New Hartley, Northumberland England Mining Disaster 1862

On January 16, 1862 one of the worst mining disasters in history up to that time happened in the little community of New Hartley, Northumberland at the Hester Pitt near Newcastle-on-tyne. 204 workers, men and boys, lost their lives. Most of those who died were buried in the Earsdon Parish churchyard. A few were buried at Cramlington, Cowpen, and Seghill. The first body to be extracted from the mine was recovered on January 25th. The funeral was held on the 26th. A monument was erected in the Earsdon Parish churchyard. All those who lost their lives are listed on the monument. The mining disaster is discussed in detail on a few web sites on the Internet. Some sites even give the names of those who lost their lives and their families. The following are links to three of those web sites:

www.dmm-pitwork.org.uk/html/hartley.htm