In a message dated 18/03/2009 11:21:30 GMT Standard Time, [email protected] writes: It dealt with miners who had signed on for a fixed period, _______________________________________________________ The miners were employed under the hated Bond system and if anyone broke the bond they were liable to arrest, trial and imprisonment. The bond was yearly and was finally abolished in 1872. Once the men had signed or made their marks, they had "had it". They could be discharged at any moment with no reason given, and evicted from their homes, but if during the whole year on binding, they attempted to get work elsewhere they could be hauled before the magistrates and sent to prison. Durham Goal was seldom without miners serving a sentence for such an offence. A strike in 1844 dealt a death blow to the Yearly Bond which was increasingly given up in favour of a shorter contract of service. I can quite believe Lord Londonderry would be happy to arrange for their arrest, and return. Stan Mapstone