H Cowell
Charles Firth
CHARLES FIRTH
Byeworker, Locke and Co., Kippax Colliery
Died 26 May 1886 · Buried 29 May 1886, aged 62
1. Life
Birth and parents
Charles Firth was born at Little Preston, in the parish of Kippax, about 1824. He was 17 on the 1841 census, 26 in 1851, 37 in 1861, 46 in 1871, 56 in 1881, and 62 at burial in May 1886. Those ages run in a straight line. His father, named on the 1847 marriage, was George Firth, smith. In 1841 Charles was already in George and Sarah Firth’s Little Preston house, occupation written engine-keeper or engineman.
Marriage
On 12 April 1847, at the parish church of Leeds, entry no. 489, Charles Firth, full age, bachelor, smith, of Ellerby Lane, son of George Firth, smith, married Jane Wilkinson, full age, spinster, of George Street, daughter of Reuben Wilkinson, clothier. Charles signed; Jane made her mark. Witnesses Emmanuel Gill and Rebecca Firth (mark). Officiant W. Farley, French, officiating minister. West Yorkshire Archive Service P68/5/24. The civil index is Leeds XXIII 343.
Children and Jane’s death
1851, Little Preston, HO 107/2329, schedule 40: Charles, 26, coal miner, born Little Preston; Jane, 25, born Great Preston; Edward, 2; Reuben George, 8 months. Both boys born Little Preston.
Alfred was baptised at Swillington on 26 December 1858, no. 18: Alfred, son of Charles and Jane Firth, Little Preston, miner. Jane was therefore still alive at the end of 1858. By census night 1861 Charles is a widower. A daughter Sarah, about eight in 1861, sits between Reuben George and Alfred.
From 1861 to 1871 the housekeeper was Hannah Sampson, widow.
Later censuses
1861, Little Preston, RG 9/3431, schedule 56: Charles Firth, widower, 37, coal miner; Edward, 12; Reuben George, 10; Sarah, 8; Alfred, 2; Hannah Sampson, housekeeper.
1871, Little Preston, RG 10/4739, schedule 71: Charles, widower, 46, coal miner; Edward, 22, coal miner; Reuben George, 20, wheelwright; Sarah, 18; Alfred, 12, scholar; Hannah Sampson, 55, housekeeper.
1881, Little Preston, RG 11/4712, schedule 14: Charles, widower, 56, coal miner; Sarah, unmarried, 28; Alfred, unmarried, 22, joiner.
He stayed a coal miner of Little Preston for forty years. In 1886 the inspector’s table calls him a byeworker — a man working a bye, or heading, underground.
Burial
Kippax St Mary, 1886, page 59, no. 465: Charles Firth, Little Preston, 29 May 1886, 62 years, W. W. Dennett, Curate. West Yorkshire Archive Service P47/27. A commercial transcript that first printed 29 April is wrong; the register is May.
2. The accident
On Wednesday 26 May 1886 Charles Firth, byeworker, was run over by corves at Kippax Colliery, Locke and Co. He was buried three days later.
A corf is an underground tub. A byeworker works in a bye, off the main roads. The accident is therefore underground, on a gate or in a heading, not on the surface screens. The original request asked that this be settled: it is underground.
The compiled mining index gives age 60 and birth about 1826. The burial age 62 and the census run are preferred. Place of death in that index is Leeds, the nearest city; the pit and the grave are Kippax / Little Preston.
No longer printed inspector’s narrative for this entry has been found in the open DMM pages searched for this note. The one-line official classification remains: run over by corves.
3. Coroner, newspaper and conclusion
No inquest transcript and no newspaper paragraph naming Charles Firth of Little Preston in May 1886 have been found in the open indexes. Surface and underground deaths at Kippax were normally taken by the Pontefract or Tadcaster coroner.
Official conclusion: accidental death, run over by corves underground, byeworker, Locke and Co., Kippax, 26 May 1886.
4. Sources and citations
1841 Census, Little Preston, HO 107/1311/17: Charles Firth, 17, engineman, in the house of George and Sarah Firth.
Leeds parish church marriage register, 12 April 1847, no. 489 (P68/5/24): Charles Firth, full age, bachelor, smith, Ellerby Lane, son of George Firth, smith, to Jane Wilkinson, full age, spinster, George Street, daughter of Reuben Wilkinson, clothier.
GRO marriage index: Firth, Charles, Leeds, XXIII 343.
1851 Census, Little Preston, HO 107/2329, schedule 40: Charles 26, coal miner; Jane 25; Edward 2; Reuben George 8 months.
Swillington baptism register, 26 December 1858, no. 18 (P99/4/2): Alfred, son of Charles and Jane Firth, Little Preston, miner.
1861 Census, Little Preston, RG 9/3431, schedule 56: Charles, widower, 37, coal miner, with Edward, Reuben George, Sarah, Alfred and Hannah Sampson.
1871 Census, Little Preston, RG 10/4739, schedule 71: Charles, widower, 46, coal miner, same children plus Hannah Sampson, housekeeper.
1881 Census, Little Preston, RG 11/4712, schedule 14: Charles, widower, 56, coal miner; Sarah 28; Alfred 22, joiner.
Kippax St Mary burial register, 1886, no. 465 (P47/27): Charles Firth, Little Preston, 29 May 1886, age 62, W. W. Dennett.
UK Coal Mining Accidents index: C. Firth, age 60, born about 1826, 26 May 1886, Leeds, byeworker, Kippax, Locke and Co., run over by corves.
5. Corrections
Underground, not surface. Byeworker plus corves is a pit-road accident. The earlier memorial brief that left the place open is settled.
Age. Burial 62 and the census line (17, 26, 37, 46, 56) beat the index age 60. Birth is about 1824, not 1826.
Burial date. The register is 29 May 1886. A commercial transcript that first printed 29 April is wrong.
Place. Leeds in the commercial index is the nearest city. He lived and was buried as of Little Preston / Kippax.
Wife. Jane Wilkinson, married 1847, alive at Alfred’s baptism in December 1858, dead by April 1861. Charles did not remarry.
