1841- Page 2

Children Working Down The Pit

(Continued) - Further evidence collected in Nottinghamshire by John Michael Fellows, Sub-Commissioner:

John Bodill, steaver to Lord Middleton’s pit at Radford. He had worked in the pits for 52 years. The shaft was 63 yards (57.6m) deep and the seam and headways 4’ 6” (1.37m). The banks are 250 yards (228m) total to the waggon-way. The pit ventilated from an old shaft about ½ mile away. Blackdamp was a problem sometimes. Wildfire not known and a bonnet used but a Davy lamp is not used. The winding engine is 9hp and riding the shaft on a flat rope for 4 men or 6 boys. There are 8 boys under 13 and 22 under 18. Hours of work from 7am to 8.30pm and the engine stands for 45 minutes for dinner.

From Joshua Middleton aged 67. Some boys are under 7 but only employed opening and closing doors. Those who use the belt for pulling corves that weigh about 10 cwt are around 16 years old.

Charles Chouler, Agent to Lord Middleton. He states that they have 1 pit at Radford and 3 at Trowell, all worked by steam and all ventilated from old shafts. At Trowell there are 4 boys aged 10, one aged 13, seven aged 12 and 20 boys between 13 and 18. There is no sick fund but Lord Middleton allows 2s 6d (12½ p) per week if anyone is injured with a serious accident.

The ground bailiff is ordered to be particular in keeping the wind-gates in order. There has only been one instance of wildfire in the past 20 years. The steaver and butties employ everyone.

Henry Taylor, Agent to Lord Middleton’s pits at Wollaton and Trowell. The Wollaton pit is 100 yards (91m) deep, the seam and headways 3’ 6” (1.07m) high and the bank 150 yards (137m) is worked by 2 stints therefore one set of children only have 75 yards (just under 70m). Trowell pit is 112 yards (102m) deep and headways and seam as at Wollaton where there are 5 boys under 13 and 12 under 18. At Trowell there are 20 boys under 18, the youngest being 10. The engines are 6hp and 8hp. In 1839c two men were killed at Wollaton when the white stone that gives no warning fell on them in a headway. A driver William Mather aged 12 earns 1s 2d (5½ p) a day and Joseph Pedley aged 12 opens and shuts doors for 1s (5p) a day. Corves are put on wheeled waggons to be hauled to the pit bottom. At Wollaton according to James Davis (26) the pit is always tried by a man going down the shaft with a naked candle and a bonnet. No punishment is allowed on Lord Middleton’s coal-fields. The men and boys are better treated than at other pits. There is a cabin at the pit top where men may wash or change their clothes.

Willow Lane pit, James Knighton 70 years old began work when he was 8. He drove the horses at the gin till he was 11. He went into the pit to run a waggon from 7am till 8pm with an hour for dinner.

Ilkeston (Messrs Samuel and Thomas Potter). The Agent is George Blount a position he has held for 3 years. 4 pits are at work, Workhouse, Bowswell, Piewit and Ilkeston Bath pits. In those 3 years only one man was killed. He was going down the pit to feed the asses on the Sunday and he neglected to hook himself on the chain properly and just held on by his hands. He fell down the shaft before he had gone halfway.

Workhouse pit 130 yards (119m) deep is ventilated from a chimney 500 yards off and Bowswell same depth are winded from each other by a wind way and well ventilated.

The Ilkeston Bath pit 60 yards (55m) deep and headways are 3’ 6” (1.07m). There are 3 banks. No waggons are used but the corves are brought to the pit mouth to be raised up the shaft.

Workhouse pit, Wheatley Straw (59) is a butty. He first worked in the pit as a trapper from 7am to 8pm opening and closing ventilation doors when he was 9 years old earning 10d (5p) a day. When he was 10 years old for 1s (5p) a day he drew empty corves back to the face after they had been transferred to the asses.  His next job at 11 years old was as an ass boy at 1s 6d (7½p) a day and then went on to pushing tubs or waggons for 2s (10p) a day and later assisted in soughing and hammering for 3s (15p).  He was promoted to loading coal for 3s 6d (17½p) a day. For 30 years he had been a Butty or a contractor in charge of a gang of colliers where he takes the coals at so much per ton and re-lets the job to loaders and men at so much per ton. The children are seldom employed at night. He stated that he had never seen a collier go blind in Messrs Potter’s field as in some fields they do. He considers that it would be a great loss to the parents if children under 13 were not allowed to work. Richard Gresham Barber the witness was North’s Agent or resident Engineer, whilst Stephen Barton previously mentioned as Agent was an ex collier having started in the pits at 6 years of age.

