast body of water, rushing with tremendous speed from the extreme end of the pit, dashed the cage from its position and rendered it impossible for the engine to remove it. Each man struggled for himself, and Evans had a very indistinct recollection of the manner of his escape.
“He says he caught hold of the wooden guider by the side of the pit and commenced the ascent. He saw another attempt to get up by means of the rope, but he was washed away by the water. A boy named David Harris grasped Evans by the coal tails, and they ascended a few foot in this manner, when the water, which was shooting up in the centre, forced the boy from his hold and was drowned with his companions.
"The water is so muddy and thick and the pumps can only partially be brought into action, and it is a matter of doubt whether the bodies will ever be recovered."
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