News

# Gresford Colliery documents head for Wrexham in first for The National Archives

The National Archives is displaying records related to the Gresford Colliery
disaster in Wrexham Library to mark the 91st anniversary on 22 September 2025.

Published 18 September 2025

Two hundred and sixty-six men and boys died after an underground explosion and
devastating fire on the morning of 22 September 1934. Most of the casualties of
the disaster in 1934 lived in Wrexham and the surrounding villages. Many of
their families still mark the anniversary at an annual commemorative service.

> These documents, permanently preserved at The National Archives, bear witness to
> the events surrounding this unimaginable disaster and the tragic loss of so many
> lives. Partnering with colleagues in archives in North Wales to bring this
> material to the community in Wrexham is a great privilege

Emmajane Avery, Director of Public Engagement at The National Archives

In the display will be a notebook containing falsified air measurements ordered
by mine manager William Bonsall. In his evidence to police, which will also be
on show, assistant surveyor William Cuffin, whose job it was to take air
measurements, said: “I recorded a number of air measurements… under date 7th
July, 1934 and 25th August 1934. The measurements recorded under those dates
were not taken in the pit and are false.” He explained how he had been asked to
make up the false readings by the mine manager in the days immediately after the
explosion.

Also on show will be petitions in which thousands of local people pleaded with
the authorities for the return of their loved ones, which was made more
difficult at the time by a series of after-explosions and concerns about risks
to rescuers.

Gresford: Voices from the Archives is a collaboration with North-East Wales
Archives and Wrexham Archives and is free. The document display is a two-day
event on Monday 22 September and the morning of Tuesday 23 September. A day of
free family activities will take place at the Mines Rescue Station on Sunday 21
September.

Focus on

## [Emily Capper and the 1934 Gresford Colliery disaster](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-collection/stories/emily-capper-and-the-1934-gresford-colliery-disaster/)

![A photograph of inside a mine. There are coal trucks and rails upended. A torch light shines on them](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/trucks-upended-by-ex_Wknb7oJ.2e16d0ba.fill-600x400.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg)

Read more about the Gresford disaster and one woman's campaign to recover the
bodies of the victims.

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