Getts
As part of the Chinese Historical Wrongs Legacy Initiative, we’ve digitized a small selection of inquests and inquiries from 1872 to 1934, found in series GR-0431. These were chosen to reflect the experiences of early Chinese immigrants to B.C. – their living and working conditions, and their unfortunate accidental or unusual deaths. They range from a woman working in a brothel in Barkerville who died of natural causes to three sawmill workers who died from malnutrition. Learn more.
*All transcriptions are provided by volunteers, and the accuracy of the transcriptions is not guaranteed. Please be sure to verify the information by viewing the image record, or visiting the BC Archives in person.
*Please note that archival source materials are original historical documents that have not been censored, reviewed or otherwise altered by the Royal BC Museum. Some materials may contain content that is racist, sexist or otherwise offensive. The Royal BC Museum is only the custodian of archival materials; the content does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Royal BC Museum.
Current Page Transcription [edit] [history]
out of the mine & said that a box would have to be sent down to bring up a man who was lying dead below. I aided in taking the box down & within about 200 yds of where the accident occurred. We met some men bringing the body of a man up in another box & as they were fresh men pushed the box with the dead man in it & left the others to follow with the empty box. When we got to the mouth of the Pit I recognized the injured man to be Mathew McDowell and I helped to take him to his house. Then went down again into the Pit & helped to fetch up the body of George Brown who was quite dead. They never received any warning that there was gas in the mine. It is usual to caution the men when such is the case then I went down into the mine on Friday morning it was merely for the purpose of fetching my tools as I was going to work at another place. I was told by the "boys" to fetch my tools. I saw that the air comb was changed since I had been working on Monday the 11th inst. My opinion, as an experienced miner,
BC Archives, GR-0431 Box 1 File 7 / BRITISH COLUMBIA. ATTORNEY GENERAL. / Inquisitions / inquests conducted by coroners in British Columbia.