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  1. #1
    RLSNijhoff
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    Default Interpretting Colliery Labourer in Context

    Hello

    I am researching my family history and in the 1861 census have discovered the following;

    Head, Farmer of 50 acres
    Wife, Farmer's Wife
    Son (23), Farmer's Son
    Son (15), Farmer's Son
    Daughter (13), Scholar
    Son (11), Colliery Lab
    Daughter (9), Scholar
    (further children listed as scholars)

    I am still learning the ropes on how to read the wealth and status of each family, but I figured that the sons listed as 'farmer's son' and possibly the wife too are all working on the farm. I also think (pls correct me if I am wrong) that they don't look to be a poverty-line family... it is uncertain if they owned their property or rented but it was listed as 'Coppice Farm' in Ripley.

    From what I have read, and this is where my question lies - a colliery labourer (their 11 yr old son) would be in the coalmines... a coal miner... yes? As I understand it this was dangerous work and you didn't send your children into the mines unless the family really needed the money. Were there apprenticeships connected to the mines he could have been given?

    Can anyone shed any light on why this family might have sent their 11 yr old son into the mines? In the 1871 census he was listed as a stoker - we think that is connected to the railway as other family members work there. None of their other children seemed connected to the mines in any way - and they had a lot of children

    Any insights would be appreciated,

    Kind regards

    Rachael

  2. #2
    Mutley
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    According to this site the act of 1860 banned boys from under 12 years old from working at the mines unless they could read or write.
    www.
    ellonacademy.org.uk/Subjects/Departments/History/standard_grade_pages/coal_mining.htm

    So in 1861 a child of 11 years old must have been educated to a degree.

  3. #3
    Mutley
    Guest

    Default

    www.
    ancestryaid.co.uk/boards/genealogy-coffee-room/2195-children-coal-mines.html This makes really interesting reading regarding children working in the mines.

    Another snippet:
    The Mines Inspection Act of 1860 required boys between the ages of ten and twelve to have a school certificate before they could be employed.

  4. #4
    RLSNijhoff
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    Thanks for the article about children in the mines Mutley - I can't quite say I enjoyed reading it as it was so sad, but it was certainly informative. Interesting the links between the children being sent to work in the mines and the early introduction of schools and raising of the school leaving age too.

    Colliery labourer seems such a generic term. It is good to know that I am probably on the right track in thinking they were not on the poverty line as a family for some reason it just didn't feel right that they sent their son to the mines at such a young age unless they really needed the income.

    I had also wondered if maybe his education finished sooner because they felt he was not benefitting from it. From reading the children in the mines article it seems it could be both ways - either he was not very academic (could he have lied about his age to work in the mines or maybe employers turned a blind eye sometimes...?) and his parents felt he would learn more by starting work sooner, or maybe he was academic and got his school certificate early and so went into employment.

    Time to follow the family through some more census info and see where it leads :-)

  5. #5
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    Farming was quite inefficient back in genealogical times.

    It depended on the type of farming and the quality of the land but 50 acres was probably no more than 'OK' for size. I mean it would support a family but not much more. The farmer and two older sons were probably enough to work the land and the presence of local industry would be a valuable source of extra income for farming families.

    The census was a snapshot. What we don't know is whether the boy was hauled back for the harvest and whether the other sons may have spent some time during the year at the mine.

  6. #6
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    Hi

    Yes sometimes people flitted between occupations such as miner or ag labourer.

    My ancestor George Musgrave born in 1856 must have started in the mines in about 1866 or 1868.

    William Wilson was retired from the mines in St Helen Auckland, Durham in about 1885 after many decades of mining.

    Ben

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