William Dodd

William Dodd was born on 16th May 1852 in Bickerton, Malpas, Cheshire. He was the son of 23-year-old Martha Dodd, and grandson of William Dodd, shoemaker of Bickerton. William's father is unknown; but on the 30th March 1851 at the time of the 1851 census Martha was living away from home, working as a house servant for Thomas Cornes, master wheelwright and farmer in Burland, Cheshire.

1841 census Bickerton, Cheshire William Dodd 35 shoemaker Mary 40 Martha 12 Hannah 9 Benjamin 6 Joseph 4
1851 census Burland, Cheshire Thomas Cornes 43 master wheelwright and farmer 13 acres employing 2 men as wheelwright b Cheshire Brindley Elizabeth Cornes 38 b Barthomley John Cornes 16 wheelwright apprentice b Barthomley Thomas Cornes 5 b Burland William Cornes 6m b Burland Martha Dodd 22 house servant b Bickerton	1851 census Bickerton Hill, Bickerton, Cheshire William Dodd 46 shoemaker Bickerton Mary wife 59 Bickerton Philip Dodd father 76 farm labourer Bickerton Joseph Dodd 14 gson Bebbington

His mother married George Taylor, a miner from Woore, Shropshire in 1855 at Audlem St James, and by 1861 she and her new husband were living in Wood Lane, Audley, Staffs with their three young sons, George, Joseph and Amos.

1861 census Wood Lane, Audley, Staffs TAYLOR, George Head Married M 27 Coal Miner Muckelstone Shropshire TAYLOR, Martha Wife Married F 32 MalpasCheshire TAYLOR, George Son Unmarried M 5 Scholar AudleyStaffordshire TAYLOR, Joseph Son M 2 AudleyStaffordshire TAYLOR, Amos Son M 0 (2W) AudleyStaffordshire DODD, Mary Visitor Widow F 70 MalpasCheshire	1861 census Bickerton Hill, Bickerton, Cheshire William DODD Head Married M 66 Shoemaker Bickerton Cheshire William DODD Grandson M 8 Scholar Bickerton Cheshire
1871 census Wood Lane, Audley, Staffs George Taylor 37 coal miner Woore Martha 41 Bickerton George 15 Audley Joseph 12 Amos 10 Sarah Forster visitor 4 Buerton	1871 census Green Lane, Bickerton, Cheshire William Dodd 76 shoemaker Bickerton Mary Dodd 81 wife Agden Cheshire (blind) William son 19 agricultural labourer Bickerton Elizabeth 11 neice Mellins Green? Cheshire

William therefore appears to have been raised by his grandparents, William and Mary Dodd, in Bickerton, Cheshire. He lived with them until at least 1871, at which time he was an agricultural labourer, still living in Bickerton on Green Lane. However, in early 1873 he married Ann Johnson, the 20-year-old daughter of colliery bailiff Benjamin Johnson. The Johnsons were all born in Wolstanton, Staffordshire, and lived on Ravens Lane, Audley, so William may have met Ann while visiting his mother, who was by now in her forties with three teenage sons. Alternatively, he may have come to Audley to find work; his uncle, Benjamin Dodd, was certainly living in living in Wood Lane in 1871, working as a labourer.

At some point around this time, William started to work at Diglake Colliery as a miner. Possibly his father-in-law already worked there; the pit itself was fairly new, having opened in 1870, and it had a very good reputation for safety. Then on 25th May 1874, William and Ann were blessed with a son, Arthur William, and the following year with a daughter, Mary Alice. However, William's new life with Ann and their two children was cut short when their daughter Mary died on 13th January 1876, aged just 5 months. Then, tragically, Ann herself died of tuberculosis on 27th May 1876 at their home in Ravens Lane, two days after Arthur's second birthday. At this time it's possible that William and his young son moved in with Ann's parents, the Johnsons, so that there was someone to care for Arthur while William was at work. However, just over a year after the loss of his wife and daughter, Arthur too passed away, aged just three, on 12th July 1877. He is buried alongside his mother and her sister Rachel Johnson, who died at the age of 18, in the churchyard of St James, Audley.

By 1881, William was still living with his late wife's family, the Johnsons, in Bignall Hill, Audley. Benjamin Johnson had risen to become colliery manager, and his son Fred Johnson was colliery clerk. Possibly both worked with William at Diglake. The family lived next door to a farmer, John Emberton, and his family. John had 82 acres and two daughters still unmarried, 42-year-old Hannah and 40-year-old Elizabeth. His son, George Emberton, was a colliery clerk, probably also at Diglake. In 1882, William married the second daughter, Elizabeth, some 11 years his senior.

