General

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

Mining Terms & Occupations

Lists of Mines

Acts of Parliament

Education & Housing

For more on education and housing see the extracts from the reports on the Mining Districts and Report on Housing of the Industrial Population of Scotland and 1842 Commission and the 1875 Notes on Miners' Houses, published in the Glasgow Herald

Trade Unions & Truck System

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

A new section on Trades Unions and Strikes has been created.  This includes a transcript of the 1824 Address to the Colliers of Ayrshire, setting up the Ayrshire Colliers Association

General Areas

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


Please also see our separate sections on Health & Disease for accounts relevant to mining populations and our extracts from the 1843 Poor Law Commission. These contain general descriptions of the assistance provided by the parishand often names and biographical details of those receiving relief.

Historical accounts of the Mining Industry:

Petitions By Colliers 1842-1843

Interesting collections of petitions by colliers mainly asking for repeal or amendment of the 1842 Act to prohibit the Employment of Women and Girls in Mines and Collieries, to regulate the Employment of Boys, and make Provisions for the Safety of Persons working therein.  In addition 3 petitions request that methods are implemented for the weighing of output.

General sections linked from this page include: