John Greener

  Noted events in his life were:

• source. John Lynch @ genes from information provided by Chris Burnett who wrote:
John can't have been Mary Rayne's son -- she'd have been 11. Had John been married before? Is even Elizabeth Greener her daughter? A John Greener married Isabella Mitcheson on 5 May 1834. Is there a dead Isabella Greener around the right time? 2 Jan 2004. This could be an account of John Greener's death, though I will need to see the Death Cert to be sure: Date: 21st January 1851 Colliery: Black Boy Cause: Explosion Lives Lost: 2 Description An explosion took place in the north east workings of the Black Boy Colliery on Tuesday, 21 January, killing John Greener and eleven year old William Hogg. About a mile from the shaft, a stone drift was being driven towards Leasingthorne Colliery, and resident viewer James Scott had asked Greener, who was to be assisted by the boy Hogg, to measure and mark the work for the men. At about three o'clock in the morning the mine fired, bringing down timber and stone, destroying the ventilation, and filling the workings with afterdamp. Deputy overman Thomas Roe and three others went into the pit and found Greener lying dead covered by a blue-metal stone; they removed the fallen timber and stone, and took him out. Scott then took up the search for the boy, removing stones and other debris until he was relieved by William Burrell, resident viewer at Copy Crook Colliery. He set about improving the ventilation, and having got a stronger current of air into the staple, he was able to go up it into the drift where he found Hogg lying dead. Both bodies were taken to bank and examined by surgeon John Jobson; he noted that both were burnt about the hands and face, but concluded that they had died from the effects of afterdamp. The inquest was held on Friday, 24 January in the Colliery School Room. The Coroner, William Trotter, was at first reluctant to proceed with the inquiry; both the Secretary of State and Matthias Dunn had been informed by letter of the accident, but Dunn was not present. By law, Trotter should have adjourned the inquest until Dunn could attend, nevertheless, he decided to let the inquiry proceed. In the end, a verdict of "Accidental Death" was recorded. Interestingly, Dunn had visited the mine on 8 January, but had not gone into the workings, satisfying himself with Scott's verbal explanation of the plans and the ventilation of the pit.