Nate Mancuso messaged me asking, “Hello, Paul. I recently learned that my great-great-grandfather, Robert Heron, was one of the few survivors of the Blantyre Colliery Explosion of 1877. I know he was born in Lanarkshire around 1840 and died in Wishaw around 1911. I was wondering if you have any information on him or can point me in the right direction. Any information or guidance would be appreciated.”
I was able to reply with: Nate, Thanks for your message. Robert Heron was one of 126 men and boys who went down into Pit 2 between 4 o’clock and 6 o clock the morning of the explosion. It may have been sheer luck he was sufficiently away from being burned.
A good place for you to start would be here https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ where you’ll be able to find Roberts Birth, marriage and where he lived in the valuation and census info. Ancestry can be expensive retrieving information and these sites usually require purchasing credits in return for dates and documents. He isnt in Blantyre census info of 1871 or 1881, so his time in this town may have been short.
I think Robert was married to Sarah and they lived in Hamilton. They are in the 1881 census, with him noted as a coal miner. Sons Samuel (15) and Robert (6) that year. Sarah was 2 years older. A decade later in 1891 , they had moved to Wishaw, and with them was their grown up daughter Jeannie (28). Son Robert grew up to be a printer, and avoided going down the mines. I hope this is enough to get you started on your family tree journey. A good place to map out this tree is on www.ancestry.co.uk
The following people survived from pit 2:
Owen Brannigan (died later from his burns on 30/10/77)
Thomas Black (back bruised)
Hugh Brown
Edward Docherty
William Duncan
Tom Ferguson (Driver)
Andrew Forrest
Tom Gallagher
Robert Heron
John Hill
William Hill
John Jeffrey
William Kirkland (burned face and hands)
John Little (Foreman)
Thomas Martin (burned face and hands)
Alex McCall
McCallum (burned face and hands)
Michael McCousker
Patrick McCousker
Tom McDonald
Duncan McMillan (slightly injured on face)
Donald Morrison (back bruised)
Sam Neilson
John Neilson
John Pickering
John Sharp (back bruised)
James Steven (back bruised)
George Watson
George Watt
William Welsh (Snr) (burned)
William Welsh (Jnr) (burned)
Alexander Woods (back bruised and burned)
