Mary Ann Jones was no novice when it came to mining explosions. She had seen it all before, although nothing on the scale that confronted her on that fateful Autumn day in 1887.

Mary became somewhat of a celebrity after she decided to take on the might of the region痴 largest employer in the wake of the tragedy.

Her courageous battle for compensation and outspoken criticism of the mine management won her respect and admiration from all quarters of the community after the explosion that rocked Bulli at 2.30pm.

Accidents in the dark depths of the coal pits were unfortunately part and parcel of mine work and Mary Jones had seen it all before. She had in the past helped bury mining accident victims in her motherland England by washing and shrouding bodies for burial. So it was only natural she offered her services after methane gas extinguished the lives of miners in her new home.

When confusion and grief took hold as mangled bodies began to surface from the pit portal, most women folk, who had lost husbands and sons, were in no fit state to prepare the victims for burial. Mine manager Alexander Ross asked Mary to receive the victims, wash, shroud, and prepare them for the grave, and, as she later revealed, to spare no expense. She accepted the commission and did as Ross requested, working with two other women for three days preparing the dead.

Mary (left) received the 81 men and boys in the coal company's work shed, located on the present corner of Hobart Street and the Princes Highway, as coffins were hastily knocked together on the road side (pictured right). The corner would be a shocking reminder of the scene of despair, horror and devastation to those who witnessed the tragedy for years to come.

Eighty men were employed to dig graves at St Augustine痴 Anglican Church yard, where fathers and sons were buried side by side. Others were buried at Corrimal and Woonona. Under the impression from the mine manager that she was to be rewarded for her efforts over those frantic few days, Mary discovered that the Bulli Coal Company had no plan to pay her. She wrote to the company on July 1 1888 in an attempt to gain a payment:

The events came to a head in April 1888 when Mary summoned the Bulli Colliery to the Sydney District Court in an endeavour to recover ｣20 and 5 shillings for "work done and services rendered" as a result of the Bulli disaster.

It was a case that immediately sparked intense interest and attracted great media attention.

Such a ghastly case had never before been heard in an Australian court.

Ross told the court that he may have made the remark "spare no expense" to have the bodies decently prepared for burial around the many people gathered around the pit mouth, but denied saying it directly to Mary.