Author: Peter Witham

Miners’ Life 2

The poss tub was the Victorian equivalent of the washing machine. The poss stick worked up and down pressed the dirt from the cloth. Soap if used was home made and difficult to lather. The whole exercise was hard work

The Victorian bed followed the lines of a four poster but less comfortable. A four poster kept the warmth in and offered a little bit of privacy. Often a smaller bed was stored underneath. Mattresses were invariably straw-filled.

A Family Budget for a miner in 1843.
Name Age Earnings
Robert Crick 40 9s 0d
Wife 38 9d
Boy 12 2s 0d
Boy 11 1s 0d
Boy 9 1s 0d
Girl 8 nil
Girl 6 nil
Boy 4 nil
Total 13s 9d
Spending
Bread 9s 0d
Potatoes 1s 0d
Rent 1s 2d
Tea 3d
Sugar 5d
Soap 3d
Blue 1d
Thread etc 3d
Candles 3d
Salt 1d
Butter, Cheese, milk 10d
Coal Free
Total 13s 7d

It was not unusual for miners’ families to live in one room for a long period while they were waiting for a cottage to be allocated. Often three generations lived in the same room with occasional lodgers, consequently living conditions were overcrowded and squalid.