John Frederick Seddon
John Frederick Seddon (1848-1883)
1883 Obituary [1]
Mr. JOHN FREDERICK SEDDON, of Great Harwood, Lancashire, who was accidentally killed on the 7th November last in his thirty-fifth year, was the eldest son of Mr. John Seddon of Wigan and Southport, and was born at the former town in 1847. The deceased was trained as a mining engineer under the late Mr. Greener at the Pemberton collieries of Messrs. Blundell & Sons, and subsequently entered the employment of the Wigan Coal and Iron Company. 0n the completion of his articles, he became manager and one of the owners of the Great Harwood Collieries, near Accrington, a position which he only quitted in October last, in order that he might engage in private practice as a mining engineer.
When intimation was made to Mr. Seddon of the serious explosion which took place at the Altham Collieries, Accrington, on the 7th November last, he at once proceeded to the scene of the accident. Throughout that day he was down the pit, assisting in and to some extent directing the explorations made with a view to the rescue of the imprisoned misers. While returning home in the evening in the conveyance of a friend, the horse bolted, and Mr. Seddon was pitched on to his head in the roadway with such force as to dislocate his neck, death being instantaneous. The death of Mr. Seddon under such circumstances created a painful impression in Accrington and its neighbourhood, where he was much respected. He became a member of the Iron and Steel Institute in 1875, and was a leading member of the Local Reception Committee on the occasion of the Liverpool meeting.
1884 Obituary [2]
JOHN FREDERICK SEDDON was born in Liverpool en 25th May 1848, and received his early training as a mining engineer under Mr. Greener at the Pemberton Collieries near Wigan, and afterwards under Mr. Alfred Hewlett at the Wigan Coal and Iron Works.
He then became manager and part proprietor of the Great Harwood Collieries near Accrington; and continued in that position till the latter part of 1883, when he established himself in practice as a consulting mining engineer.
Only a month later, after having been actively engaged in the explorations and attempts to rescue the colliers on occasion of the explosion at Moorfield Pit of the Altham Collieries, Accrington, ho was being driven home late at night on 7th November 1883, when he was thrown from the vehicle and killed by the fall, in the thirty-sixth year of his age.
He became a Member of the Institution in 1873.