I already posted some of this to the Coalminers list, but here is some more
detail:
According to family sources my grandfather Matthew FREEGARD from Wiltshire
worked briefly in a mine "at Abertillery" (this is what the family says). A
photograph exists showing him and some unnamed miners together - I don't
know if the background would give any clue but my memory says that it was
pretty nondescript. I will try to get a copy from my cousin.
One day there was a fire in the mine and Matthew never forgot the screams of
the pit ponies. He quit and never went back. It had such an effect on him
that in later life he was always afraid of fires - he made a ritual of going
round the house making sure the fires were out before going to bed.
Unfortunately he is in Wiltshire both at the 1881 census (age 13) and at the
1891 census (age 23). He had an uncle and cousins living at Aberystruth in
1881, which could account for his going there to get a job. I've haven't
yet checked the 1891 census for the uncle because there are so many fiche to
check.
My best guess is that this would have been in the late 1880s, when he was
around 20 years old. It is also possible that he went to Monmouthshire just
after the 1891 census, but he married my grandmother in 1897, so that's the
outside limit.
Can anyone tell me of an event in the late 1880s or the early 1890s that
might fit this description, or is it too common to be distinctive?
Tony Woodward
tony.woodward(a)nlc-bnc.ca