Continuing a fictional account written by Labour Leader and MP, Keir Hardie. Published in the Labour Leader Magazine on Hogmanay 1909, it puts characters into the Blantyre Pit Disaster of 1877. It’s published here in a few parts, transcribed by myself for your interest. Continued from Part 1, Keir writes: Jock had found his way […]
Category: Blantyre Mining
Tale of Blantyre Explosion – Part 1
A different take on Blantyre Explosion next. This account was written by Labour Leader and MP of the time, Keir Hardie. Published in the Labour Leader Magazine on Hogmanay 1909, it’s more of a story around fictional characters, putting them in the situation of the Blantyre Pit Disaster of 1877. It is published here in […]
Breach of Eight Hours, 1909
By the 1900s, miner’s working conditions saw them working in shift patterns of no more than 8 hours underground. Still horrific, given the conditions down pits. It was an early ‘human rights’ law brought in by Parliament and at first contested by Coalmasters. More time in the mines, meant more coal brought up and therefore […]
Reminder of Mining Past
I saw this striking photo online this week and whilst it isn’t about Blantyre, it is a stark reminder of the conditions these miners worked in. The person who discovered this said, “Today whilst I was driving, Around the countryside, I came across this statue, Of a miner on his side, A rather striking pose […]
Common Ground
James Clyde, the youngest victim b1865-d1877
This is the story of the youngest victim of the Blantyre Pit Disaster, young James Clyde, aged only 12. There is nothing more sad about the Pit Disaster of October 1877 than hearing of the death of children and no more so to hear of children working and losing their young lives underground, not even […]
James Brodie 1851 -1877
This is the tragic story of one of the miners who lost his life in the Blantyre Pit Disaster of 1877. James Brodie, was the son of John Brodie (shepherd) and Mary Turnbull. Born in 1851 in Lanarkshire. Coming to Blantyre between 1871 and 1874, the timing fits well with new opportunities for coalminers being offered […]