Never before seen secret records and artefacts of one of Britain’sworst ever mining disasters are going on display for the first time. They will be seen on the 91st anniversary of the Gresford Colliery Disaster in Wrexham in which 266 miners were killed on 22nd September 1934.
It's the very first time The National Archives has taken documents to any community in this way. The display will start with transcriptions of urgent telephone messages to the Mines Inspectorate as the scale of the catastrophe unfolded.
A pocket notebook with falsified air measurements ordered by mine manager William Bonsall after the explosion on 22 September 1934 will be among the items available to view.
There will also be witness statements about the circumstances leading to the disaster, correspondence, interview records and records from the inquiry. Previously unseen petitions and letters from grieving relatives will be included in the two-day “Gresford: Voices from the Archives” event at WrexhamLibrary in Wales.
Some of the miners died because they swapped shifts or did double shifts so they could be free to watch Wrexham FC play at home against Tranmere hours later. Emmajane Avery, Director of Public Engagement at The National Archives, said: “These documents, permanently preserved at The National Archives, bear witness to the events surrounding this unimaginable disaster and the tragic loss of so many lives.”
This free community event is a collaboration between The National Archives, North-East Wales Archives and Wrexham Archives.
NEWA will show letters about the immediate nationwide response to the disaster which prompted gifts of kippers, apples and even lamb from Australia, as well as thousands of pounds in relief funds for the 162 widows and 220 children left fatherless. Wrexham Archives will display photographs and newspaper accounts of the disaster.
Claire Harrington, Principal Archivist at North East Wales Archives (Hawarden), said: “National newspaper appeals prompted a host of heartwarming letters in support of the victims' families, usually accompanied by gifts either of money or in kind. We are delighted to share these records with the people of Wrexham, many of whom will have lost family in this catastrophic event.”
The Daily Mirror organised a relief fund to help the families – and our loyal readers raised what would be millions of pounds in today’s money. One of our front pages back then said: “A family of nine young children is fatherless; a bride of a week ago is a widow; a girl who had just finished her wedding dress is wearing black and two mothers have each lost three sons.”
Gresford: Voices from the Archives document display will take place at Wrexham Library on Monday, 22 September from 10am-6pm and on Tuesday, 23 September from 10am-1pm. On Sunday, 21 September a day of free family activities will take place at The Miners Rescue Station, Wrexham, including tours of The Rescue, papermaking and advice on how to care for family archives.
