Moss Pits Disaster - headstone, but not a grave
Photo: Rev David Long

After successfully locating John Knowles' grave in the graveyard at St Thomas Golborne, I continued walking through reading the inscriptions. To my surprise I eventually came across another name I recognised - that of George Prescott. The headstone records his death on September 6th, 1871. I reported the find to Stan Jones, who looked at the church's burial records, but found no record of his internment. The stone also records his widow Ann's death in 1882, and their daughter Alice's death in 1863. The stone may well have been engraved after Ann's death. The likelihood is that George's remains lie, unidentified, in a public grave in Ince Cemetery - perhaps with that of his nephew, Thomas Prescot (sic), who was buried on April 9th, 1873. His father, Henry Prescott (sic), was the underlooker who had been in the seam shortly before the explosions, and had said it was gas-free. He was rescued from the higher four foot seam in the initial rescue attempts. As may be seen, the headstone has been snapped off near its base, and it has been set up behind its plinth, hiding the remainder of the inscription. Perhaps a family member will come forward to have it restored.