When King George awoke this morning at Wentworth he was informed of yet a third explosion which had taken place at Cadeby in the early hours, but thankfully, although there were several men down the pit at that time, the only casualties were two who men were rather badly gassed. They were immediately taken to the surface and after receiving medical attention were sent home. Due to this third explosion, colliery bosses were forced to consider what course of action they should now take to make the pit a safe one again. It was therefore decided that they would brick up the southern part of the mine in order to prevent any further catastrophes, a job which was completed during the afternoon. Today the King and Queen were to due to spend the third day of their Yorkshire tour visiting industrial areas of the North Riding of Yorkshire. Once again accompanied by Earl Fitzwilliam they left the beautiful estate at Wentworth at 10 am. It had been arranged that today they were to travel in the Midland Railway Company’s train, which had been fitted with a Royal saloon. The 59 foot carriage, which had been especially built at Derby, was placed on two four wheel bogies, and was divided into three compartments. These comprised of a main saloon, a boudoir and a smoking compartment, which were richly panelled with inlaid mahogany and upholstered in green silk. The smoking compartment was made of fumed oak and the upholstery was in green Morocco leather. A royal coat of arms was placed on the outside of the carriage which was painted in crimson, the standard colour of the Midland Railway.
The Royal couple’s first tour was to Rylands Glass Works at Stairfoot near Barnsley which was one of the largest establishments in Yorkshire, where the King and Queen would see the process of glass manufacture. Once again the route to the glassworks was lined with cheering crowds of people and houses decorated with flags and bunting. In honour of their visit a glass arch had been erected at the entrance to the glass works. On the face of the arch in gold were the words:
GOD SAVE THE KING
The arch was over 18 feet high and contained over 1,000 battery jars of green glass which looked most effective in the sunlight. The previously grimy sheds were now covered with tasteful decorations, and a green carpet had been laid for their Majesties to walk on. At the conclusion to their visit, the King signed his name on a parchment recording the visit. An amusing incident took place while the Royal couple were in the packing department. There they could hear sounds of singing from the glass blowers which turned out to be a song called ‘Mary’ and the refrain ‘kind, kind and gentle is she’ could clearly be heard by the King and Queen. It was a charming compliment to Her Majesty who smiled in delight. As they left several glass novelties were presented to them including glass pigs, glass swans and other wildfowl. Just before they got into the Royal car, a Mrs Frank Wood presented her three children to the Queen. They were Doris aged nine, Haslam aged six and Hugo the youngest, dressed in a white sailor suit aged three. Hugo shyly approached the Queen and offered her a beautiful bouquet of pink carnations, which the Queen graciously accepted and thanked him.
Back at Cadeby it had been decided that a service would be held at the pit head in the colliery yard today by the Archbishop of York, who had motored over from Wentworth. He had been joined by the Bishop of Sheffield and several local clergymen. Before taking the service, the party had visited the temporary mortuary and said a prayer over the bodies which still remained. The congregation of the service included hundreds of employees, mine officials, men who had been engaged on rescue work, nurses and ambulance crews. The Archbishop stated that he grieved with them, not only for the men who had worked in the pit who had been killed, but also expressed his:
‘high admiration for those who had given their lives in the attempt to rescue their comrades. They died as heroes, performing a duty which appealed to them because of their love for their brother men. I pray that the God of all comfort would be with those who were left behind, in this their hour of deep trial and sorrow’.
His Grace then visited several homes of the victims of the catastrophe, where he offered solace to the residents who had lost loved ones. It was reported in that mornings newspapers that the remains of Mr Pickering had been now brought to the surface and had been returned to his home in Doncaster, but at that point those of his colleagues, Mr Hewitt and Mr Tickly were still underground. It was decided that the funeral for the men who had died in the explosion would be held in Denaby Main Parish Church on Friday 12 July where the Archbishop of York agreed once more to officiate. The many coffins would be carried by other employees of the colliery.
