Mining Disaster, A hero - John Eric Tiedemann - Part 1

I hope soon to use DNA to find out more about the ancestry of this man, John Eric Tiedemann who was my 2xgt grandfather.

He was German and came to Australia around the 1890's, though I haven't found him in the shipping records. He married an Aboriginal woman which I found quite fascinating.

He worked in a coal mine at East Greta and it was from this source that I found out the most about Urgroßvater (gt-grandfather) John.

On one of our treks North to Coffs Harbour we stopped at West Maitland which is where John and Mary Ann lived. We drove the street where their house used to be, we looked at the Maitland Asylum building (Benhome) where Mary Ann's son George was born and the Maitland Mercury office where he worked and we visited the cemetery where John, Mary Ann and the children are buried in unmarked graves. We didn't find much except for a feeling of being where our ancestors had once been, of standing where likely they once stood. Until we visited the mining museum...

The Mining Museum

Most interesting was the Mining Museum there. https://coalfieldshistory.org/

 It was closed the first time we went through, we found it only opens by appointment some days and I was very disappointed. This is a prime example of the importance of making plans and ringing ahead first! 

Once I contacted them we arranged another time and we made yet another detour on our way back home. (The things my family do for me!!) The researchers from the museum, Brian and Lexie, were so lovely and helpful. I came away with some great info. I was presented with a copy of this... a beautiful A3 size colour certificate that is a replica of what John received from the Department of Mines and Agriculture for bravery. He was part of a rescue team formed during the East Greta mine disaster of November 1898. 

East Greta Mine Disaster - 18 Nov 1898

Mines are dangerous places to work, even now, but back in the 19th century they were fraught with peril. I have been down one and the complete and total enveloping darkness underground can be quite overwhelming.

On Friday the 18th November 1898 at 7am in the East Greta Colliery, tunnel No.1 there was a disaster. It was just before shift change, and three new miners were about to replace the current crew of Gronow, Moncrieff and Barnes. 

The miners coming on shift were in the cage ready "to make their descent when they were startled by the loud report of a heavy and extensive fall. The first thought was naturally of themselves, and with haste they got from the cage". They reported the fall immediately to the manager. These men had made a lucky escape.

Australian Star
Saturday 19 November 1898

Three miners David "Daniel" Gronow (21yrs), Bertie Moncrieff (25yrs) and Steven Barnes (21yrs) were entombed by the rock fall in No.1 tunnel. Although the fall was a heavy one, it was hoped that since they were working at the face that they were likely protected from any further fall and it was speculated that they would be "got out without any serious injury".

On inspection it became apparent that the fall of rock, about 850 ft from the mine entrance, was quite extensive and rescue efforts were hampered by the need to clear debris and shore up about 30 ft of the tunnel and only a few men could go in at a time which made it slow going. 

The longer this took the more hope was fading. Soon they realised that the lack of oxygen and rising water would surely mean the demise of the three trapped souls. A group of relatives and about 100 townsfolk kept a vigil a the entrance to the mine, discussing the incident and waiting in hope for news, "the three mens distressed relatives, whose state of suspense must be terribly trying both to mind and body". To get them out alive would be nothing short of a miracle.

Friday 25th Nov 1898
The Albury Banner and Wodonga Express

On the following Tuesday as the rescue party worked to clear the debris there was yet another fall, said to be worse than the first. At this point all hope was lost.

Tuesday 22nd November
Kalgoorlie Miner

From this point it changed from being a rescue mission to a recovery mission.  The rescue party were working in a very sticky muck which made their efforts that much more difficult. They could not estimate the time that it would take to reach the bodies. The best that they could hope for was that the "mineral nature of the water will tend to preserve the bodies of the unfortunate men from decomposition". 

The miners are clearly risking their lives at each turn with "falls occurring at intervals".

I can't imagine the courage it took to be in the mine at all, let alone waiting to come upon the awful discovery of their mates. I wonder if there was anything in them that held onto the slightest hope of finding someone alive.

