Category 19th Century Working Lives

19th Century Working Lives, Australia, Brierley Hill, Crime & Punishment

A Labourer’s Life on 3 Continents

Jonas Bolton was an illiterate labourer born on an area known as the Delph in Brierley Hill in the Black Country at the beginning of the 19th century. He was transported to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) after stabbing a neighbour in a fight and remarkably returned to his family in England after his sentence was completed. In his 60s, he emigrated with his wife and daughter's family to the United States.

19th Century Working Lives, Blog, Crime & Punishment, Ewens, Sussex, Turner

The Shipley Gang

James Ewens was a member of the Shipley Gang that 'infested' the parishes of Shipley, Horsham and West Grinstead in the years following the Napoleonic Wars. Most of the gang were arrested and seven were sentenced to transportation to Australia.

19th Century Working Lives, Askins, Blog, Brierley Hill, Coal Mining, Pratt, Skidmore

Virgins End – When Satan Stood on Brierley Hill

Known locally as the “fold”, Virgins End in Brierley Hill remained an unmade road “of mid-19th century cottages” well into the 20th century. It developed behind South Street Baptist Church after the church was builit in 1854. Many members of my family lived on Virgins End for a number of generations.

19th Century Working Lives, Blog, Brighton, Turner

Crossing the Line

The London to Brighton railway line opened in 1841 bringing many opportunities to the seaside town of Brighton. Many labourers sought work in the town and the London Brighton & South Coast Company became a major employer. William Turner was one such labourer who tragically met his death at Brighton railway terminus.

19th Century Working Lives, Barnsley Nock, Blog, Chain Making, Cradley

Unread Words, Unseen Danger

Hagar Barnsley Nock was born on 13 November 1901. She lived for three days. Her story is one of a life cut short due to a tragic and fatal mistake.

19th Century Working Lives, Barnsley Nock, Dudley, Quarry Bank, Rowley Regis

The Barnsley Nocks

My great grandfather was born with the name Samuel Barnsley Nock but over time used Barnsley as his surname. Where did the name Barnsley Nock come from? It transpired that Barnsley Nock was a name peculiar to certain areas of the Black Country during the 19th and 20th centuries that could be traced back to one marriage in 1801.

19th Century Working Lives, Beddows, Blog, Montgomeyshire, Newell, Newtown, Montgomeryshire, Wales, Wolverhampton

From Wales to Wolverhampton

Elizabeth Newell was born in rural Montgomeryshire into a family that laboured in agriculture and flannel weaving. In her early twenties, she came to Wolverhampton. Three of her brothers followed her and settled in the town. Elizabeth met and married William Beddows, a sawyer of timber. William later established a very successful timber merchants business providing his family with a level of prosperity not experienced by Elizabeth in her childhood.

19th Century Working Lives, Australia, Edge, Stourbridge

A Chinese Blessing

Shadrach Edge was born in Stourbridge in 1853. As a young man, he emigrated to Australia. He mined for gold without success but began to buy and sell sheep becoming a wealthy land owner and grazier in Queensland. He claimed a blessing from a Chinese man brought about his change of fortune.

19th Century Working Lives, Brierley Hill, Domestic Service, Edge, Kent, Quarry Bank

Let Me Be Forgotten Forever

On a winter’s Saturday morning in 1901, the body of a young woman was found in the Stourbridge canal at Bowen’s wharf near Brierley Hill. The search for Lily Kent had been going on for three days.

19th Century Working Lives, Amblecote, Brierley Hill, Coal Mining, Crime & Punishment, Skidmore

Killed in a Coal Pit

My great great grandfather's brother, John Skidmore, was just 13 years old when he was killed with four others in a coal mining accident at Clattershall Colliery, located between Stourbridge and Brierley Hill in the Black Country. How did the accident happen? Was anybody held accountable?

19th Century Working Lives, Amblecote, Firebricks, Skidmore

Another Brick in the Wall

Brettell Lane, Amblecote in the Black Country was a transportation hub with interconnecting road, waterway and railway links and once a centre of the firebrick industry due to the fine quality of its clay. Bricks were made by hand by women and girls who worked long hours in exhausting conditions.

19th Century Working Lives, Trap Making, Wednesfield, Williams

John Williams & Son – Trap Makers

The story of the business established by my great great grandfather, John Williams. John learnt the skills of trap making as an apprentice in Wednesfield and went on to build a successful business in Wednesfield which traded until 1966.