and losses caused by water inundation in one of his coal mines meant that he had to sell the house to avoid bankruptcy. The inundation of Garden Pit on 14 February 1844 killed 40 miners, some of whom were probably female - despite the passage two years earlier of the Mines and Collieries Act, which forbad women and girls (and boys under ten) from working underground. The sale took place in 1857 at one of the coffeehouses that served as places of business on Exchange Alley in the City of London. The auction details describe the property as extensive. The house fell into ruin, and stood abandoned for about a century, before being purchased and restored by a local man who had known the building since childhood. The story of the house and its restoration was covered in Restoration Home, a BBC programme shown in August 2011. Architectural historian Kieran Long and social historian Kate Williams researched and presented some of the background about the Owens and their house. It is known simply as "Big House". References Sources External links The Big House Landshipping coal mine Landshipping Pit Disaster, 1830 |- 1776 births 1861 deaths Tory MPs (pre-1834) Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Pembrokeshire constituencies UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Lord-Lieutenants of Pembrokeshire