GSQs Writing Group met in June 2025 and we considered the subject of writing family stories around a theme. The writing exercise for the meeting was to develop a plan for doing this. It is usually the case that members interpret the brief for the writing exercise differently and so the plans received from members were varied. Our focus on developing themes that spoke to the history of our families and ancestors led to in-depth discussions on the benefits and challenges of planning and writing family stories around an appropriate theme. The discussion revealed that this may result in a more interesting family story than one written purely chronologically.

I opted to develop a plan around my paternal ancestry where the majority of the males worked as coalminers; they lived predominantly in the Derbyshire/Leicestershire/Nottinghamshire coalfields.  I came up with the following topics that could be explored for relevance to my own family:

• Growth and development of coalmining, especially in the Midlands of England
• Coalmining communities – cohesion, collaboration and camaraderie
• Occupational health and safety
• Legislation governing the operation of coalmines, including employment of children and women underground
• Occupations associated with coalmining
• Accidents and inquests
• Growth and development of industry unions
• Leisure activities
• Nationalisation of coalmines
• Decline of coalmining as an industry

Until coalmines were nationalised in the UK after the Second World War, they were owned and operated by individual landowners. Many coalminers moved around the coalfields in search of better paid jobs and working conditions. Occupational health and safety was not always a high priority for mine owners and many coalminers and their families suffered from lung-related diseases, such as tuberculosis and phthisis. Even though women did not work directly in the coalmines, they absorbed dust and fibres from washing the clothes of those who did. As well, accidents were common. Numerous pieces of legislation were enacted throughout the 19^th and 20^th centuries to regulate the industry. Writing a family history based around a theme of coalmining therefore opens up a wide range of material that is relevant to my family.

https://www.cmhrc.co.uk/site/maps/em/index.html

Growth and development of coalmining was a core part of the projected story. Coalmining was a significant industry in many areas of the UK so, for context for my family, I thought it would be necessary to limit the story to the Midlands of England as this was the area where my ancestors came from. I have a book by Colin Owen entitled The Leicestershire and South Derbyshire coalfield 1200-1900 (Moorland Publishing, Ashbourne, Derbyshire, 1984) which recounts the development of coalmining in this coalfield. The areas outlined in red on the map of the East Midlands Division indicate just how prevalent coalmines were in this wider area.

Cohesion, collaboration and camaraderie of coalmining communities would be another significant element in the story. Life in many mining villages was focused around the local coalmine and social cohesion has been explored in numerous books and films. A focus on mining communities can lead into the hazards faced by coalminers and their families. Members of my own family were impacted by accidents, deaths and illnesses. An accident down the mine would bring everyone to the pithead to find out who had been injured or worse. Resources documenting accidents and fatalities are available on several websites, one of which is the Coalmining History Research Centre (https://www.cmhrc.co.uk/site/disasters/). This site offers information about disasters within the UK mining industry during which 5 or more miners died. There is also full list of all disasters from 1600 to 1979. Another useful site is http://www.mineaccidents.com.au/mine-events/disaster/gb.

FindmyPast has a collection entitled England, Mining Disaster Victims with the four counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, and Yorkshire represented in the records. This is directly relevant to my area of interest. This collection is a database of fatalities in coalfields in the Midlands and Yorkshire entitled Alan Beales Database of Fatalities in the Coal Fields created by Alan Beales on a website dedicated to a miner who worked with the Ilkeston mine rescue team (http://www.healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/contents.htm#C).  Ilkeston lies on the border of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire and is where my paternal ancestors lived until they relocated to South Derbyshire. Additional information about the records can be found on the source’s website.

Numerous pieces of legislation governing the operation of coalmines, including employment of women and children underground, have been enacted since the mid-1800s. Also, since the nationalisation of coalmines in 1947, concern increased about the hazards faced by miners and the impact on the community and individual families. Significant accidents were usually reported in local newspapers. One of my ancestors was killed in an accident underground and the local newspaper contained an extensive report on the inquest into the accident that led to his death. The inquest sought to determine who had responsibility for the accident – the mine owner or the miner.  The newspaper report included testimony from a wide range of people associated with the mine.

My own father was seriously injured following a roof collapse and spent many years until his untimely death seeking compensation.  The miners’ trade union assisted with the claim so mention of this organisation would be relevant. Also relevant would be mention of the many strikes seeking improved working conditions and wages; these often brought miners and their union into conflict with the government.  A notorious and major example in living memory was the miners’ strike in 1984/1985 which was an attempt to prevent closure of pits that were uneconomic. Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister sought to reduce the influence of unions and was challenged by Arthur Scargill, the leader of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). Wikipedia has a helpful summary of the strike at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984%E2%80%931985_United_Kingdom_miners%27_strike. It was probably inevitable, however, that coalmining as an industry would continue to decline and the impact of an industry in decline is vividly evident in many coalmining communities, such as my home town.

We often think of coalminers working at the coalface underground, but there were many other occupations association with coalmining. An index of old occupations at Hall Genealogy https://rmhh.co.uk/occup/c2.html has a list of 9 occupations and what their role was, as well as that of hewer – the man who worked at the coalface. One branch of my family worked above ground in a variety of roles.

Pigeon race results 1 June 1931, Derby Daily Telegraph

Spending a significant part of your life underground, in the dark, would prompt many miners to choose outdoor leisure activities. Some that come to mind are pigeon racing, gardening, and brass bands, all of which feature strongly in newspaper reports. Pigeon racing fostered camaraderie and community, as did playing in brass bands.  The following pigeon race results were part of a two-column spread on How the birds homed in the Derby Daily Telegraph newspaper and feature two members of my family. The many prize certificates awarded to my father were among the numerous records that my mother had kept in memory of him.

First prize awarded to J. Stirland for a pigeon race from Gloucester to South Derbyshire in 1977

In an attempt to be as self-sufficient as possible, many miners grew their own vegetables and allotments were a common feature in post-war Britain. Prize-winning vegetables were grown not only for the dinner table but were also entered in horticultural competitions.

It is unlikely that the majority of our ancestors lived in isolation from what was happening in the wider world; exploring the issues that may have impacted on their lives to a greater or lesser degree facilitates a richer picture of our ancestry. Writing a family history around a theme, therefore, can generate a broad range of local, national, and perhaps global issues, that provide context for the lives of ancestors and help to create a cohesive narrative that is so much more than just dates and names. I am unsure whether I will ever write a full story of my family around the theme of coalmining, but this exercise certainly gave me food for thought in how I can add significant context to my ancestors’ lives.