File:Brunner Mine (13272206033).jpg

At 9.30 am, on 26 March 1896, an explosion rang out from the Brunner mine in Westland's Grey Valley. In that moment 65 men would lose their lives.

Explorer Thomas Brunner discovered a seam of quality coal on the banks of the Grey River in July 1847, but it was not until the railway to Greymouth had been built in 1876 that the Brunner coal field really took off.

On the morning of the Brunner mining disaster, it was reported that a sound like artillery fire was heard, and smoke was seen billowing out of the pithead. The area of the Brunner mine in 1896 was over 230 acres. Due to the depth of the mine, there was no damage to the buildings around the opening of the mine shaft.

Two men were initially sent in to investigate the blast. When they didn't return, miners from other shifts followed them. They were found unconscious from black damp, a suffocating mixture of nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

The rescue party moved further into the diggings. By 11 am, the first bodies were recovered. Those involved almost succumbed to the noxious gases and themselves had to be carried out. This misled the onlookers in to thinking that some of the original miners were being brought out alive.

As the rescue efforts moved deeper into the mine, signs of an enormous explosion could be seen. Railway lines and trucks were twisted and smashed. Some bodies were so badly mutilated that they had to be identified by their clothing.

By 2:00pm the next day, 64 bodies had been brought out of the mine. It could be seen that those away from the point of explosion had been trying to escape and had been suffocated by the black damp. It took a further three days to locate the last body. A total of 65 miners died in the disaster, almost half of the Brunner underground work force.

53 of the dead miners were buried at the nearby Stillwater Cemetery on 29 March. It was estimated that the funeral procession was made of 6000 people, and stretched for half a mile.

A disaster relief fund for the miners’ families was launched the day after the explosion, and money was given from all parts of New Zealand. Altogether more than £32,000 was raised for the fund.

A commission of inquiry found that the explosion had been the result of human error. A charge had been placed the wrong way around, in a part of the mine where there should have been no one working. Experienced miners believed that fire damp had accumulated and not been cleared properly by the ventilation system, and a series of explosions had been the result. As a result of the explosion, the ventilation system in the deeper parts of the mine was destroyed. More exit shafts would not necessarily have saved more lives. An obelisk was erected to the miners at Stillwater Cemetery and dedicated in 1900. In 1996 a statue of a late nineteenth century miner was placed at the entrance to the Brunner Mine.

The Brunner Mine disaster was the worst mining disaster in New Zealand’s history.

The images above show from left to right: Mass funeral service for the victims of the Brunner mining disaster Rescuers begin the job of removing bodies within the mine A B Lindop, Manager, Westport Coalmine, J Bishop, Mine Manager, Brunner, Joseph Scott, Mine Manager Blackball, and N D Cochrane, Mine Inspector All photographs by James Ring, 1896 Archives Reference: PC4 12 96/9 Brunner Mine Disaster 1896

Further information about Brunner mine disaster can be found here: christchurchcitylibraries.com/Kids/NZDisasters/Brunner.asp www.nzhistory.net.nz/sixty-seven-men-die-in-the-brunner-c... www.teara.govt.nz/en/coal-and-coal-mining/page-7

For updates on our On This Day series and news from Archives New Zealand, follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/ArchivesNZ