The Royal couple now proceeded into the town of Barnsley itself where it was estimated that 70 – 80,000 people had lined the route. At the bottom of the hill which descended into Barnsley, a large stand draped in scarlet had been erected, with a scarlet carpet in front. Every window of the adjoining houses was crowded with cheering and waving persons, and some intrepid workmen made themselves comfortable on roof tops looking down on the scene beneath them. The square was full of gay coloured bunting and soon there arrived the 5th Battalion of the Yorks and Lancaster Regimental band, which marched up from Church Street at the top of Market Hill, to Queen Street at the bottom. The people realised their Royal visitors were on their way when Mayoress took her place on the stand about 12.45 pm. Within moments she was joined by the Mayor and other civic dignitaries. As the Queen alighted she shook hands with the Mayor and commented to the Mayoress on how thankful she was that there had been no more deaths at the explosion which had occurred that morning. The Mayor recalled to the King the fact that his grandmother Queen Victoria, had visited Barnsley whilst she was still a Princess aged 17 years of age, when she called at the Royal Hotel, on her way to Wentworth in 1836. All too soon it was time for the Royal couple to leave and the National Anthem played as the car slowly departed over the hill. The train then took their Majesties on to Wakefield where they visited several works, including a boat building firm and a cloth weaving establishment. But perhaps the most significant event on the visit took place at Messrs E Green and Co when they went into the foundry department. They were accompanied by Sir Edward Green who explained the various processes. The party stopped and workmen hurriedly poured red hot metal into a specially made mould. To the Royal party’s surprise the mould spelled out the words
LONG LIVE KING GEORGE AND QUEEN MARY
The King appeared to be very pleased and smiled happily at the workmen as he asked Sir Edward if the men would be allowed a half day paid holiday which was agreed. The Royal couple then went to the Stainless Steel Boat Company which made steel lifeboats. At the gates as they were leaving, the King expressed his pleasure at the visit before he was presented with a model lifeboat for Prince John.
Whilst the King and Queen were at Barnsley and Wakefield, it was announced that 71 bodies had now been brought out of Cadeby pit, but another ten still remain underground. The bodies of five more men were still in the Fullerton Hospital although only three of them had been named. An inquest was held in the hospital board room by Mr Coroner Allen which was purely for identification purposes, before being adjourned to Tuesday 23 July 1912. This would allow time for the findings of the Board of Trade to be published. Before the inquest was concluded however, one of the jury, a Mr W Wilson of Conisbrough stated that he wanted to express sympathy with the people of Cadeby and concluded that:
‘There are bright patches even in the darkest calamities, and the brightest part of this disaster was the magnificent way in which volunteers came forward and offered to go down the mine even after the second explosion.’
He spoke about one man called William Davis, who had finished his shift and after checking on his horse was on his way home when he heard the explosion, and went back to help in the rescue. His offer was accepted and Mr Davis went back down the pit he had so recently left, and a few hours later he was dead. The coroner told the inquest that he had been at the pit head all morning, talking to the widows and friends of the men who had been killed, and it had left him with a very heavy heart. He had personally known about one third of the men who had died, from the lowly pit boy to the Chief Inspector of Mines. Mr Coroner Allen stated that when he arrived, it felt like there was not an old friend left in Conisbrough to shake hands with. As he had come through to Cadeby he could not help but notice that most of the cottages had drawn blinds at the windows. Great crowds had assembled on the bridge leading to the colliery and the streets around, as they discussed the remaining bodies still in the mine waiting to be brought to the surface. To add to the anxiety of the disaster local newspapers reported that because of the accident at that moment in time, over two thousand local men were now unemployed at Cadeby, and at Denaby another three thousand men were also out of work. What seemed most improbable to those in the know, was that it had seemed impossible that the accident had happened at Cadeby which had always been thought of as a ‘safe pit’ with all the most up-to-date appliances. During the morning several trains, trucks and lorries brought empty coffins to the mine from Mexborough, Sheffield and Barnsley. A reporter noted that the sight of an open dray with the coffins on board brought a fresh tear to many of the women who watched its silent progress across the pit yard. The bodies of the men in the mortuary were then conveyed to their homes, to be with the families left to mourn. Newspapers reported one local woman who had been left with seven children who went bravely to meet the coffin in which the remains of her deceased husband lay. Upon seeing it however her courage failed her and she collapsed and had to be helped back inside her home. Such scenes continued until most of the bodies had been removed.
