Blackwell Colliery Explosion 1895..those who lost their lives
Joseph Renshaw
Joseph Renshaw was born in South Normanton in 1860, and married Clara Dobbs, daughter of the landlord of the George and Dragon in Newton in 1888. They had 3 children, and lived in South Normanton until Joseph’s death just 7 years later. Clara remarried in 1908, to Albert Beal.
Joseph and Clara’s first child, Sarah Ann, was born in Newton in 1890 and following the death of her father moved from Church Street, South Normanton, to Newton Green with her widowed mother. In 1908 she married Herbert Molyneux of Newton, and had 3 children before tragically losing Herbert in Flanders during the First World War. Remaining in Newton, Sarah brought up the 3 children single handed, Sara Elizabeth (1910), Herbert (1912), and Reta or Kate (1914). She never remarried and is remembered still as she lived to 100 years of age, passing away in 1990.
The second child born to Joseph and Clara was George Albert, born 1893 in South Normanton, but sadly dying at the age of 6 years in 1899.
The third child, Joseph Thomas, was born just 14 days after his father lost his life in the explosion. He married Olive Kirk of Pinxton in 1916 and they had 4 children, Joseph ( 1918), Olga (1921), Ronnie (1923) and Harry ( 1928)