Llanbradach and Mining before WWI

[bitsnpieces]

Hello folks,

I hope Youngsters and Researchers is the right section - I'm not so young but I am doing research!

I'm following the fortunes of two of my relatives - Charles and Jessie Court. They left Devon in quite desperate circumstances in 1908. By the 1911 census, they are working at the Llanbradach colliery - Charles as a haulier (because he was unskilled as a miner?) and his wife above ground (presumably sorting coal). Charles was slightly too old for WWI recruitment so I presume he stayed at the mines throughout the war. By 1919 he had moved to Dumfries, Scotland.

So...is it at all possible to get employment records or any other details of the colliery at this time? Was it fairly easy to get work in the mines before WWI? Was it quite common to get workers from England? I know the coal mines were doing very well in this era but how much money would a haulier have made?

Thank you in advance for any help. I've picked up a bit of information from e.g. welshcoalmines.co.uk but I would welcome any extra details or pointers.

Gemma

[Clive]

Nov 22, 2015 18:29:34 GMT -5 bitsnpieces said:

Hello folks,

I hope Youngsters and Researchers is the right section - I'm not so young but I am doing research!

I'm following the fortunes of two of my relatives - Charles and Jessie Court. They left Devon in quite desperate circumstances in 1908. By the 1911 census, they are working at the Llanbradach colliery - Charles as a haulier (because he was unskilled as a miner?) and his wife above ground (presumably sorting coal). Charles was slightly too old for WWI recruitment so I presume he stayed at the mines throughout the war. By 1919 he had moved to Dumfries, Scotland.

So...is it at all possible to get employment records or any other details of the colliery at this time? Was it fairly easy to get work in the mines before WWI? Was it quite common to get workers from England? I know the coal mines were doing very well in this era but how much money would a haulier have made?

Thank you in advance for any help. I've picked up a bit of information from e.g. welshcoalmines.co.uk but I would welcome any extra details or pointers.

Gemma

gemma.

i would think you would be very fortunate indeed to find employment records, but you never know. you would have to find out if the company left any records, at the local records office, perhapce they coulfd help you at the library.

working on the haulage wqa not the best paying job, but it could have been piece work.

there is a book called 'these poor hands' about an agricultural laboror who left herefordshire for the welsh collieries about this time. You might find it a good read
link to it
www.amazon.co.uk/These-Poor-Hands-Autobiography-Miner/dp/0708315631

Clive

[John]

Could the haulage the OP posted be horse and cart haulage from the pit to railhead/river/canal/city retailers??

Same as Clive said, be pretty hard to find employee records from so far back.
Most of those records have probably been burned years back when the industry was nationalized.

[bitsnpieces]

Thank you both for your replies.

You're right - I did think employment records were unlikely but you never know...!

I did wonder about haulage (I thought this was a job for children - at least in the 19th century?). My relative was originally a policeman. As far as I am aware, he had no particular experience with horses or mining. I can only assume he picked up whatever work he could - piecework certainly sounds plausible.

I've downloaded These Poor Hands to my kindle. It does seem very similar to my ancestor's experiences so should make interesting reading.

Thank you for your help!