Victorian coal mines relied heavily on child labor to perform dangerous jobs. Children as young as 2 worked long hours underground, often 18 hours a day, performing tasks like pushing coal trucks along dark, dirty tunnels or opening and closing ventilation doors in isolation. While underground conditions were difficult, children working above ground sorting coal at least had access to daylight and fresh air. Miners would take simple meals like bread and cheese or tea down into the mines to sustain their long work.

1. Children in the Coalmines
By Bryan Ruane

2. Why was coal so important
 In Victorian times,
energy came from
water-power, from
horses and above
all from burning
coal.
 Coal was as
important to
Victorians as oil is
to us today.

3. What were coal mines like
 Most coal was dug
from deep mines. A
long vertical shaft
was dug down from
the surface. Leading
off from it were side
tunnels.
 Coal mines were
dark, dirty and
dangerous. The only
light came from
candles and oil
lamps.

4. What jobs did children do in the
mines
 Some children
pushed trucks of
coal along mine
tunnels. They were
called ‘putters’.
 ‘Trappers’ opened
and shut wooden
doors to let air
through the tunnels.
A trapper boy sat in
the dark, with just a
candle and no-one
to talk to.

5.  Some children started work at 2 in the
morning and stayed below ground for 18
hours.
 Children working on the surface, sorting
coal, at least saw daylight and breathed
fresh air.
 Miners took their dinner down the mine –
perhaps bread and cheese, or bread with
a bit of bacon and drank a tin of cold tea.
 Thank you for listening – the end.