It was now time for the Royal party to have lunch with Lord and Lady St Oswald at Nostell Priory. However they did not remain long with their hosts before it was time for their visit to Dewsbury where there was yet another civic reception. All the local mills had been closed at noon and all the school children given a half day holiday, in order for them to see the Royal visitors. Special stands were erected in the Market Place, in front of the Town Hall to accommodate around 8,000 people. The Dewsbury Town Hall itself was covered with trellis work of laurel branches on which was spelled out in pure white roses, the motto:
WELCOME TO OUR KING AND QUEEN
The Mayor, councillors and townspeople were particularly honoured as it was the first time that any monarch had visited the town in the history of Dewsbury. A bugle announced the arrival of the Royal couple as they came into Town Hall Square and were greeted by the Mayor and Mayoress. A Royal address was read out to which the King replied, but all too soon the National Anthem was sung and it was time for King George and Queen Mary to leave for Batley. There they entered the woollen mill of Messrs C & J Stubley and Company where the Queen was presented with a bouquet. Once again they were shown the different processes in which they showed particular interest. Before their departure they were shown a great variety of woven cloth, two of which was presented to their Majesties for a motor coat. The King selected a grey cloth and the Queen one of navy blue. The King then made a short speech stating that he was delighted with the rapturous welcome he had received. Afterwards the Queen also made a short speech in which she said:
‘I am enjoying the tour very much indeed and I have been touched by the sight of the children assembled in the square, the sight is one I’ll never forget. I am sorry that it has not been possible to spend more time in the town’.
Then the Royal couple were due at Brighouse where they had another rousing reception. As they stepped into the Brighouse station to leave, the King and Queen passed over thickly carpeted platforms. Once again they were met by cheering crowds, many of which were working men and woman still in their work clothes. Despite the celebrations and the euphoria of the Royal visit the Sheffield Daily Telegraph summed the feelings of both Royals and commoners alike. The reporter stated that:
‘Uppermost in everybody’s mind was the awful catastrophe of the previous day and the grief-stricken community just a few miles away. The sight of these hardy sons of toil gave a touch of sadness to the scene of rejoicing’.
Their Majesties got into the Royal train and returned back to Wentworth, but when the train arrived at the station another surprise met the Royal couple. The railway station had been decorated with flowers and a bower of rambler roses. The Queen looked delighted as she stepped down from the train. The Mayor and Mayoress of Rotherham, Mr and Mrs P Bancroft Coward were particularly delighted to be included in the house party that evening to dine with the King and Queen.
Questions about the terrible mining disaster in South Yorkshire had reached London by this time and it resulted in questions being asked in the House of Commons. The Home Secretary, Mr McKenna was asked by Thomas Edmund Harvey the MP for Leeds for the latest information on the disaster. He wanted to know exactly how many lives had been lost at Cadeby Colliery and the exact cause of the explosion which had killed men including the Inspector of Mines and his two assistants whilst undertaking rescue work. Finally it was asked if the Home Office would be sending a representative to the inquest. Mr McKenna stated that the Inspector who had been at Cadeby since the death of Mr Pickering, Mr Redmayne was
‘Returning to London as nothing further remained to be done there for the present. I will immediately consult with that officer as to steps which were necessary to investigate the circumstances of the disaster.’
He also confirmed that a representative would attend the inquest.
Next week
More bodies brought up from the pit at Cadeby
The Royal couple visit some workers cottages at Slaithwaite and a Yorkshire farm
A baby girl is renamed ‘Mary’ in honour of the Queens visit
The Yorkshire Miners bid a torchlight ‘goodbye’ to their Sovereigns on the lawns at Wentworth
