be done to prevent such accidents. Inspectors visited after the accidents had taken place and nothing was done to prevent them. Complaints made by workmen to the mines inspectors usually had substance. An increase in the number of inspectors was considered but conditions could only improve when the collieries were better managed. Unskilled managers and their subordinates, underground viewers needed educating. Disasters caused the colliery owners to become more receptive to inspections as accidents and losses would be lessened if sub-inspectors could make suggestions as to the better management of the collieries making them safer for the workforce. The great loss of life in the pits led to the announcement of a Royal Commission. Death toll It was stated under oath and in two Command Reports to Parliament that the explosions killed 361 men and boys, based on 340 working below ground in the first explosion (with six survivors) and 27 rescuers killed on 13 December. The accident was the worst in British mining history until the Senghenydd Colliery Disaster which claimed 439 lives in the South Wales coalfield in 1913. The Oaks disaster remains the worst in an English coalfield. A volunteer research project by the Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership in 2016 produced a list of 383 names although not all were verified as dead in the disaster. The ages of those killed ranges from 10 to 67. See also List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll Glossary of coal mining terminology Notes References Bibliography 1866 mining disasters 1866 in England Explosions in 1866 19th century in Yorkshire 1866 disasters in the United Kingdom Disasters in Yorkshire Explosions in England History of South Yorkshire December 1866 events