Just to add to David's point about the term "charter master" being used;
I worked on a hand-filled contract coal face in Warwickshire where one
man was referred to as the "puffler". Although the face had a deputy,
the puffler was the person who decided who worked on the face and how
the money was subdivided... In effect an historical position, yet this
was the National Coal Board in the 1960s. Interestingly, the wages were
very high and one man travelled up from Swindon to work on the face!
Barry Job.
-----Original Message-----
From: D.R.Poyner [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 20 January 2005 14:44
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: job titles of 'promoted' coalminers
My impression of the mines that I know about, in the Wyre Forest
Coalfield, is that by about 1900 the terms fireman/deputy, overman etc
were widely used. Going back to the original query, why do these terms
seem to be found more often in the census returns for the NE then
elsewhere, I offer the following thoughts.
1) These individuals had statutory duties, laid down in increasing
detail by the various coal mine acts. I don't know the wording of the
regulations but I think from an early date they specifically mention the
different grades and their responsibilities?.
2) From the late 19th Century, large numbers of mining textbooks were
published, aimed at the ambitious collier who wanted promotion. Again,
these (as far as I know), all use the terms fireman/deputy etc
Thus there would have been considerable pressures to standardise on the
same terms. The converse of this is in small mines with a much less
formal management structure you might expect other terms such as
charter-master, coal master or whatever to still survive? Also going
back to the earlier censuses, say 1871 and earlier, I would expect more
use of these other terms.
I suppose to investigate this properly, someone needs to properly
quantify the use of the terms in different regions and at different
dates. My suspicion is that it may reflect more the quirks of individual
census enumerators than how people actually used the terms, but that is
just speculation.
David Poyner
David Poyner
The information in this email is confidential and is intended solely for
the addressee. Access to this email by anyone else is unauthorised.
If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying,
distribution or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on
it, except for the purpose of delivery to the addressee, is prohibited
and may be unlawful. Kindly notify the sender and delete the message and
any attachment from your computer.
|