Anniversary of Pretoria Pit Disaster

WLHG_Petoria_Disaster_info_.pdf Download
WLHG_Pretoria_Disaster_2023_info.pdf Download
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Details of the annual commemorations are outlined in an extract from the December 2022 issue of E-Howfen, the newsletter of the Weshoughton Local History Group (WLHG) who hold archives of material on the disaster.

Please click DOWNLOADS to the right to read the extracts from the from WLHG Newsletters for 2022 and  the 2023 copy giving updated arrangements. 

In the churchyard of Daisy Hill Church there are graves of some of those who perished in this disaster. 

One descendant of a young man from Daisy Hill described her grandmother telling how she and her husband walked across the fields and back on several occasions to try and identify the body of their son. Eventually it was related she thought “odd socks”  they returned across the fields and she was able to identify her son by his odd socks he is buried in the churchyard. 

Another Daisy Hill descendent’s grandfather is buried in the churchyard and as a member of the WLHG, she researched the archive to discover why her grandmother did not receive any financial assistance when other widows did. The discovery that her grandparents were not married and thus her grandmother was not eligible came as a surprise. 

Below is a link to the Online Parish Clarks archive records of the disaster.

https://lan-opc.org.uk/Westhoughton/Pretoria/