THE SOUTH YORKSHIRE COALMINERS 1870 - 19-4 I a STUDY of SOCIAL and OCCUPATIONAL COHESION by CELIA MARY WOLFE B.A
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THE SOUTH YORKSHIRE COALMINERS 1870 - 19-4 i A STUDY OF SOCIAL AND OCCUPATIONAL COHESION by CELIA MARY WOLFE B.A. (Hons.), University College of Bangor, 1971 Dip. Ed., University of Sheffield, 1972 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of HISTORY We accept this thesis avs conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY,OF BRITISH COLUMBIA October, 1974 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada ii ABSTRACT The coalminers as a social and occupational group have always been referred to by historians as a "race apart," living in communities which were both physically and cultur• ally isolated from other working-class groups. In order to distinguish and examine the special circumstances and charac• teristics which set them apart from the rest of the working class, the present thesis stresses a number of problems: male and female roles? the family? the special place of women in the family? working and living conditions? and the special attitudes and outlooks that these conditions fostered. Although the sources examined are drawn from all coal• fields, the study focuses on the relatively new South Yorkshire coalfield which has not yet been studied in a systematic fashion. During the last three decades of the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century, the South Yorkshire coalfield underwent its period of most rapid expansion. While this coalfield was newer than the others, its miners exhibited similar features to those of the older coalfields, and it is not my aim to prove that they were dif• ferent. Rather, the South Yorkshire coalfield is used as a model to identify some social aspects of life in a coal• mining community. In addition, the study attempts to contrast the envi• ronment of the coalminers with that of other working-class groups. Demographic material is derived from the Census Reports, and studies of living and working conditions from Government reports, eye-witness accounts of social investi• gators, autobiographies of coalminers and personal memoirs, iii contemporary newspaper reports, and relevant secondary works. Despite the influx of new immigrants into the new or expanding coalmining towns and villages, they rapidly came to exhibit patterns to be found in older coalmining communi• ties. The most impressive mark of a coalmining town was its distinctive social solidarity and cohesion. These strong social bonds were engendered and maintained by a common identity produced by occupational dependency upon the pit, and by the camaraderie fostered by shared living and working exper• iences. The need for cooperation under dangerous working conditions, the communal struggle against an unfavourable environment, the economic insecurity of pit-life, the limi• tations enforced upon women by the lack of employment oppor• tunities, the traditional commitment to large families! These factors ensured a common pool of experiences and a common set of expectations. The coalmining communities were marked by a unique culture and outlook on life. These features of coalmining served to isolate its populations even more from other working-class groups and offer an explanation for the view which has been advanced by labour historians that the radicalism of the coalminers was restricted to their particular needs and interests, and eschewed a total working-class solidarity, which was the goal of the organized.,working-class movement in Britain. iv PREFACE The coalminers have always been known for their turbulent political activities and for their foremost posi• tion in the history of trade unionism. During the period of the "new unionism," the Yorkshire coalfield was the most strongly unionized of all coalfields, and the Yorkshire Miners'- Association was the most powerful constituent of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain. Despite their im• portance in the history of labour struggles, I have not dis• cussed the role of the coalminers in politics or unionism, or the unique industrial relations in mining. These topics have been dealt with by R. P. Arnot, Roy Gregory, H. A. Clegg, A. Fox, and A,,F. Thompson, and more particularly in the case of the Yorkshire miners, by Frank Machin. My purpose is quite different. I have sought to gain some insights into the personal living and working situation of the coal• miners and their families. Only when they suit the purposes of this thesis, do I refer to the political and unionizing activities of the coalminers. To strengthen the qualitative aspects of the study, I have relied heavily upon descriptions from the coalminers themselves and upon those from social investigators. So that these descriptions do not lose any of their Value or meaning, I have to a great extent let the words of the coalminers and contemporary observers speak for themselves. Some of this illustrative material is taken from outside the time period covered in my study, but it is used only when it can V throw light on the period under consideration, and is there• fore of special interest or significance. Similarly material is drawn from all coalfields to provide a more complete back• ground in which the experiences of the Yorkshire coalfield can be placed. Finally, the standard of living of any working- class occupational or social group can only be studied in comparison with the standards experienced by other working- class groups. Consequently, throughout the thesis, I have tried to incorporate material from other occupational groups to provide a contrast for the coalminers• experiences. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page i Abstract ii Preface iv List of Tables vi I Introduction v 1 II The Standard of Life 17 III Marriage, Fertility, and Household Size 68 IV Wives and Daughters 109 V The Woman in her Social and Domestic Role .... 135 VI The Coalminer -- His Work 173 VII The Coalminer -- His Social Life 219 VIII Conclusion 25^ Bibliography 262 vii LIST OF TABLES CHAPTER I TABLE I To show the decennial increase in the numbers of coalminers in England and Wales, 1861 - 1911. TABLE II To show the decennial increase in the numbers of coalminers in the West Riding of Yorkshire, 1881 - 1911. TABLE III To show the output of coal in millions of tons in Yorkshire, 1880 - 1913. TABLE IV To show the growth of population in a sample of South Yorkshire colliery towns, 1881 - 1911. TABLE V To show the birth places of a sample of males enumerated in Yorkshire, 1891. TABLE VI „To show the occupational concentration of coalminers in a sample of Urban Districts in South Yorkshire, 1901 - 11. CHAPTER II TABLE I To show the numbers of families and numbers of houses available in a sample of West Riding coal towns, 1891 and 1901. TABLE II To show the birth, death and infant death rates for Castleford, 1902 - 1906. TABLE III To show the birth, death and infant death rates for Normanton in 1906, TABLE IV To show the numbers of patients in certain Isolation Hospitals in the Yorkshire colliery areas, 1911. TABLE V To show the average daily wages of coal hewers and labourers by region, 1888 and 191^. TABLE VI To show the average weekly rates (net) of various grades of coalminers in West and South Yorkshire, 1886. TABLE VII To show the average daily earnings of various grades of coalminers in West and South York• shire, 191^. viii TABLE VIII To compare the true weekly wage rates in five major industries, 1886 and 1913. TABLE IX To compare the average weekly earnings of male adult workers in various industries, 1913. TABLE X To show the number of English mining families out of a sample of 124 who consumed quantities of the following commodities in 1890. TABLE XI To show the number of English mining families from a sample of 124 who incurred expenses for certain non-food items, I890. CHAPTER III TABLE I To show the average ages at marriage of bache• lors and spinsters in occupational groups, 1884 - 1885. TABLE II To show the average age of the wife at marriage, in marriages of varying duration and social class, 1911. TABLE III To show the conjugal status, of men and women in three sample coal towns at various ages in 1891. TABLE IV To show the total births per 1,000 population in England and Wales, 1871 to 1911. TABLE V To show the birth rate per 1,000 in the coal• mining counties and England and Wales in 1881 and 1901. TABLE VI To show the annual percentage decreases in class fertility rates, standardized for age <€: of marriage, TABLE VII To show the fertility of the eight social classes in 1911. TABLE VIII To show the standardized total and effective fertility of marriages of various dates in each social class, as a percentage of the corresponding rates for occupied persons of all classes jointly, 1911. TABLE IX To show mortality of legitimate children under one year of age, according to the occupation and social class of the father, 1911. -IX PAGE TABLE X To compare the illegitimacy rate of the coal areas with the national average. Crude rates. 93 TABLE XI To show the distribution of the retired males in certain occupations in workhouses and asylums, England and Wales, 1911.