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  • Report of the official enquiry set up to investigate the causes of the explosion at Senghenydd Colliery which occurred on 14 October 1913 and claimed the lives of 439 people. The enquiry was headed by R. A. S. Redmayne, Chief Inspector of Mines, assisted by Evan Williams, Chairman of the South Wales and Monmouthshire Coalowners Association, and Robert Smillie, President of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain. The enquiry was not able to discover the cause of the explosion with certainty, but Redmayne suggested that it was caused by a spark from electrical signalling equipment igniting methane gas in the mine. Most of the deaths were caused not by the initial explosion but by the fire which followed cutting of the supply of air to the workings. Miners trapped behind the fire were suffocated by the methane gas released by the explosion. Redmayne was critical of some of the actions of the mine management, although they had made only technical and minor breaches of colliery safety legislation. Robert Smillie was broadly in agreement with Redmayne, but added a report of his own. Evan Williams also produced a separate report, disagreeing with Redmayne and stating that the mine was well-managed.
Report of the Official Enquiry into the Causes of the Senghenydd Colliery Explosion of 1913, by R.A.S. Redmayne and others [Front cover, image 1 of 66]