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EMPLOYMENT IN THE MINES - 1871 to 1878
This page has the numbers of miners extracted from articles by Geoffrey Warrington. A separate page has a table showing the names and Em_Occupations of a number of people associated with the mines derived from original research. We have also extracted short biographies of some of the key persons involved with the mines since the end of the 17th century.
|
ALL MEN (from census) |
|
TOTAL |
||
1871 |
Age: 12 or less |
5 |
|
51 |
|
| 13 - 15 | 4 | ||||
| 16 or more | 42 | ||||
| Total | 51 | ||||
| UNDERGROUND | ABOVE GROUND | ||||
1872 |
38 |
13 |
51 |
||
1873 |
Age: 12 or less |
6 |
8-12 |
1 |
|
|
13 - 15 |
5 |
|
|
|
|
16 or more |
24 |
18 or more |
13 |
|
|
Total |
35 |
Total |
14 |
49 |
1874 |
Age: 12 or less |
4 |
8-12 |
1 |
|
|
13 - 15 |
8 |
|
|
|
|
16 or more |
22 |
18 or more |
13 |
|
|
Total |
34 |
Total |
14 |
48 |
1875 |
|
? |
|
? |
? |
1876 |
|
28 |
|
13 |
41 |
1877 |
|
22 |
|
13 |
35 |
1878 |
|
0 |
|
? |
? |
Oakes Level was driven by 2 men and 2 boys and it was expected to take 4 to 5 months to drive 36 fathoms. Assuming a 6 day week, this represents a driving rate of about 2 feet a day on average. Shotholes were normally about 3 feet long but the effective distance driven by one round was probably nearer 2 feet. With 8 or 9 holes in a heading, this would mean that an average shothole would take about an hour to drill. If three feet were gained with each round, then the time per hole would be about one and a half hours.
Source: Reports of the Inspectors of Mines and 1871 census