William Straw, 13 years old and has worked for Messrs Potter for nearly 5 years at Bowswell pit where he goes with the ass and has 1s 6d (7½p) a day. He wears a belt which is made of leather and neither cuts him or makes him sore. He is always tired when he gets home as he works from 6am to 8pm with no more than 20 minutes for dinner which could be meat and bread, sometimes no meat but pudding and bread and cheese. When he gets home he has bread and cheese and beer. When the banksman knocks they are obliged to go whether they have finished their dinner or not. He gets beaten by the loaders and by the corporals with a stick as thick as a thumb and sometimes they kick him. He has been throttled until he chokes and been beaten and obliged to leave the pit. He was punished because he let the corves knock against a wall making them fall over. One boy named Thomas Straw working the asses in Bowswell pit is only 7 years old.

John Straw aged 12 has worked in various pits belonging to Messrs Potter for the last 5 years. Firstly he drove between and sometimes helped to waggon for 1s 6d (7½p) a day. He now works at Bowswell and Piewit and works down the pit from 6am to 8pm. He goes home too tired to play.

Luke Wright (25) worked in pit since he was 8 when he drove asses from 6am to 8pm with half an hour for dinner of meat and potatoes which his parents brought to the pit top to be lowered to him. There were 20 or so other boys kept in check by an ‘ass lad’ of 14 who punishes them by hitting them with a stick. The corporal of the pit would interfere should the lad ‘exceed his duty’. He had seen both fists and kicking practised. He earned 1s 2d (1.16p) a day but because of short time that reduced to 1s (5p). The Workhouse pit headways are 4’ 0” (1.22m). He was now an ass lad at 2s (10p) a day and was hooked to a corve by a belt and had to look after the lad who drove between. The butty takes the coal at so much per ton and then underlets it to the men and boys who are obliged to produce an amount of coal per day and to work overtime until it is done. Often his candle would go out due to blackdamp and he would then have to leave quickly to get out of the pit.

George Freeman (9) works at Messrs Potter’s Bath pit and drives between the asses for 1s (5p) per day but seldom makes a full shift and although being underground from 6am to between 5pm and 6pm in the evening he was only paid for three quarters of a day. The pit is quite dry and there is no water fit to drink. He has pudding and bread and cheese for his dinner. His father was killed at Shipley by a fall of roof bind.

Ephraim Riley (15) worked at Messrs Potter’s Piewit pit (Pewit?) cleaning the roads with a pick and shovel for the corves and followed the man who gets the coal and is paid 4s (20p) a day, Previously he earned 1s 8d (8.3p) as an ass lad. His father, a collier earns 10s (50p) a week on short time and 16s (80p) on full time. In 1836 at Workhouse pit he saw 4 asses brought out of the pit dead plus two colliers severely burned through firedamp exploding.

Ephram Riley (11) has worked at Messrs Potter’s pits for a year and a half earning 10d (4.2p) a day opening and closing wind gates and previously was at Babbington for 9d (3.75p) a day. He walked 3 miles to the pit leaving at 5am and did not get home until 9pm at night.

John Chambers (13) first worked at Piewit pit when he was 7 where he helped to waggon then drove between for 10d (4.2p) a day. When he was 8½ he went to Kilbourn and drove a pony for 1s 2d (5.8p) a day where he worked from 6am to 9pm or 10pm and thought they were lucky if they got home by 9pm. He now works at Babbington (North and Co). He has met with many accidents due to bind falling and has been scorched by wildfire.

Coalfield of EM Munday Esq.

At Shipley there are 6 shafts at work...Waterloo, Bright Soft, Second Bright Soft, Deep Hard, Bath Coppice and Thorp(e)’s Field. The Waterloo and Deep Hard pits are ventilated from the engine shaft about 50 yards (45m) and the two Soft pits by soughs and Bath Coppice from a chimney 400 to 500 yards (365m to 460m) away and Thorp(e)’s Field from a furnace and chimney at 30 yards (27m) away.

5 or 6 Davy lamps can be used by the workmen when the air gets foul. They do not use bonnets in the shafts. All the engines are fenced and there are cabins at each pit where the colliers may wash and change their clothes. They have a sick fund and Mr Mundy occasionally assists by adding to the funds.

Within the last 2 years there was an accident at the Bright Soft pit whereby wildfire killed 8 men and 12 others were injured.

Godfrey Hardy (12) works in the Soft Coal pit and when he started work at 8 years old opened and closed the wind door for 9d (3.75p) per day. He works from 6pm to 6am and has bread and cheese and water for supper at about 1am. He sometimes gets beer. The bank is 100 yards (91m) long and dry but frequently they get wildfire and had to run from it last week. Nearly a year since he was in the pit with 20 others when it fired and 10 or 11 men were killed and others badly scorched. He was saved by the ass he was driving falling upon him. He was much burnt about the head and arms and in this state was brought up the shaft hanging to the rope by his hands. It was nearly a year before he worked as he was scared of going down the pit again.  They ride 12 or 13 up and down the shaft at a time.

