b. 1874 Rowley Regis, Staffordshire. d. 4th Q 1959 Rowley Regis, Staffordshire.
DATE OF EM ACTION: 17/04/1910 Russell Hall Colliery, Dudley, Staffordshire.
Samuel was born in c.1874 in Rowley Regis, Staffordshire, the second of five children of James and Ann Slater. Little is known about his early life, except that he went into mining from an early age. In 1896 he married Elizabeth and they had three daughters. The family lived at 97 Baptist End Lane in Netherton, near Dudley, close to the Russell Hall Colliery where Samuel was a miner. Little is known about Samuel following the award of his Edward Medal. He died in Rowley Regis in the last quarter of 1959, aged 85.
EM CITATION:
On the 17th April. 1910, an underground fire, in which the lives of two workmen were lost, occurred at the Russell Colliery, near Dudley, Staffs — a district where the workings are peculiarly liable to spontaneous combustion.
The fire broke out at a point about 114 yards from the bottom of the downcast shaft, and when it was discovered by smoke issuing from the upcast shaft, the Manager of the mine, accompanied by several workmen, proceeded to the spot to try and put the fire out. After working for a considerable time in the heat and smoke, two of the party, Archer Cartwright (Under Manager) and Anthony Willets, were sent to the surface for tools, leaving the Manager and two workmen to proceed with the work of fighting the fire. In their absence, both the Manager, who, feeling the effects of the smoke, had walked back a short distance, and the two workmen were overcome by the noxious atmosphere. Willets, on his return, found the Manager unconscious and dragging him, in spite of his very heavy weight, to the bottom of the shaft, brought him safely to the surface. Willets and Cartwright and a third man named Samuel Slater then descended the shaft in order to try and rescue the two workmen who had succumbed. They found them and attempted to carry them back; but Willets, who was already exhausted by his previous efforts, gave signs of giving way, and Cartwright and Slater also feeling ill-effects, they were all compelled to return and leave the two unfortunate workmen. On their way back, Willets fell down unconscious, and Cartwright and Slater, being unable to help him, made their way with difficulty to the surface. They were able, however, to tell Isaiah Walker of Willets’ condition, and he volunteered to try and bring Willets out. Descending the mine alone, and crawling on his hands and knees under the smoke, Walker managed to reach Willets, whom he found lying on his face about 27 yards from the shaft. Seizing him by the shoulders, Walker managed to drag Willets to the shaft bottom, and then took him up in the cage. Walker again went down the shaft in the hope of reaching the two workmen left in the mine; but this time he was unsuccessful, and was forced to come back.
BURIAL LOCATION: UNKNOWN.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.
