Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    One Year Of Hell: The Heart-Breaking True Story Of The 1880 Seaham Colliery Disaster
    Unavailable
    One Year Of Hell: The Heart-Breaking True Story Of The 1880 Seaham Colliery Disaster
    Unavailable
    One Year Of Hell: The Heart-Breaking True Story Of The 1880 Seaham Colliery Disaster
    Ebook286 pages2 hours

    One Year Of Hell: The Heart-Breaking True Story Of The 1880 Seaham Colliery Disaster

    By Fred Cooper

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    The author spent much of his childhood living in the pit village and community of Seaham Colliery. The pit yard at the bottom of the street was his playground during the day and at night he fell asleep with the sounds of the busy colliery ringing in his ears. He knew about the tragic 1880 Seaham Colliery Disaster that killed 164 men and boys – everyone did – but during the research for this book he was totally unprepared to learn about the unbearable pain and heartache suffered by the pit community.
    This book chronicles the grief and hardship of the widows and children of the victims that perished in the horrific explosion. It tells of the miners who refused to work whilst the bodies of their comrades were entombed in the Maudlin seam and who went on strike to uphold that long established principle followed by Durham coalminers. Some miners were sent to Durham jail for intimidation of strike-breakers in the colliery village and some, the “sacrificed men,” were denied re-employment by the coal owner and had no option but to emigrate and make a new life in America. It was exactly one year to the day after the explosion that the last body was recovered from the mine. Descendants of the miners killed in the explosion will learn for the first time of the terror and horrific injuries caused by the fiery blast that ripped through the Hutton and Maudlin seams. This is the story of “One Year of Hell” in the history of Seaham.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherFred Cooper
    Release dateJan 4, 2019
    ISBN9780463916308
    Unavailable
    One Year Of Hell: The Heart-Breaking True Story Of The 1880 Seaham Colliery Disaster
    Author

    Fred Cooper

    Fred Cooper BSc ACMA CGMA was born in 1950 in Seaham, a small town in County Durham on the North East coast of England. He spent much of his teenage years sitting around coffee bars with his school friends, walking around the harbour and watching the pilot cutter bringing in cargo boats laden with timber and building materials and re-loading with coal bound for counties on the East coast of England. He agrees that anyone born in Seaham has a natural affinity with the sea, the harbour and the harbour area - in fact - the majority of Seaham born folk have ancestors who worked on the numerous sailing ships visiting the port in the Victorian era. In his first published book, "The Hole-In-The-Wall" - a social history study - he explores the lives of mariners transporting coals from the coastal ports of County Durham to coal hungry counties on the east coast of England. If the reader has ancestors who worked on collier sailing ships visiting County Durham in the 19th century they may find them listed here. Each chapter takes the reader on a different journey building their knowledge of the coast; the sea; the sailing ships and the town of Seaham Harbour. His second book is a spy thriller novel full of espionage, action and adventure. "A Master Mariners Tale" brings to the reader an all-round experience of the thrills and perils of sailing a brigantine in Victorian England and was inspired by real events and characters uncovered in the research for his first book. The town of Seaham Harbour provides the stage for this story. It was here that the aristocrat, the Marquess of Londonderry invested £165,000, a small fortune in 1828, to develop a new harbour that was to be the stimulus for the building of a new town. His grandson the 6th Marquess portrayed the typically flamboyant, fantastically wealthy and over-indulged aristocrat born into a privileged world but what secrets were lurking behind this façade? How could the covert activities of this party loving nobleman have any bearing on the security of his nation? Richard Raine is the master of the collier brigantine "The William Thrift" that enters Seaham Harbour in April 1881. Thus begins a tale that takes the reader by the hand and walks them through a time and lifestyle long forgotten. Richard could never have imagined the adventure that was to unfold when he sailed out of harbour and the part he would play in maintaining the fragile peace that existed in Queen Victoria's empire. More than a century after these events took place the real story, "A Master Mariners Tale" is finally uncovered. During his intensive research through old newspapers and books Fred began to realise that an area of his home town's local history had been totally overlooked by historians. Seaham once built ships, not large ships, but fine wooden sailing ships. Determined that this historic issue should be documented he has recently published a definitive history "Shipbuilding at Seaham Harbour". One of the finest buildings in Seaham is the Londonderry Literary Institute. Delving into the archives Fred realised how interesting and important this building was to the social life of the town and in the personal improvement and development of many men and women. This prompted further research and the publication of "A History of the Londonderry Literary Institute". Commanding an imposing site on the corner of North Terrace and Tempest Road stood the Seaham Infirmary. Building of this two storey gothic stone building began in 1844 to care for the needs of the townsfolk and to treat the increasing number of accidents to workers on the railways, docks, new industrial ventures and later the collieries in the district. The full history of this building is documented in "History of the Seaham Infirmary". Social history records the development of the working week from six long working days to the normally accepted five days with bank holidays and annual holiday entitlement. Sport and recreational activities for the working man and woman began to appear as the concept of the "week-end" and holiday time became part of the normal week. Fred's research into how people in Seaham used this new found recreational time is documented in "Sporting Pastimes at Seaham Harbour" Churches are to some people central to their spiritual existence. To some people visiting churches is a hobby. To others, churches are places they wander into whilst on holiday to look around, to sit and meditate in the quiet. Often the visitors book is signed with comments such as beautiful , lovely or fascinating but do people really know anything about the building they have looked around? "A History of the Churches at Seaham" brings together all previously known publications and literature of each church and together with new research it tells the story of all twenty-four, past and present, churches in Seaham. Many people in Seaham know of the existence of the "2nd Durham (Seaham) Artillery Volunteers" but their previously known history can be summarised in two pages. The full history of the 2nd Durham's was researched and written in a 180 page book by Fred Cooper. Fred’s family moved from Seaham Harbour to Seaham Colliery when he was just a boy and he spent much of his childhood living in the pit village and community of Seaham Colliery. The pit yard at the bottom of the street was his playground during the day and at night he fell asleep with the sounds of the busy colliery ringing in his ears. He knew about the tragic 1880 Seaham Colliery Disaster that killed 164 men and boys – everyone did – but during the research for this book he was totally unprepared to learn about the unbearable pain and heartache suffered by the pit community. His book “One Year of Hell” chronicles the grief and hardship of the widows and children of the victims that perished in the horrific explosion. It tells of the miners who refused to work whilst the bodies of their comrades were entombed in the Maudlin seam and who went on strike to uphold that long established principle followed by Durham coalminers. Some miners were sent to Durham jail for intimidation of strike-breakers in the colliery village and some; the “sacrificed men,” were denied re-employment by the coal owner and had no option but to emigrate and make a new life in America. It was exactly one year to the day after the explosion that the last body was recovered from the mine. Descendants of the miners killed in the explosion will learn for the first time of the terror and horrific injuries caused by the fiery blast that ripped through the Hutton and Maudlin seams. This is the story of “One Year of Hell” in the history of Seaham. Meanwhile planning and research for book two of "A Master Mariner's Tale" continues......

