The Workers

The coal mines were very important during the early part of the 19th Century when the coal produced kept Britain in the forefront of industrial development and continued production meant wealth. Unfortunately little of this wealth found its way back to those who worked in the mines.

The poverty and dreadful living conditions that the people had to face left many parents with little choice but to send their children down the mines. Some as young as six years old were sent deep underground to work like moles, in tunnels only a few feet wide.

The very young would simply keep the rat's away from their father's food whilst the slightly older boys and girls would pull the coal trams along the tunnels which were sometimes barely high enough for them to crawl along.

It was not until the middle part of the 19th Century that the Government became concerned with the conditions that young people and women endured whilst working down the coal mines. Inspectors were employed to visit mines all over the country and then report the findings.

The inspection of the mines in Pembrokeshire were undertaken by Robert Franks. He was indeed depressed by what he saw in the mines and especially the way young children and women were treated underground. He concluded in his report by stating that 'a restriction of the age at which children should be allowed to labour in the mines should be fixed, and young girls altogether excluded from such labour...'

In 1842 an Act of Parliment was passed which prevented women and young children from working underground. However, despite this some women and young children continued to work down mines because they were suffering great poverty and hardship.

The development of technology and equipment meant that the conditions faced by the workers did slowely begin to improve. The introduction of the steam engine meant that coal could be easily taken out of the mines. They also allowed workers to easily enter and exit the mine. New methods of lighting also made the mines safer by reducing the likelyhood of a fire.