Appeal to trace relatives of Markham miners

13 people tragically lost their lives in 1937, 1938 and 1973

Markham Colliery
Author: Trevor ThomasPublished 30th Jun 2022
Last updated 30th Jun 2022

Derbyshire County Council would like to get in touch with the relatives of the men who are set to be commemorated with a life-size steel figure as part of the ‘Walking Together’ mining memorial.

The memorial will eventually feature 106 life-size steel figures stretching between the village of Duckmanton in Chesterfield and the former pithead.

Each figure is part of a walking trail that symbolises a miner’s journey to the pit and back home again and represents the 106 men who lost their lives in the three accidents at the site.

There are now 93 figures in place with the council continuing to work alongside partners to fundraise to see all 106 figures installed by the project’s 10th anniversary in autumn 2022.

The authority wants to trace the relatives of:

David Bann, 54, Contractor

Alfred Garland, 52, Timber Drawer

Robert Gregson, 36, Contractor

John William Hadley, 31, Contractor

Joseph Hibbard, 51, Timber Drawer

Joseph Lilley, 30, Road Repairer

Felix Linathan, 48, Contractor

Mark Richards, 31, Ripper

Samuel Edward Salt, 41, Deputy

Clarence Silcock, 42, Ripper

Fred Taylor, 53, Contractor

Redvers Baden Whitehead, 37, Shot-firer

Matthew Williams, 36, Contractor

Cabinet Member for Clean Growth and Regeneration, Councillor Tony King, said:

“We would really like to trace the relatives of the 13 remaining men we will be commemorating as part of our Walking Together mining memorial.

“The memorial is a permanent tribute to the 106 men who tragically lost their lives in three accidents at the site in 1937, 1938, and 1973.

“We have now commemorated 93 out of the 106 men with a life-size figure and we’re hoping to install the remaining 13 by the project’s 10th anniversary in autumn 2022."

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.