    Related to One Year Of Hell

    Related ebooks

    Social History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Paxo underground KATE HUBBARD Black Gold: The History of How Coal Made Britain

      Sep 22, 2021

      William Collins £30 The story of coal, Jeremy Paxman says, is the story of Britain. It’s one he tells well, deftly combining the political and the social in a brisk and bracing narrative, with plenty of scope for Paxmanian indignation and scorn. Peop

      2 min read

    • Article

      They Put The World On Track

      Jun 21, 2023

      They Put The World On Track
      5 min read

    • Article

      Chimney Sweeps

      Jul 28, 2020

      Chimney Sweeps
      4 min read

    • Article

      Pit Ponies' Logbook, 1955

      May 2, 2023

      Pit Ponies' Logbook, 1955
      3 min read

    • Article

      History Cookbook

      Sep 28, 2023

      History Cookbook
      3 min read

    • Article

      Nail-makers

      Feb 9, 2021

      Nail-makers
      4 min read

    • Article

      Encounters

      Oct 1, 2020

      Encounters
      6 min read

    • Article

      Dreaming Of A Black Xmas

      Oct 20, 2021

      You’d better watch out, You’d better not cry, You’d better not pout, I’m telling you why: Santa Claus is coming to town. Even those who can endure Michael Bublé murdering a beloved Christmas song appreciate that there’s no need to take it seriously.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Tunnels to HELL

      Jan 19, 2021

      Tunnels to HELL
      4 min read

    • Article

      Portraits Of Another World

      Jul 30, 2023

      Portraits Of Another World
      5 min read

    • Article

      TAILORS, DRESSMAKERS & SEAMSTRESSES

      Mar 11, 2022

      Sewing at once, with a double thread A shroud as well as a shirt. (Thomas Hood 1843) With 267,791 people plying their trade of dressmaker/ milliner in 1851, this made it the seventh most populous occupation. Beaten into eleventh position were 152,67

      7 min read

    • Article

      Let’s Hear It For Britain

      Jan 3, 2024

      Let’s Hear It For Britain
      15 min read

    • Article

      Remembrance Of Times Past

      May 14, 2020

      Remembrance Of Times Past
      6 min read

    • Article

      Q&A

      Oct 28, 2021

      Q&A
      3 min read

    • Article

      A Round-up Of The Latest BOOKS

      Feb 10, 2023

      DAVID GRAY AND NEIL LYDON A few days ago, there was a mighty thud emanating from our porch. The above book, weighing in at almost three kilos, was making its presence known. The 500-page contents can only be described as sumptuous, with 600 images (m

      4 min read

    • Article

      Old Glory At 400

      May 26, 2023

      Old Glory At 400
      8 min read

    • Article

      Moving With The Times

      Aug 4, 2022

      Moving With The Times
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Old Un’s Notes

      Aug 24, 2022

      The Old Un’s Notes
      5 min read

    • Article

      Saleroom

      May 1, 2020

      Saleroom
      2 min read

    • Article

      What's Brewing In Kent?

      Jul 11, 2019

      What's Brewing In Kent?
      8 min read

    Reviews for One Year Of Hell

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words