In 1904, the president of the Association for the Prevention of Cruelty to Pit Ponies, Countess Maud Fitzwlliam, daughter of Lawrence Dundas, 1st Marquess of Zetland, awarded a young Elsecar Collieries mine worker, John William Bell of Wentworth, the Fitzwilliam Medal for Kindness for an act of bravery that saved the life of his equine workmate. Bell's story of staying behind while his human workmates were able to escape through a small opening, to ensure that the pony would have a chance of rescue, became a successful tool for the Countess in promoting pit pony rights. The brave young man appears to have given his own life to the mines, nonetheless, when, on 27 March 1910, John William Bell, son of Henry, died when hit by falling rock at the Oakenshaw mine while trying to aid another miner whose hand putter's tub had become loose.