Mining accident 1896-7

I have an old family anecdote that tells that my grandfather’s father (currently unknown) was a miner or worker at Hill End and was killed in some sort of accident in 1896 or 1897. My grandfather’s mother was pregnant at the time and it is said that they were engaged. Grandfather was born probably November 1897, and, whilst there is a birth certificate, we are not sure of the veracity of the details on it. Grandfather was named Ernest and my only lead is that possibly his father’s name was Ernest, although Ernest was an extremely popular name at this time. So I’m trying to find out if there were any men named Ernest who passed away in the Hill End area at this time, and perhaps in sudden and/or tragic circumstances, and are maybe not listed in the NSW BDM. I’ve scoured the BDM and found nothing that fits but I’m sure that, at the time, there would have been many BDMs which were not recorded. There may be mentions in local newspapers etc but so far I’ve found nothing. I wonder if you could please provide any further leads, hints or information on where I could search further. Many thanks. Jane