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  1. #1
    Corisande
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    Default Coal Miners - World War 1

    Does anyone know how one can research Coal Miners in WW1.

    My grandfather was a slate miner and moved to coal mining at some point during the war. I know what pit he ended the war in, but can get no records of either exempt miners from conscription or from the mines.

    I am talking about Coal Miners, not miners on the front in France. And I am not talking about the Bevan Boys in WW2, which is something entirely different

    During WW1 the country found that too many coal miners were joining up as infantry, and coal production was not enough for the Navy ships, etc. So the Defence of The Realm Act introduced a number of measures to keep miners mining.

    However there seem to be no records!

  2. #2
    Knowledgeable and helpful
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    nr birmingham
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    705

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    Hi
    Do you know what area he worked in my grandad was a miner all his life in the Derbyshire/Nottingham coal fields. However most mines were privately owned and you may find no records have survived.
    There are various sites covering the history of the mining industry usually only records survive if he had an accident.
    I have never found anything for my grandad but luckily have stories from the family.

    Good luck
    Jane

  3. #3
    Corisande
    Guest

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jane Gee View Post
    Do you know what area he worked in my grandad was a miner all his life in the Derbyshire/Nottingham coal fields.
    All I have on this period is:-

    My grandfather Evan Pugh didn't join the army but worked as a coal miner at Treorchy in South Wales during World War I. Quarrymen were drafted into the coal mines of South Wales, and that was what happened to Evan and his brothers. Britain introduced conscription 2nd February, 1916, under DORA (Defence of the Realm Act). By then over a fifth of all miners had left coal-mining and enlisted in the army, and Britain needed more coal. Coal mining became a "reserved occupation" and miners were, as whole, not allowed to join the army, although the government did enforce a certain amount of weeding out of miners for transfer to the army right up to the end of the war.

    With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, coal mines were taken under governmental control. Relatively a good period for miners as government control resulted in increased safety standards, and higher wages with the same wage rate in all areas. Miners were mainly happy that the government ran the mines.

    His marriage cert in 1919 give him living at 13 New Chapel St, Treorchy and "miner". Before and after WW1 he lived and worked in the Slate Quarries in Merioneth.

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