The following is from "More Essays in North Riding History" R.P. Hastings
By 1872, the miners tools, which cost some 50s. a set, were usually supplied
by the owners. Each man was issued with two picks, three drills, two wedges,
a scraper, hammer, pricker bar and one long bar about 10 ft. in length. The
wheeled tubs, into which the ore was loaded, were made at the mines. Steel
ropes, when rejected for use in the mines, could be fashioned into good
miners' picks. The shaft mines had winding gear powered by steam engines
which were often of the locomotive agricultural type. In the early days men
were lowered in fours in a 'kibble'. Each kept one leg over the side to
fend off the wall if the 'kibble' swung. Only in the 1870's did the
'kibbles' begin to give way to cages some of which were fixed with clips
which arrested the cage almost immediately if the rope broke. Stone was
mined by the 'bord and pillar' or 'pillar and stall' method used in coal
mining. and was usually blasted out by gunpowder. While the experienced
miner drilled his holes by hand with his jumper drill and packed and fired
his own charges, he employed a 'hagman' or 'filler', to whom he paid a
daily
wage, to break and lead the stone which had been blasted. The skilled miner
could bore a 5 ft. hole in 55 minutes and usually tried to drill as few
holes as he could in order to separate the largest possible block of
ironstone. Powder, like candles, was bought from the company. Six ounces
of powder, which could 'win' about a ton of stone, cost lOd.
The working of the mines generally began at 6 a. m. An hour before that the
overmen entered the pits to meet the foreshift deputies whose function was
to examine the working places for safety before mining began. The latter,
however, did not exist in all mines for a long time. The overmen had to
visit daily each part of their mine to see that it was timbered, plated and
safe. They also had to ensure that each deputy received sufficient larch for
roofing and that ventilation was good.
The miners themselves rose at 4.30 a.m. without the aid of the 'knockers up'
so familiar in the Great Northern Coalfield, and after a breakfast of
porridge and tea set off in their moleskin or fustian trousers, strapped
below the knees with leather garters, for the mine. Each man carried an
oval 'bait box' and a metal flask of water or cold tea. 'Their pallid faces
told of long absence from the sunlight but their frames were those of brawny
stalwart men'. The mines were open until 5 p.m. except on Saturdays when
they were worked from 6 a.m. until 1 p.m. Within these hours the miners
could initially work as long as they chose. Consequently many worked a 12
hour day, including travelling, and in winter saw daylight only on Saturday
afternoons and Sundays. Later the Quaker companies established a two shift
system from 6 a.m. - 2 p.m. and 2 p.m. - 10 p.m. with a single shift from 6
a.m. - 1p.m. on Saturdays. The 'offhand men', employed in and about the
mine but who did not get stone, began an hour later than the miners and by
1872 were paid an average wage of 24s. for a 57-hour week. The miners were
paid by the piece at a rate of 10p. per ton of stone sent out 'clean', free
from sulphur, shale and dirt. An average of 1s. to 1s. 3d. per day,
however, was deducted from their earnings for candles and powder. As a
result, and because some miners did not work full-time, their earnings in
1872 varied from 30s. to 36s. a week.
(source - More Essays in North Riding History R.P. Hastings)
Ernie
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael McAllister" <mcallisterfamily(a)btopenworld.com>
To: "Monmouth List" <MONMOUTHSHIRE-D(a)rootsweb.com>;
"monmouthshire/gwent
list" <monmouthshiregwent-d(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2007 10:48 AM
Subject: [MON] Iron Stone miner
Hi List, can someone recommend somewhere where I can find details of
a
description of a the job of an iron stone miner please.
Ggrandfather SMITH was one whilst living in Pontypool, before his
marriage
to my ggrandmother )Mary Ann COLEMAN) and afterwards around Ebbw Vale
before
he migrated out to Queensland in 1887.
Many thanks, Michael McAllister
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