1881 census Ravens Lane, Audley, Staffs George TAYLOR M 48 Audlem, Cheshire Farmer 25 Acres Martha TAYLOR Wife M 49 Malpass, Cheshire George TAYLOR Son U 24 Audley, Stafford Laborer (Ag) Amos TAYLOR Son U 22 Audley, Stafford Butcher Henry FORSTER Boarder U Male 20 Audlem, Cheshire Coal Miner Sarah FORESTER Servant U 17 Audlem, Cheshire Domestic Servant	1881 census Bignall Hill, Audley, Staffs Benjamin JOHNSON Head M 51 Chesterton, Stafford Colliery Manager Elizabeth JOHNSON Wife M 53 Chesterton, Stafford Fred JOHNSON Son U 20 Chesterton, Stafford Colliery Clerk Mary E. JOHNSON Daur 14 Audley, Stafford Scholar Alice M. JOHNSON Daur 12 Audley, Stafford Scholar William DODD Son In Law W 29 Malpas, Cheshire Coal Miner
1891 census Ravens Lane, Audley, Staffs George Taylor widower 59 Woore farmer Amos 32 butcher Audley Sarah Forster neice 26 gen serv dom Dukinfield Hannah Hollinshead 14 serv Goldenhill	1891 census Diglake, Audley, Staffs William Dodd (age illegible) coal miner Bickerton Cheshire Elizabeth Dodd 56 Audley George Emberton lodger 49 clerk colliery

Things seem to have improved for William as a result of his connection with the Embertons, and possibly the Johnsons also. On December 24th 1881 he became a member of Court 5288 of the Ancient Order of Foresters, and would later become their treasurer. On 5th July 1889 he received the certificate which allowed him to become an under manager at Diglake, and by 1891 he and Elizabeth were living in Diglake, right next to the colliery where over 200 local men and boys worked.

By 1895, William had worked at Diglake Colliery for over twenty years, and must have known the colliery and the men well. At around eleven thirty in the morning of Monday 14th January, 1895, William was in his office located near the bottom of number two shaft at Diglake, when a boy came running to tell him that water was pouring into the pit from the direction of the 10 foot seam. This seam was being extended at the time, and an explosive shot had brought down the wall between the current pit and an older abandoned pit, thought to be much further away, which had been filling with water for over 50 years.

As a result, water tore through the pit at a fantastic rate, carrying men, wagons, horses, roof supports and rock with it. William, in his own account of the disaster, gives us the best description of the impending horror; he describes going to the door of his office and feeling a 'concussion of the air'. He immediately gave the alarm and set off to warn men in other parts of the pit.

William's efforts to save as many men and boys as possible ultimately led to him spending some five hours underground in chest-high, freezing, fast-flowing water, often in pitch black darkness. At one point he was almost washed away himself, and several times avoided being hit by wreckage floating in the water. He did in fact pass out at least once, but upon coming round insisted on returning to the pit to try and reach others. Some accounts state that he saved 30 lives that day; others put it as high as 47. However many it was, it's clear that without his prompt action, organisation and selflessness, many more than 77 would have died that day.

By five o'clock that afternoon, all the men who were to survive the flood had been brought out of the pit. By this time, the colliery was thronging with anxious relatives, colliery officials and local press; William said nothing of his actions and simply went home. It was Wednesday before the press picked up on his part in the rescue and persuaded him to give an interview, and by this time it was becoming clear that despite frantic efforts, the 77 men still trapped below ground were not going to be rescued in time. In fact, they were never reached, and all but five bodies remained in the abandoned pit, where they lie to this day.

The pit was closed forever, and men either retired, found alternative work or moved to other pits. William received the Royal Humane Society Medal, along with other members of the rescue team, and was also presented with the gold Albert Medal by Queen Victoria herself at Windsor Castle on 9th March 1895. It is not clear whether he ever worked again; in 1901, he and Elizabeth were living alone in Diglake House on Bignall Hill, right next to the site of the colliery, and by this time he describes himself as a retired miner.

William lived at Diglake House until his death on Saturday, 7th January 1907, having never really recovered from his ordeal some 12 years earlier. At his funeral, colliery officials preceded the hearse, and his coffin was carried by eight of his nephews. William's mother, Martha, had died in 1881, but his half-brother, George Taylor, was there, and so were his brother-in-laws Robert Tompkinson and George Taylor, both of whom were married to Emberton girls. It must have been hard for him to live his life so close to the abandoned pit, watching it become overgrown and derelict year by year, but at the same time he would have been able to watch those whom he had saved carry on with their lives, grow up and get married and have children of their own.

I.l.m.o. WILLIAM b.h.o. ELIZABETH DODD of Diglake House, Audley who
d.19.1.1907 a.54y.

Until the day break and the shadows flee away. Also ELIZABETH DODD
w.o.t.a. of Diglake House who d.26.12.1920 a.80y

Photo taken by Brenda, from the churchyard of St James the Great, Audley.

Diglake House, on the Audley Rd (Butters Green) - William Dodd's last home?. The site of Diglake Colliery lies behind.