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Video shows hoe the coal and mining was dangerous and how it was a nippers job to take care of the door

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Coal, Steam, and The Industrial Revolution: Crash Course World History #32

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It shows how being in the mining industry was vary dangerous because of the poisonious gases and explosive gases so they need the nippers to open and close the doors to prevent that

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Citation: C N Trueman "Coal Mines in the Industrial Revolution"
historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, . .

Coal Mines in the Industrial Revolution

Coal was needed in vast quantities for the Industrial Revolution. For centuries, people in Britain had made do with charcoal if they needed a cheap and easy way to acquire fuel. What 'industry' that existed before 1700 used coal, but it came from coal mines that were near to the surface and the coal was relatively easy to get to. The Industrial Revolution changed all of this.

Before the Industrial Revolution, two types of mines existed: drift mines and bell pits. Both were small-scale coal mines and the coal which came from these type of pits was used locally in homes and local industry.

However, as the country started to industrialise itself, more and more coal was needed to fuel steam engines and furnaces. The development of factories by Arkwright and the improvement of the steam engine by Watt further increased demand for coal. As a result, coal mines got deeper and deeper and coal mining became more and more dangerous.

Coal shafts could go hundreds of feet into the ground. Once a coal seam was found, the miners dug horizontally. However, underground the miners faced very real and great dangers.

Even with Watt's improved steam engine, gas flooding was a real problem in mines. E xplosive gas (called firedamp would be found the deeper the miners got. One spark from a digging, miner's pick axe or candle could be disastrous. Poisonous gases (called blackdamp and afterdamp) could also be found. Underground pit collapses were common too; the sheer weight of the ground above a worked coal seam was colossal and mines were only held up by wooden beams called props.

Regardless of all these dangers, there was a huge increase in the production of coal in Britain. Very little coal was found in the south, but vast amounts were found in the Midlands, the North, the North-east and parts of Scotland. Because coal was so difficult and expensive to move, towns and other industries grew up around the coal mining areas so that the workers came to the coal regions. This in itself was to create problems as these towns grew without any obvious planning or thought given to the facilities the miners and their families would need.

The increase in coal production :
1700: 2.7 million tonnes 1750: 4.7 million tonnes 1800: 10 million tonnes 1850: 50 million tonnes 1900: 250 million tonnes
How did the miners try to overcome the dangers they faced?

To clear mines of gas - be it explosive or poisonous - a crude system of ventilation was used. To assist this, he risk of an explosion was reduced by young children called trappers would sit underground opening and shutting trap doors which went across a mine. This allowed coal trucks through but it also created a draught and it could shift a cloud a gas. However, it was very ineffectual. It was also believed that a system of trap doors might help to stop the blast of an explosion, damaging more of the coal mine..........It was not until 1807 when the problem was eased when Sir Humphrey Davy with the invention of a safety lamp, in 1815, which meant that a miner could have light underground but without having to use the exposed flame of a candle. The lamp became known as the "Miners Friend". It gave off light but a wire gauze acted as a barrier between the heat given off and any gas it might have had contact with. John Buddle invented an air pump to be used in mines. Flooding was a risk that was out of the control of the miners as even Watts steam engines could not cope if a mine had a serious flood. Likewise, pit props could only take a certain amount of strain. T

Regardless of these developments, mining remained very dangerous. A report on deaths in coal mines to Parliament gave a list of ways miners could be killed :

Falling down a mine shaft on the way down to the coal face; falling out of the 'bucket' bringing you up after a shift; being hit by a 'fall' of dug coal falling down a mine shaft as it was lifted up; drowning in the mine; being crushed to death; killed by explosions; suffocation by poisonous gas; being run over by a tram carrying dug coal in the mine itself.

In one unnamed coal mine, 58 deaths out of a total of 349 deaths in one year, involved children thirteen years or younger. Life for all those who worked underground was very hard.

In 1842, Parliament published a report about the state of coal mining - the Mines Report - and its contents shocked the nation. The report informed the public that children under five years of age worked underground as trappers for 12 hours a day and for 2 pennies a day; older girls carried baskets of dug coal which were far too heavy for them and caused deformities in these girls.

One girl - Ellison Jack, aged 11 - claimed to the Commission of Enquiry that she had to do twenty journeys a shift pushing a tub which weighed over 200 kilos and if she showed signs of slacking, she would be whipped. Children had to work in water that came up to their thighs while underground; heavily pregnant women worked underground as they needed the money. One unnamed woman claimed that she gave birth on one day and was expected by the mine manager to be back at work that very same day !! Such was the need to work - there was no social security at this time - she did as the manager demanded. Such a shocking report lead to the Mines Act of 1842.

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Coal Mines in the Industrial Revolution - History Learning Site

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Citation: C N Trueman "Coal Mines in the Industrial Revolution"historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, . . Coal Mines in the Industrial Revolution Coal was needed in vast quantities for the Industrial Revolution. For centuries, people in Britain had made do with charcoal if they needed a cheap and easy way to acquire fuel.

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One major challenge is that the air around them the air could be dangerous it could harm their lungs and other serious health problems also if the nipper wasnt paying attention they could lose their life

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One time a young boy fell asleep and lost his life being crushed.Another time a boy fell asleep and almost cause a fire.So they had to be very careful

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How do the issues in society impact the individual?

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How do the issues in society impact the individual?

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The lack of adult labor lead to child labor.This eventually lead children to lose education and to have a loss of free time

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This picture shows a young nipper waiting for the sound of a mining cart so that he could open the door.