Thomas Banfield (abt. 1871 - 1889)

Born about 21 Aug 1871 in Windsor, New South Wales, Australia

Died 22 Jun 1889 at about age 17 in Hamilton, New South Wales, Australia

Biography

Thomas Banfield died in the Hamilton Pit (Glebe Mine) Disaster 1889 on 22 June 1889

Thomas Banfield was born in August 1871 in Windsor, New South Wales. He was the son of deceased miner George Banfield (1816-1873) and Ann Sullivan (1825-1897), who had remarried his stepfather Rupert Archibald in 1874. Thomas had four brothers and six sisters.^[1]

Thomas Banfield was employed as a wheeler in the Australian Agricultural Company ("A.A.") Gelbe Mine, Hamilton Pit, where workings were 180 to 200 feet below ground. Several tunnels provided entry to the mine, the main horse road about 4 yards wide being the main one. About a mile from the mouth of the pit, work was being done in a tunnel known as the Gallery, where workings were almost completely exhausted and about to be abandoned. About 40 or 50 miners were engaged in removing any remaining coal in the pillars holding up the roof and withdrawing tram rails.^[2]

At 9:00 am on the morning of 22 June 1889, the roof began 'working' and collapsed in several places. Many of the men fled for their lives but blasts of air from the falling rock extinguished their lamps and they were plunged into darkness. Rocks and coal continued to fall and blocked their escape. Eighteen men were initially missing, but ultimately all but eleven men escaped from the mine.^[3] Thomas Banfield wasn't seen by those who survived, so the position of his body wasn't immediately known.^[4]

Although rescue operations began immediately to find the entombed men, the arduous work involved first shoring up the main crosscut into the mine as the roof continued to fall. It wasn't until 2 July that the first body (Herbert Pettit) was recovered. On 4 July a pit pony named "Sharpo" found alive raised hopes, but the rescue operation was called off as too dangerous.^[3] When rescue efforts resumed, the body of Thomas Banfield was recovered on 2 August 1889. He was found some 43 yards past where his mate Herbert Pettit's body had been found on 2 July. Thomas was identified by Barney Roarty, and his hat, a book, and part of his shirt were identified by his mother.^[4]

Thomas Banfield, age 18, died on 22 June 1889 as a direct result of roof caving during the Hamilton Pit (Glebe Mine) Disaster.^[5] "The funeral possession was of immense length, in spite of the unfavorable weather, and was attended by all classes of the community.”^[6] In a ceremony officiated by Rev. J. Vosper, Thomas Banfield was buried near his mate Herbert Pettit^[7] in the Sandgate Cemetery in Newcastle, Newcastle City, New South Wales, Australia.^[8]

His tombstone reads:^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ “Family Notices”, Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW: 1876-1954), Sat 3 Aug 1889, Page 1.
2. ↑ “1889 Hamilton Colliery Case Study”, NSW Government, Resources Regulator, Safety, Safety events and education programs, Learning from disasters, Learning from disasters timeline.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} “The Hamilton Pit (Glebe Mine) Disaster, 22 June 1889”, website, www.coalandcommunity.com, Sir Edgeworth David Memorial Museum, accessed 10 June 2023, People and Place | Coal and Community.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} “THE HAMILTON PIT DISASTER-THE BODY OF BANFIELD RECOVERED”, Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW: 1876 - 1954), Sat 3 Aug 1889, Page 4.
5. ↑ Death Index, NSW Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages (New South Wales, Australia): Name: BANFIELD THOMAS, Registration Number: 12762/1889, Father: GEORGE, Mother: ANN, District: MEREWETHER.
6. ↑ "THE COLLIERY DISASTER-RECOVERY OF A THIRD BODY", The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842-1954), 5 Aug. 1889, Page 7.
7. ↑ HAMILTON PIT DISASTER-THE FUNERALS OF PEATE AND BANFIELD-IMPRESSIVE CEREMONIES”, Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW: 1876 - 1954), Mon 5 Aug 1889, Page 5.
8. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/177509745/thomas-banfield: accessed 24 June 2023), memorial page for Thomas Banfield (unknown–1889), Find A Grave: Memorial #177509745, citing Sandgate Cemetery, Newcastle, Newcastle City, New South Wales, Australia; Maintained by Stombell (contributor 48335209).
9. ↑ "Thomas Banfield", database with images, BillionGraves, accessed 24 June 2023.