Figure 1.--Children were not as strong men, but they were useful in the mines because they could into crevices and work in small passages. They would also work for very low wages. I am not sure who did this drawing and when, but it looks like the mid-19th century.

History generally teaches that up until the middle of the 19th century children, mainly boys were employed in mines. Al tasks to do. They opened and closed tunnel doors or pulled trucks laden with coal. Books often contain illustrated line drawings depicting these jobs. I believe that an illustrator for the 1842 Government report into working conditions of mines originally did these drawings. The first image is from the Mary Evens Picture library. It shows a boy hauling a coal truck through a tunnel. Two other images of boys working in the mines are taken from the book Wicked Wigan and would also seem to be 1841 illustrations. The mine inspector spoke with Henry Gibson who told his story. He was a drawer at Lord Balcarres’s pit at Haigh, Wigan, Lancashire, U.K. The date of the deposition was May 13, 1842.

Chronology

Women and children, especially boys, were commonly employed in British mines throughout thr 18th and 19th centuries. Some miner earer loked to hire women and children because they werre willing to work for so little. There were no restructions on this or efforts to protect the children until the 1842 Mining Act. This act prohibited children under 10 from working under ground. The industry continued to employ children well into the 20th century. Tasks existed for even young children above ground and the law permitted children over 10 to be employed below ground. We do not yet have detailed informstion on when further legislstion was passed protecting children, butvwe note boys being used in the mines during the early 20th century.

Imagery

Photography appeared about 1840. All imasges from the mines would be drawings before 1840. Photography was very epensive and cumbersome, thus it is unlikely that images exist of the childrem in the minds before the development of the modeately expensive carre de viste about 1860. Even so few children working in the mines had money for photography aat sny price and few photographers seem to think them an interesting subject. This did not change until the turn of the 20th century when a number of socially conscious photographers in Europe and America began to document child labor in an effort to inform the public of the conditions under which children labored.

Tasks

All tasks to do. They opened and closed tunnel doors or pulled trucks laden with coal. Books often contain illustrated line drawings depicting these jobs. I believe that an illustrator for the 1842 Government report into working conditions of mines originally did these drawings. The first image is from the Mary Evens Picture library. It shows a boy hauling a coal truck through a tunnel. Two other images of boys working in the mines are taken from the book Wicked Wigan and would also seem to be 1841 illustrations.

Individual Boys

A British mine inspector spoke several of the boys. We do not know what his name was.

Henry Gibson

One of the boys ho told his story was Henry Gibson. He was a drawer at Lord Balcarres’s pit at Haigh, Wigan, Lancashire, U.k. The date of the deposition was May 13, 1842. Harry was 14 and his parents were dead. He lived with a master who did not give him any clothes but sold a good jacket Harry had. He left this lodging to live with his aunt. He worked for one of his cousins who collected his wages and kept it. They gave Harry shelter and provide him with food. He felt comfortable with this arrangement. None-the-less his aunt did not clothe him and it had been a year since clothes had been given to him. He was once beaten with a thick stick and kicked by his cousin for leaving home. The reason was that Harry needed a new pair of clogs and they would not provide them. Harry worked from 5 am to 30 after 8 pm each working day. Harry gave an account of regular beatings of other boys by the ‘masters’. I think these are other miners who have employed a boy to work as their assistant. Harry saw a boy called Jonathan Dicks, who was from the St. Helen’s Workhouse, get beaten regularly. He saw his master beat him with a pick handle on his legs and arms. The boy had cuts to his head because of the beatings. Harry also told of 8-year-old Andrew who comes from Liverpool. He lives with his master. This person did not feed the boy properly and that the other boys share their food with him.

Thomas Parr

homas Parr was 12 and worked at the same pit. He could only go to Sunday school if his brother allowed him to wear his clothes other wise he had to stay at home.

John Charnock

John Charnock was believed to be between the ages of 10 – 12. He worked as a waggoner at Mr. Thickness’s Kirkless Pit near Wigan. He did not know how old he was. He worked from 5 am until 5 or 6 pm. The boy ate breakfast of thick porridge before he started work. He ate his potato lunch as he worked in the pit. His lunch period was an hour but he carried on working. He had potatoes for his supper on many occasions. He wore ragged clothes for work and it seems they were all the clothes he had. He lived with his parents and he had 3 sisters. At night they slept in the same bed in the same room.

Girls

It was not only young boys who did these tasks in the Wigan coalfields but young girls. They were called ‘Pit Brow Lasses.’ They were unusual because they wore trousers. The picture of them is from the Wigan Heritage Service. Their story is told in a book called ‘Lancashire Lasses’ by Steve Jones. In the 1840’s a British government committee was appointed to investigate the industrial working conditions. The mining sub-committee reported what they saw in the Wigan mines. It was very distressing for the officials to see young women dressed as boys in trousers. They had belts around their waists and chains passing between their legs so that they could pull loaded coal trucks through the mine passages. The book contains an account of the long hours of work. Jane Harrison who tells that the normal working day for ‘pit brow girls’ was a 12-hour period recalls one occasion when she worked three shifts consecutively. This involved working over two days and through a night. This totalled 36 hours. It started at 6 am on the first day through the night to finish the following day at 6 pm. She said that this work schedule was done because a ship was leaving Liverpool sooner than expected and needed immediate coaling.

The 1842 Mining Act

After the 1842 Mining Act Women and children (under the age of 10) were not allowed to work underground.

The Pit Brow Lasses

The Pit Brow Lasses worked on the surface. A diarist named called A.J. Munby recorded in text, photographs and drawings the working lives of these women. They loaded 20 wagons a day with coal they called slack (pieces of loose coal) they then pushed coal wagons along the embankment.

One story he tells is of a woman who dressed as a man so she could work underground. She crawled through the muddy tunnels for between 200 to 300 yards pulling the coal truck she was harnessed to. There were no rails along which the wagon travelled. Her underground work was short lived once it was realised she was female. Why did she want to work underground was simply answered. ‘I liked it’ was her answer.

Munby describes their working clothes. The girls wore a padded cotton hooded bonnet. It was of pink, blue or black in colour. They wore a blue striped shirt. Over it was a double-breasted waistcoat. It was ragged and patched throughout. Fustian or corduroy was the material their trouser was made from but they were often patched. They wore clogs which were fastened with brassclasps.

Once Munby was in the home of a Wigan mining family. The date was 1860. It was towards evening when into the house burst the two daughters aged 15 and 16. They were called Ellen and Jane who were ‘Pit Brow Lasses.’ They came into their home shouting and laughing as if they were lads at the fair. They were dressed in their pit clothes and were as black as the ace of spades. Their black faces were covered in sweat because they had been racing each other home. It seems they were late for their meal of supper of Irish stew. It is a tasty meal made of potatoes, vegetables and meat. Their mother scolded them for being late but the girls explained that they had done extra work and had to wait for their wages.

Sources

Jones, Steve. Lancashire Lasses: Their Lives and Crimes (Wicked Press: Nottingham, 2001).

Steele, Philip. The Age of Empire (Miles Kelly Publishing Ltd, Great Bardfield, Essex UK, 2002).

Shryhane, Geoffrey. Wicked Wigan (Book Clearance Centre, Wigan UK, 2002). The author sourced the files of the local newspaper, the Wigan Observer.

William Fergusson

Created:August 17, 2003
Last updated: August 19, 2003