This link will give you a good idea of what life was like in the coal mines in 1842..............   http://www.cmhrc.co.uk/site/literature/royalcommissionreports/   if you don't have time to read the rport this will give you an idea of what it was like ........... taken from the report ..................  Janet Cumming (No.1), 11 years bears coals.I gang with the women at five and come up at five at night. I work all night on Fridays, and come away at twelve in the day. I carry the large bits of coal from the wall face to the pit bottom, and the small pieces called chows in a creel. The weight is usually a hundredweight. I do not know how many pounds there are in a hundredweight but it is some weight to carry. It takes three journeys to fill a tub of 4 cwt. The distance varies as the work is not always on the same wall, sometimes 150 fathoms, whiles 250 fathoms. The roof is very low and I have to bend my back and legs and the water comes frequently up to the calves of my legs. I have no liking for the work, father makes me like it. I never got hurt, but often am obliged    Derekto scramble out of the pit when bad air was in. ________________________________ From: Marilyn L. Arnold <marilyn.arnold1@verizon.net> To: staffordshire@rootsweb.com Sent: Saturday, 3 March 2012, 14:52 Subject: Re: [STAFFORDSHIRE] 1881 -- The Iron Works, Moxley/Wednesfield Really .... I had no idea!  Wow.  That's fascinating.  I do recall stories being passed down about working in the dark, damp coal mines with water dripping down.  It sounded wretched.  I'm just not sure who exactly were the coal miners, since they didn't appear as such in the census records, but think my GG GF was at one time, as a young man.  No wonder he wanted to come to "America" and become a minister -- a far easier life! You are saying 17th and 18th centuries -- ie 1600s, 1700s.  So coal was discovered there as early as the 1600s? Marilyn ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lin Lamberg" <linlamberg@btinternet.com> To: <staffordshire@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2012 9:32 AM Subject: Re: [STAFFORDSHIRE] 1881 -- The Iron Works, Moxley/Wednesfield > Marilyn, one interesting fact I forgot to mention regarding the Black > Country was back in the 17th and 18th Centuries, there were more people > working under ground than there were above ground.  Makes you think! > > Linda. > ****************************** > ATTENTION TO ALL:- When replying please remove the details that do not > apply to your mail and change the SUBJECT LINE for best useage of ARCHIVED > MATERIALS. > ------------------------------- > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > STAFFORDSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message ****************************** ATTENTION TO ALL:- When replying please remove the details that do not apply to your mail and change the SUBJECT LINE for best useage of ARCHIVED MATERIALS. ------------------------------- ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to STAFFORDSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

For those who don't know - gang is an old form (and possibly in dialect) of go... we are talking imperial things where a cwt - hundredweight is 112 lbs, perhaps 50-55kg - A fathom is 6ft - about 1.8metres. Creels were used for basket - fisherfolk used the term still. Possibly still do. I remember learning a song at school - as I was ganging down the road.. we had it explained it meant - as I was going down the road.. the measurements we all learned by heart, rote, whatever. Not so these days. Dawn (Melbourne Australia) -----Original Message----- From: staffordshire-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:staffordshire-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Derek Sent: Sunday, 4 March 2012 7:34 AM To: staffordshire@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [STAFFORDSHIRE] 1881 -- The Iron Works, Moxley/Wednesfield This link will give you a good idea of what life was like in the coal mines in 1842..............   http://www.cmhrc.co.uk/site/literature/royalcommissionreports/   if you don't have time to read the rport this will give you an idea of what it was like ........... taken from the report ..................  Janet Cumming (No.1), 11 years bears coals.I gang with the women at five and come up at five at night. I work all night on Fridays, and come away at twelve in the day. I carry the large bits of coal from the wall face to the pit bottom, and the small pieces called chows in a creel. The weight is usually a hundredweight. I do not know how many pounds there are in a hundredweight but it is some weight to carry. It takes three journeys to fill a tub of 4 cwt. The distance varies as the work is not always on the same wall, sometimes 150 fathoms, whiles 250 fathoms. The roof is very low and I have to bend my back and legs and the water comes frequently up to the calves of my legs. I have no liking for the work, father makes me like it. I never got hurt, but often am obliged    Derekto scramble out of the pit when bad air was in. __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6935 (20120303) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com