The dangers of mining
L.O: To produce a mind map of the
dangers of mining in Victorian mines.
Water
Fire
damp
Problems with
early mining
Falling objects
Transport in the mine
Choke damp
Water
• Any deep hole dug in the ground soon collects with
water. Efficient pumps were needed to get water out
of the pits. Horse gins had been used. “They have
great wheels that are turned with horses that draw
up the water, so that they can dig the coal”( Celia
Fiennes 1698)
• Other inventions used to drain water:
• John Buddle: Rag and Chain pump.
• Newcomen Engine: this was widely used.
• Boulton and Watt engine: this was a more advanced
version of the newcomen engine
Fire damp.( A mixture of air and
methane)
• When this gas escaped
from coal deposits it
would explode if it
came into contact with
a naked flame. Miners
often had to work in
complete darkness as
candles were too
dangerous to use.
Ways of Detecting Gas:
• A fireman: he was sent down to explode pockets of gas that had collected
in the shaft roof. This was a highly dangerous job and it goes without
saying that the man armed with a stick with a candle strapped to the end
was well paid.
• Canaries: were sent down the shafts in cages. The canaries passed out at
the bottom of the cage when the gas was present
• In 1815 HUMPHREY DAVY invented a mining Safety Lamp. This lamp
protected an inner candle with a cylindrical gauze, this prevented the heat
from the flame igniting the gas, the gauze would glow when gas was
present. Davy could have made a fortune from this invention if he had
applied for a patent but he refused to do so and said that “helping miners
was his reward”
• Another lamp very similar to Davy’s was invented by George Stephenson
it was commonly called the Geordie lamp as it was used by miners in the
North East.
Choke damp: ( carbon dioxide)
• This gas caused a number of
problems it snuffed out the
flames on candles and it
would suffocate miners if
they could not get to fresh
air in time.
• The miners had to have an
efficient way of ventilating
the mine if this problem
was to be overcome.
Ways of preventing Choke damp.
• The earliest method was to sink two shafts. One of the shafts
would have a fire lit in it. Warm air rose up the ventilation
shaft and fresh air down the other shaft. This caused fresh air
to circulate around the shafts.
• Trappers were used to control the air flow in the shafts. These
were often small children that sat in the dark all day and open
large trap doors to let miners and wagons through.
• John Buddle invented an EXHAUST FAN in 1790. The pump
sucked foul air out of the up shaft by suction and this in turn
caused a flow of fresh air to go down the other shaft.
Falling Objects
• As mine shafts became
deeper the strain on ropes
lowering and lifting the
heavy loads of coal and
miners became greater. In
the early 1800’s flat wire
cables replaced ropes but
by then thousands of
miners had died when
ropes had frayed or
snapped in two.
Transport:
• Coal was cumbersome and heavy.
• In early mines women and children dragged coal in large
baskets from the bottom of the mine to the top. This was
back breaking work and left many women and children
deformed because of the weight of the loads carried every
day.These laboursers were called “putters”
• Human labour was later replaced with “pit ponies”. These
animals lived underground and were killed when the mine
was closed.
• Canals and later railways were later used to transport the
coal away from the mine cheaply and more efficiently.
Summary of working conditions in
mines:
Low pay often many children and women
working underground as they were cheaper to
employ.
Dangerous.
Hot and stuffy underground
Long hours
A job that involved hard labour.
Mine Reform
• Following on from his
involvement in improving
the working conditions in
British factories LORD
ASHLEY (SHAFTSBURY) set
to work improving the
working conditions in
mines.
• In 1840 a Royal Commission
was set up by government
headed by Shaftsbury.
• It took two years for
Shaftsbury to report back and
his findings were to SHOCK
THE MIDDLE CLASS
• The 1842 report was one of
the most shocking documents
ever published. It used VIVID
language and was
ILLUSTRATED with pictures of
the horrific conditions women
and children were working in
the mines.
The 1842 Mines Act
• No women and children were allowed to work
underground UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
• No boys under the age of ten were allowed to be
employed underground.
• No boy under the age of 15 were allowed to be in
charge of machinery.
• Mine inspectors were now permitted to enter mines
and inspect working conditions and to check that the
law was being carried out.
Time to play a game.
• Can you “Fling the teacher”?
• http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/games/fling/
mines/