In later life, William John Bramhill (1883-1922) had to take a foul-smelling medicine from a handkerchief to aid his breathing. We know that his affliction was caused by a factory explosion. It is quite likely that the injury affected his ability to work and led to a slide into poverty, which in turn caused the breakdown of his marriage and eventual separation from his wife.
There is some doubt over which explosion affected William John. It is known that he worked for Bibby's at the time of his marriage in 1911 (his trade is given as "oil extractor" - processing palm nuts to make seedcake for cattle) and that was the year of the Bibby's blast.
However, there is an outside chance the explosion was the one that occurred at a gun cotton factory at Rawtenstall, Lancs; we might never be sure which incident it was.
The main pointer is the date - we believe William John's injury prevented him from enlisting for service in World War One, which would point to Bibby's .
The Bibby's explosion took place on November 24, 1911, and was "the most horrifying disaster" in company history. It was one of two or three major dust explosions that occurred in the UK in the 20th century - where an escape of dust in an industry such as flour milling is ignited, with spectacular and often fatal results. Family tales have it that William John went back into the building to rescue a colleague called Smith, but his lungs were badly affected.
Bibby's official history, A Miller's Tale (published in 1978) says: Joseph Bibby was a Liverpool city councillor at the time and in Bibby's Annual for 1912 he describes how he first heard the news: "The first hint I received of the ill-fortune which had befallen us was at a committee meeting of the city council and from a colleague, who, coming in from the street, remarked that he hoped the boiler explosion at our Works, of which he had just heard, was not serious. I had, happily, no experience of boiler explosions but knew enough about such matters to understand that a boiler could not explode without causing much damage and I at once hurried off to the Mills. As I neared the district in which they are located my worst fears were realised as there was evidence all around the neighbourhood that something serious had happened. On arrival, I found that, though the boilers were unharmed, a terrible disaster had taken place. Inquiry on the spot elicited the information that the men had just returned to work after the midday meal. The machines in this section of the mill, where all the grinding operations are carried out, had only been running a few minutes before a terrific explosion took place." The explosion, one of the most serious dust explosions ever to happen in this country, gave rise to an inquiry by HM Inspector Of Factories and stimulated research on the conditions under which such explosions could occur.It seems that it was probably sparked off by a broken belt fracturing an electrical wiring conduit and igniting some dust in the grinding section of the mill. The primary explosion so caused raised more dust from the rafters and so gave rise to a second explosion of much greater violence, followed by a third and a fourth on other floors of the building. Thirty nine men were killed including some working in the streets outside and many were maimed and injured. It was a frightful accident and a most grievous event. It is recorded that the compensation awarded by the Firm to bereaved wives and families was so generous that a public appeal for a fund organised by the Liverpool Daily Post was abandoned. Although the loss of life was appalling, it appears that the structural damage was not great and contemporary accounts suggest that full production was restored within a few weeks."
The Bibby's oil mill was the scene of another tragedy on 5 May, 1930, when a dust explosion on the 11th floor caused five deaths and 100 injuries.
:: If you know more about the Bibby's blast, and especially William John's part in it, please e-mail bramhill.net.
