Barbara and Graham's Family Tree
Simon Holmes
Simon Holmes (1836-1903)
Simon was born in Ibstock Leicestershire in 1836 to Thomas and Elizabeth Holmes. In the 1851 census, it shows him already working as a coalminer at the age of 15. He married Emily Sandlant in 1857 and by the time of the 1861 census they had moved to Staveley in Derbyshire.
They then moved to Clay Cross in Derbyshire where he worked for the Messrs Smith and Shepherd's colliery. On 7th June 1868 he was involved in an accident at the pit which resulted in him being unable to walk for the rest of his life.
He was getting into the tub to go down the pit with his brother John and a friend John Finney, when a rope broke and they fell about 34 yards to the bottom of the shaft. John Finney died from his injuries, but Simon and John Holmes survived. The tragedy is that they were not supposed to be going to work that day as it was a holiday.
There were two reports of the inquest in the Derbyshire Times. Parts of the second report are difficult to read because of the age of the paper, but it is worth trying to read it. Simon and John were still seriously ill at the time of the inquest as it says they did not expect one of them to recover but perhaps the other would.
First report
2nd Inquest Report
Simon did recover but was unable to walk. When he was well enough, he started a small shop in New Street Clay Cross (now King Street). He is shown in the Kelly's 1899 trade directory as a smallware dealer.
Simon's shop in New Street
Simon with his horse and carriage.