William Bird 1859-1911, Rescuer of The Whitwick Colliery Disaster

One of my Bird Family ancestors, William Bird, was one of the rescuers to one of the "most terrible disasters known in the history of coal-mining in Leicestershire." - The Guardian, 1898

William Bird

b. Abt.1859 d. April 1911

married for ten years on December 24th, 1892 to 

Eliza Tindell (Stepmother)

b. October 1862 d. December 6th, 1902

(3rd  great-grandparents)

Places lived:
Lount, Leicestershire, England
Thringstone, Leicestershire, England
Swannington, Leicestershire, England 

Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, England 

On the morning of April 19th, 1898, a fire broke out at the Whitwick Colliery, near Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

"Leicestershire’s worst mining disaster occurred in No.5 pit at Whitwick Colliery. This was a dry dusty pit that had been worked for sixty years. The disaster was the result of a “gob” fire during the night shift. Forty-two men were underground, including a boy of thirteen. Many were related to each other or close neighbours. Most of the miners were trapped at workings beyond the fire. There were only seven survivors. The victims died of suffocation as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. Attempts were made to recover the bodies but twelve remain underground. The tragedy left twenty-seven widows and eighty-four children under the age of thirteen." - Whitwick Historical Group

Photos from The Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland

The Guardian, London, Greater London, England, Wed, Apr 20, 1898, Page 8

My ancestor, William Bird, photographed in 1898 along with the other rescuers who were given a medal and certificate for their bravery. Source

This year was the 125th anniversary of the Whitwick Colliery Disaster. Memorials have been placed to commemorate the lives lost that day as well as several news articles. The legacy of my 3rd great-grandfather lives on. 

Kiki Nakita

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Hello Blog, Are You Still There?

Good afternoon my dears.

It has been awhile since I updated my blog with life updates. Since I last blogged, our family grew...

We welcomed our daughter, Alli, in the Fall of 2022, after a successful IVF frozen embryo transfer.

For many years, it was just the two of us. I started this blog in college, back before social media took off. I have family and friends across the world and this was my little corner of the world to keep memories and share life updates. Time has flown by, as we have now been together for almost thirteen years and married for almost ten years. 

One of my favorite things about blogging was getting to peek into the lives of different people. People who mostly live across the Unites States, some my age, some my parents age, but all with one thing in common ~ our love for record keeping family moments and memories. 

When our son, Drew, was born, in the Spring of 2022 (during lockdown) I continued sharing updates as well as making some family home videos. Then the news about Joshua Duggar, from the infamous 19 Kids and Counting show came out. I followed the trial religiously and kept up with two of my favorite Duggar discussion groups. It opened my eyes to being more cautious about sharing the lives of my children. I turned my Facebook posts about my children to friends only, and my Instagram to private. I am still trying to find a balance between sharing life updates and keeping my children safe. 

This year, my goals are to get our home projects completed, to get my USB (external hard drive) of photos from 2022 organized, my 2022 family yearbook completed, to transfer more of my childhood family home movies, and last but not least, to update and hang our family tree up. What are some of your goals for this year? 

Until next time, 

Kiki Nakita 

You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, or Bloglovin'