Thomas Moore was born abt 1836 East Dean. He was married to Ellen (nee Goode) born abt 1845 Gloucestershire. I found the marriage records on this site and subsequent 1871 census showing the couple with several children living at Plump Hill. By 1881 Ellen is a widow. Thomas died in a mining accident at Plump Hill Iron mine in 1878.

The inquest record, page 200 - again found on this site, states that Thomas Moore age 42 was killed by a fall down an iron shaft whilst the carriage was in progress. A verdict of Manslaughter was given against Phillip Smith.

Another inquest - page 199 shows that a George Malson age 40 was also killed in the same accident.

Can anyone tell me if the case was proven against Phillip Smith and are there any records of this case?

Regards Jean Herbert

Gloucester County Council have an online index to their gaol records which contains:

Year Surname Forename Gender Parish Reference Occupation Catalog
1878 Smith Philip U Not quoted Q/Gc6/7 miner 108 Gaol

Ancestry have England & Wales Criminal Registers which includes an image of the summary for Gloucester Assizes for 02Aug1878 where Philip Smith and George Greenwood were charged with manslaughter.
The verdict reads : "Discharged upon recognizances being entered into for appearance to receive judgement when called on" - which sounds to me like being released on bail to reappear for sentencing.

All seems to match the case you are interested in though there's no mention of George Greenwood in the inquests of the two men killed.

-Colin

Moore Thomas
09/05/1878
Age 42
Miner Westbury Brook
The cog wheels of the winding engine got out of gear and the cage fell down the pit. 2 killed. Manslaughter charges against Philip Smith banksman.

Malsom George
09/05/1878
Age 40
Miner Westbury Brook
The cog wheels of the winding engine got out of gear and the cage fell down the pit. 2 killed. Manslaughter charges against Philip Smith banksman.

--
Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster & Hereford Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>

Thank you for all who answered my query. If anyone ever finds out the outcome of the trial I would be pleased to hear from them.
Regards Jean

I have done a lot of research on mining accidents in the F o D, and Philip Smith was found guilty of manslaughter and was ordered to appear in the court when called - he was never called and so just had the back of his legs slapped but did not get fined or jailed. A very luck chap methinks. It was Smith's job to put the winding gearing in and out of gear, but he failed to do this correctly and the gearing fell apart during the winding of the miners.
Seven other miners were badly injured as well as the two that were killed. About 2 or 3 tons of steel rope fell onto the skip at the bottom of the shaft. The manager, Henry Phillips, was criticized at the inquest, as there was no way of braking the winding drum once it got out of gear. The drum just kept unwinding until completely down and then it snapped off from the drum.

The cage was originally working up and down from level No 4. It was then decided to wind up and down from Level No 3. This meant that the rope on one side of the winding drum had to be shorted to allow the up-skip to reach the surface and the down-skip to land on Level No 3, other wise the skip would reach the surface and forcing the down-skip to go to Level No 4 to achieve this - all very complicated!