Thomas Davis (13) worked at the Shipley pit first when he was 11 but now works at the Soft Coal pit. The seam is 1 yard (0.91m) high and he brings the corves 150 yards (137m). He is often punished by the bare hand, seldom by a stick.

Joseph Shelton (64) has been employed in the coal fields for more than 40 years. He was formerly Agent at Hallam but has been unfortunate. He is now a pitman in Thorp’s Field pit. The roof is bad and there are accidents on occasions. The gin is worked by one horse and they let down 3 men and boys at a time, the shaft being 33 yards (30m) deep. The rope however is old, in bad condition and only 1½ inches (0.038m) thick. The hours are from 6am to 5pm but no time allowed for meals.

John Beasley (54) has worked in the pit since he was 7 years old. He has worked at Shipley for the past 20 years. When he was a boy he was beaten unmercifully by the corporals and they mostly used the ass stick and kicked him as well. A Davy lamp is used occasionally underground. Within the last 2 years the pit has set on fire so that they have had to bring up all hands as well as the asses and close the pit for a week. He has also frequently experienced the effects of blackdamp. He had also had quite a few minor accidents. He once had a remarkable escape when the rope broke as he was ascending the shaft and fortunately escaped without injury.

Stanton-by-Dale (Messrs Marshall, Barber and Wright). Isaac Winrow, Coal-agent and ground bailiff. The coal pit is 20 yards deep and the seam is 5’ 7” (1.7m) thick and the headroom 4’ 0” (1.22m). The pit has only been open 2 months and the bank is only 5 yards (4.5m) long. There is only one boy under 13 and one ass. The pit is ventilated from the water shaft close by. The coal shaft is not laid in mortar and a rope is used for winding. The engine is used for drawing coal and also for pumping.

Stoneyford Colliery, Codnor (Mr James Christopher Royston). Vincent Wild Coal Agent for the past 7 years. 2 pits are working, the Soft coal shaft at 75 yards (68.5m), seam 3’ 8” (1.12m) and the Hard coal shaft at 93 yards (85m) deep, seam 2’ 5” (0.74m) thick. Both pits are ventilated from the engine shaft and from a pit not working at present.

1840 William Hutchby, a holer was badly burnt and was laid off for 2 months and William Longden a holer and woodman was badly burnt in 1839 and unable to work for 3 months. Both shafts are worked by a steam engine but the shafts are not laid out in lime. Sometimes 7 or 8 come up the shaft together but seldom more than 3 go down.

There are 110 boys under 13 and 10 under 18. The youngest is 7.The waggoner who uses the belt is 13 or 14 and the one behind 8 or 9 years old. The weight in the corves varies from 3 to 10 cwt. The roof and floor are wet so much so that they have to wear flannel. About 2 months ago one of the butties fell from the top of the shaft and was smashed to pieces. It appeared that the ring that fastens the tackle to the chain was wrong and as soon as the engine started the whole gave way and he and a bag of corn and the chains fell to the bottom.

The children are engaged by the butties and they go down from at 6am and finish at 8pm. The banks in both seams are 20 yards (18m) and 90 yards (82m) long. The pit is hot and now and then there is blackdamp.

William Fletcher (9) and has been working in the pits since he was 6 years old. He has always driven between and previously worked at Mr Fenton’s pit. His pay now is 1s 2d (5.06p) a day. He works in the Soft coal pit where it is very wet. Although he is small he still has to bend in the headways which are no higher than 3 feet (0.91m). The bank is about 200 yards (180m) long. There are no rewards but they are beaten by the corporal with an ass stick. When they work half days it is 6am to 4pm, threequarter days are 6am to 7pm and then they get half an hour for dinner. They all go home in their wet clothes. There is no rope and 4 to 9 ride on the chains in the shaft.

Royston’s Soft Coal pit
Charles Hunt (11) helps another boy to waggon for 32 yards (30m) and the corves hold 5 to 10 cwts. The pit is wet and they all come out dirty but not as wet as the ass boys. They have to give a month’s notice to the butties who hired them.

Joseph Birkinshaw (8) years old and has worked in the pit for 2½ years driving between and is wet through all the time, like a drowned rat. He goes down at 6.30am and comes up at 8.30pm with half an hour for dinner.

Samuel Vernon (9) had only just started work having been a beggar previously. There was no rope in the shaft and the chain kept turning them round and round.