Hi Diana, The CFHS 1851 Census book gives the number as 72, Back Row, New Houses. Occupants were:- H John Devlin 39 Coal Miner Ireland W Elizabeth 40 Ireland D Ann 18 Thread Spinner Whitehaven S James 14 Coal Miner Whitehaven S William 9 Scholar Whitehaven S John 5 Scholar Whitehaven S Edward 2 Whitehaven D Margaret 12 Scholar Whitehaven As you can see, he'd been here since 1833 at least. There was a bit of unrest amongst English colliers, and Irishmen were brought over in the coal boats that traded with Ireland, to foce the wages down. Many Irish had been working in the coastal collieries for years before the Potato Famine in the late 1840's. It was very common, not only for brothers to come over, but fathers and uncles, and sometimes whole families. It is well known that 60 miners from Avoca in Co.Wicklow, came over and settled in Cleator Moor and Frizington. I have been trying to list them all for some time now. In iron-ore mines inland, it was young Irish girls who came to work in the mills in the early 1800's, who then wrote home telling of many jobs in the mines, both coal and iron, and by the 1860's over two-thirds of the population of Cleator Moor, were Irish. Incidentally, the author of "Children of the Pits", Ray Devlin, is descended from one of these branches. He lives in Whitehaven, in what was once Lord Lonsdale's mansion, but has now been converted into luxury apartments. Hope this helps, Dave (Florence Mine Heritage Centre, Egremont) ----- Original Message ----- From: "diana smith" <diana.smith@ntlworld.com> To: <DavidKenneth@banks81.freeserve.co.uk> Sent: Sunday, October 06, 2002 1:32 PM Subject: RE: [CUL] Ron Taylor's 1851 census database > Hello Dave, > > Many thanks for the info re John Devlin, miner. It could be "my" chap. > Ages are not always accurate are they? Was the John Devlin you found living > alone, or as a lodger, or what? Were there any other Devlins? Would you > know whether it was common for a few lads from the same family to come over > to England together, for work, or would they be more likely to come alone? > > Sorry to inundate you with these questions, but if you are at a mine > heritage centre you are probably the right person to ask! > > thanks again > > Diana > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Dave Banks [mailto:DavidKenneth@banks81.freeserve.co.uk] > Sent: 05 October 2002 23:07 > To: CUMBERLAND-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [CUL] Ron Taylor's 1851 census database > > > Hi Diana, > Our Miners Database gives a John Devlin living at 68, > Back Row, New Houses, Whitehaven in 1851. He was, however, listed as > 39 years old, born in Ireland. > > Dave > (Florence Mine Heritage Centre, Egremont) > > >