Working Lives in the Coal Mines: Mining History and Heritage
Explore the experiences of workers in the coal mining industry from the 1840s to the 1920s and learn about its impact on Britain.
Duration
4 weeksWeekly study
3 hours
Working Lives in the Coal Mines: Mining History and Heritage
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Uncover the lives of coal industry workers and miners in the long 19th century
On this course, you’ll explore the history and heritage of British mining labour. You’ll discover the evolution of the role of coal-miners in the 19th century, the hardships they endured, and learn how mining has affected British industrial heritage today. Through online resources and museum archives, you’ll gain historical, literary and genealogical research skills, and learn to critically assess mining artefacts and representations of life in the mines. You’ll also learn how these representations relate to wider issues of class, gender, and political and professional identity.
Syllabus
Week 1
The collier
Welcome to the course
We're thrilled you've joined us on this course. Here you'll learn a bit more about your educators and the course overall.
The industry and the workers
This introduction to the industry and the workers provides crucial context for the workers' lives we'll explore in the weeks to come.
What did coal miners do?
Here you'll learn a bit more about the varied jobs that coal miners did and their importance to mining industry.
Describing and representing mining work
What did people think of miners in the nineteenth and early twentieth century? How did miners describe themselves? Here we find out more.
Dangers and diseases
The mines were a dangerous place to work. Here we'll find out more about the hazards and illnesses associated with mining and their impact on mining communities.
Forces for change
This activity explores state intervention and mechanization in the mining industry and the effects these changes had on workers. Trade unions as a force for change is covered in week 4.
Week 2
The child miner
Welcome to week two
An introduction to the week.
What kinds of work did children do?
Here we discuss the kinds of work that children might do, and briefly consider the changes in legislation throughout the long nineteenth century.
Representing and remembering the child miner
In this section we look at various representations of the child miner in literature and song, thinking about how we remember the child miner.
The child miner in the museum
In this section we look at how the child miner is represented in museums, asking how best to locate the child miner.
Week 3
The surface worker
Welcome to week three
An introduction to week three
What did surface workers do?
Here we explore the labour of surface workers, in their own words, and in newspaper reports and fiction by outside observers who were especially fascinated by the 'pithead lasses.'
Dangers and health
In this section we'll look at what happened to miners when they were injured or disabled and the health hazards of surface work through a range of sources.
Work in the mining communities
In this section we'll look what life was like in the broader mining communities, including the work done by women and girls.
Week 4
The trade unionist
Welcome to week four
Here we'll introduce the final figure we'll be exploring in the course: the trades unionist.
Conflict and strife
In this activity we'll look at the relationships between the workers and the bosses, focusing on the trade union struggle for workers' rights.
Mining unions and health and safety
In this section we'll look at the role played by mining trade unions in relation to the health and safety of workers in the mines.
Descriptions and representations of mining trade unionists
Here we'll learn about how mining trade unionists were represented and depicted in oral history testimonies, their autobiographies, songs and images.
Modern day trade unionism
In this section we'll hear from a current miners' trade union leader and think about how things have changed.
Reflections on the course
As we approach the end of the course, we'll look back at what we've learned about mining history and heritage and discuss ways to find out more.
When would you like to start?
Date to be announced
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Learning on this course
You can take this self-guided course and learn at your own pace. On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Discuss the range of activities involved in working in the mining industry in the long nineteenth century, and how these changed during the period covered by the course.
- Assess representations of working lives in the mines and mining artefacts and discuss how they relate to wider questions of class, gender, and political and professional identity.
- Reflect how mining work impacted on the body in this period
- Engage with written and oral material on workers’ lives within the appropriate historical and material contexts.
- Engage with online resources, including museum archives, and perform searches in these and other archives for material relevant to mining history and workers’ lives.
Who is the course for?
This course is designed for people with an interest in mining history or heritage, or industrial heritage more broadly.
The course will also be of interest to professionals working in or aiming to work in the heritage sector and students at school or university who have an interest in the long Victorian period.
Who will you learn with?
I am a Chair in English Studies at the University of Strathclyde and currently lead the research project 'Piston, Pen & Press: Literary Cultures in the Industrial Workplace.'
Professor of Social History, University of Strathclyde, & Director of the Scottish Oral History Centre. My research interests lie in the history of work, occupational health & deindustrialization.
Who developed the course?
University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde is a leading international technological university located in Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest city, committed to useful learning.
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