b. ? 1869 Whitehaven, Cumberland. d. ? 1935 Whitehaven, Cumberland.
DATE OF EM ACTION: 11/05/1910 Wellington Colliery, Whitehaven, Cumberland.
Matthew was born in New Houses, Whitehaven in 1869, the third of eight children born to Matthew and Agnes Walsh (nee Reay). His father was a miner, and Matthew and three of his brothers also worked in the pits. In 1888, he married Jane George in Whitehaven and they had two daughters. Tragically two of his brothers were killed in mining accidents, and a third brother was killed in World War I. Little is known about his life following the award of the Edward Medal. Matthew died in 1935 aged 66 and was buried in Whitehaven Cemetery.
EM CITATION:
On the 11th May, 1910, a terrible fire occurred in the Wellington Pit, Whitehaven, at a point about 4,500 yards from the shafts. Various rescue parties, with great courage and self-devotion and at considerable risk, descended the mine and endeavoured to extinguish the fire and penetrate to the persons in the workings beyond the same. Thorne and Littlewood, fitted with breathing apparatus, reached within a distance of 150 yards of the fire, but were driven back by the great heat and effusion of gases. The others got to within about 300 yards of the fire, working in the smoke backing from the fire. It was found impossible to penetrate to the scene of the fire or to rescue any of the entombed miners. Had an explosion occurred — a by no means unlikely eventuality, seeing that the mine is a very gassy one — they would undoubtedly all have been killed. Special gallantry was shown by John Henry Thorne, to whom the Edward Medal of the First Class has already been awarded, and by James Littlewood.
BURIAL LOCATION: WHITEHAVEN CEMETERY, WHITEHAVEN, CUMBERLAND.
WARD 6, SECTION L, GRAVE 83.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.
