General

Click on the links for some background information on various aspects of life in mining areas.

For definitions of mining terms and occupations, see the Mining Terms and Colliery Rules Sections.

For links to transcribed lists of mines click here

This section also contains a full transcript of the 1887 Act which may provide useful background when reading reports of accidents and prosecutions.

For more on the Truck system see the extracts from the 1871 Truck report

Other items of general interest include a section on early history, a listing of miners wages and costs, newspaper articles on emigration, strikes and obituaries of notable people associated with mining and a description of the Gothenburg system of public houses.

Historical accounts of the Mining Industry:

Among The Fife Miners by Kellogg Durland, 1902. Durland was an American journalist and social reformer who spent 4 months living and working with the miners of Kelty. Page also includes the article "Among Scottish Miners" and a report of the action raised by Helen McKechie against Durland.
The Industries of Scotland: Their Rise, Progress and Present Condition by David Bremner. This interesting book on the key industries of Scotland was published in 1869. We have transcribed the chapter on Coal Mining, Ironstone Manufacture and Mineral Oil and Paraffin Manufacture. This last chapter provides an interesting overview of the development of the shale industry in West Lothian.
The Miners of Scotland by Robert Haddow from “The Nineteenth Century”. The views expressed by the author on miners, and particularly the Irish, in this account from 1888 may seem rather offensive to us now, but provide a useful insight into how the miners were viewed at that time.
Slavery in the Coal Mines of Scotland by James Barrowman, 1897
The Health Conditions of Coal Mining by James Barrowman, 1896
Health of Old Colliers, by J.S. Haldane, 1916
Mining Mortality, by James Barrowman, 1898

General sections linked from this page include: