b. 27/10/1864 Langholm, Dumfries, Scotland. d. 15/03/1933 Whitehaven, Cumberland.
DATE OF EM ACTION: 11/05/1910 Welllington Colliery, Whitehaven, Cumberland.
John was the youngest of three children born to Aaron and Sarah Whillans (nee Skillin). He had two older sisters, Margaret and Jane. It is unclear when John chose to move south of the border, and become a miner at Wellington Colliery in Whitehaven. In 1890 he married Charlotte (known as Lottie) Jordan in Whitehaven, and they had five children, a son and four daughters. Following the award of the Edward Medal, he continued to work as a deputy at Wellington Colliery. He died aged 68 on 15th March 1933 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 A, GRAVE 2.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.
