Mines act
Encyclopedia
The Mines and Collieries Act 1842 (c. 99), commonly known as the Mines Act of 1842, was an Act
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
. It was a response to the working conditions of children revealed in the Children's Employment Commission (Mines) 1842 report. The act prevented boys under the age of ten and all females from working underground.
, near Barnsley
, when a stream overflowed into the ventilation drift
after violent thunderstorms. The flood caused the death of 26 children, 11 girls aged from 8 to 16 and 15 boys between 9 and 12 years of age. This disaster raised public awareness about the employment of children in coal mines and Queen Victoria ordered an inquiry. The Commission was headed by Lord Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury
.
The commission investigated the conditions of the workers in the coal mines. Commissioners visited collieries and mining communities gathering information sometimes against the mine owners wishes. The published report used engraved illustrations to show the conditions and Victorian society was shocked to discover that children, as young as five or six worked as trappers, opening and shutting ventilation doors down the mine before becoming hurriers, pushing coal tubs. Hewers, the men who cut the coal, and female hurriers worked underground wearing little or no clothing.
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. It was a response to the working conditions of children revealed in the Children's Employment Commission (Mines) 1842 report. The act prevented boys under the age of ten and all females from working underground.
Background
In 1838, a freak accident occurred at Huskar Colliery in SilkstoneSilkstone
Silkstone is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, between the towns of Barnsley and Penistone, and includes the village of Silkstone Common...
, near Barnsley
Barnsley
Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...
, when a stream overflowed into the ventilation drift
Drift mining
Drift mining is either the mining of a placer deposit by underground methods, or the working of coal seams accessed by adits driven into the surface outcrop of the coal bed. Drift is a more general mining term, meaning a near-horizontal passageway in a mine, following the bed or vein of ore. A...
after violent thunderstorms. The flood caused the death of 26 children, 11 girls aged from 8 to 16 and 15 boys between 9 and 12 years of age. This disaster raised public awareness about the employment of children in coal mines and Queen Victoria ordered an inquiry. The Commission was headed by Lord Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury KG , styled Lord Ashley from 1811 to 1851, was an English politician and philanthropist, one of the best-known of the Victorian era and one of the main proponents of Christian Zionism.-Youth:He was born in London and known informally as Lord Ashley...
.
The commission investigated the conditions of the workers in the coal mines. Commissioners visited collieries and mining communities gathering information sometimes against the mine owners wishes. The published report used engraved illustrations to show the conditions and Victorian society was shocked to discover that children, as young as five or six worked as trappers, opening and shutting ventilation doors down the mine before becoming hurriers, pushing coal tubs. Hewers, the men who cut the coal, and female hurriers worked underground wearing little or no clothing.