[2] Large mining disasters attracted public subscriptions for the victims, their wives and dependants but nothing was forthcoming for the numerous single deaths that occurred regularly.
Funeral grants, widow's pensions and orphan's benefits were also paid when its members were killed at work.
[3] A spate of disasters in the late-1860s and early-1870s left authorities unable to cope with large numbers of widows and orphans whose main breadwinner had been killed in the pits.
[4] Pickard considered that colliery disasters turned people into paupers through no fault of their own and that the society should be funded by both the colliers and the coal owners, provide orphanages and campaign for more stringent safety rules.
[5] The idea was received more sympathetically by the coal owners whose funds were inadequate to meet the demands of the time.