Description

Book Synopsis
This illustrated book tells the story of the female colliery surface workers, or pit brow women, of the Wigan coalfield. The numbers of women working in mines grew vastly after the expansion of the coal industry in the mid- to late eighteenth century. The practice continued until the Children''s Employment Commission 1842 outlawed women working below ground, leading to many families suffering huge losses of earnings. In Lancashire, many women soon started working the colliery surface, grading the coal on conveyors or acting as general labourers. Illustrated newspapers fostered great interest in them from 1840, and Wigan coalfield employed more than any other area. In the 1840 a a huge photographic collection studying the women was created by A.J. Munby, which forms a major source for this detailed study. The women themselves remain a fascinating and unique feature of both local and industrial history.

The Pit Brow Women of Wigan Coalfield

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    A Paperback / softback by Alan Davies

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      Publisher: The History Press Ltd
      Publication Date: Publication Date: 30/09/2002
      ISBN13: 9780752439129, 978-0752439129
      ISBN10: 075243912X

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      This illustrated book tells the story of the female colliery surface workers, or pit brow women, of the Wigan coalfield. The numbers of women working in mines grew vastly after the expansion of the coal industry in the mid- to late eighteenth century. The practice continued until the Children''s Employment Commission 1842 outlawed women working below ground, leading to many families suffering huge losses of earnings. In Lancashire, many women soon started working the colliery surface, grading the coal on conveyors or acting as general labourers. Illustrated newspapers fostered great interest in them from 1840, and Wigan coalfield employed more than any other area. In the 1840 a a huge photographic collection studying the women was created by A.J. Munby, which forms a major source for this detailed study. The women themselves remain a fascinating and unique feature of both local and industrial history.

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