Updated 27 Jan 2005

WIRKSWORTH Parish Records 1600-1900

Return to Front Page

MENU

Last

Photo 266

Next

William FLINT 1863-1905

William Flint born 1863 marr Gwenillian Sprake dau of Edwin Sprake Blaenavon South Wales ..They stayed at a house in Middleton at the foot of Chapel lane owned by the Axe family...and it was here in 1884 that William and Gwenllian met and married.... William was a Steam Engine Driver at Killers Quarry Middleton.. On Dec 5th 1905 William went to work as usual down at "the firm" He lit the boiler to get up steam, then made his way up the cut to the face. Killers prided themselves on cutting out great blocks of Hopton Woodstone rather than using explosives, which is why they employed masons and stonecutters...At the face he tranferred to the Steam Crane which was used to pull out the blocks and then loaded onto the wagons for transportation down to Cromford Wharf bound south to Nottingham London..or to the north Whaley Bridge and the docks at Liverpool or Manchester. He had only just climbed into the crane which was built on a wooden tripod foundation, when a fault gave way, and the whole face descended with a terrible force.....As the dust settled..Williams body was found crushed beyond repair..He died soon after..His grave in Middleton Parish Church yard was marked by a memorial stone the masonary work fashioned by his kin ...The irony to me is that the stone was one of the blocks which crushed out his life..and was a reason why...when my father died, days before he made me promise.".no stones over my resting place". We adhered to his wish and he lies near his mother at Middleton Congregational Church in a flat lawned piece of ground with just a simple vase to mark his resting place.

Dates:1863-1905
Photo taken:c1898
Size:
Source:Stuart Flint, 6 Oat Hill, Wirksworth
Click on photo for enlargement (on CD only) Have any more information about this photo? Please e-mail the author on:


Compiled, formatted, hyperlinked, encoded, and copyright © 2005, All Rights Reserved.