It was five long weeks of uninterrupted work in the tunnel before the bodies were found, on December 23, 1898. It was a sight which was recorded in every minute detail by the paper, as you can read below.

With the first of the three miners found and with the body, still sitting upright with his miners hat on his head, but in such a bad state of decay it was difficult to identify who it was. At first believed to be that of David Gronow. The remains were removed to the surface and the clothes and personal effects cleaned before being presented to the family for identification. 

The remains were actually identified as those of Albert "Bertie" Moncrieffe, identified by his wife recognising a button on his worn singlet, his knife was identified by a workmate and his brother-in-law. 

David Gronow was next found not very far away from him, and believed to have died from shock or suffocation as the debris laying on him did not crush the body and his watch had kept ticking for 6 hours after the incident.

Both men are thought to have survived at least some time after the rock fall.

The third and final body, that of Stephen Barnes was recovered below where the others were, and the retrieval effort had been working above him for some time before he was discovered. The body was in a far worse state that the others with broken bones and the body crushed against the side of the tunnel. At least he likely met a quick end.

You can see from this snippet in the paper that John Tiedemann was amongst the crew who discovered the bodies of both Moncrieff and Gronow.

Below is another article which shows the exact nature of the presentation of the certificate from the Mines Department and the wording of the certificate at length. In essence it lavished praise for the courage and heroism displayed in attempting to rescue their comrades in such dangerous circumstances, willingly and with the highest of motives, with great strength and ability.

Click to read

And even sadder if it is possible, the following report came of Daniel Gronow's little son Albert... 

31 December 1898

How did Gronow’s young widow, Sophie, cope? She was likely only about 20yrs old herself, with 2 remaining children under 5 and and 3 months pregnant with another.

With "three young men hurried into their eternity" it is fitting that we should turn our thoughts to the families. After 5 weeks without the income from the bread winner and now, no hope that they would ever be coming home, one particular victim was the Daniel Gronow's "delicate widow and four little children" (note: she actually had 3 children and was pregnant with their fourth Edith b. 21.5.1899).

Meetings were held to create an East Greta Disaster Relief fund and later Miner's Accident Fund to provide support for those left behind. It was determined to raise money for the fund either by requesting donations or by putting on and charging for "an entertainment". It was to be done swiftly while sympathies were still high.

This fund was to be of great importance to the futures of not only the families of these three men but also to my own relatives not too distantly, including my grandmother. You can read the continuation of this story, if you are interested, in Part 2 :)

Below is a photo of men of the East Greta mine in 1894. I have looked closely at the photo on many occasions, hoping that my gt-grandfather's eyes are looking back at me somehow. Are there also the eyes of the 3 ill-fated men that were lost in this disaster?

Courtesy of the Coalfields Local History Association

Notes: 

David "Daniel" Gronow - was born David Gronow in 1877 to David and Ann. Probably used Daniel to avoid confusion with is father. Newspaper reports use the two names variably. He married Sophie Smith in 1892 when he was 15. They had 4 children, 2 boys, 2 girls. The youngest boy died only weeks after his father and the last daughter Edith was born 5 months later. Daniel was 21 when he died in the mine accident. Not found in the Maitland Burial register. I believe he is in the Wesleyan section of the local cemetery at Greta.

Albert Ernest "Bertie" Moncrieffe - born 1874 to Lawrence and Sarah in Sydney, was 25 when he was killed in the mine accident which occurred 18th Nov 1898. He was married to Ada Morrison in East Maitland 12th March 1898, and they had one daughter Evelyn, born 23rd May 1898. Not found in the Maitland Burial register.

Stephen Richard Barnes - born to to Stephen and Jane in Maitland in 1877. He appears to have been unmarried, died age 21yrs, he was the youngest of the three miners. Buried in Campbell's Hill Cemetery. He was a member of the Free Gardners Lodge.

The continued story of John Tiedemann's mine experience to follow in Part 2...