In the nineteenth century the rapidly expanding coal industry was the key to Britain's industrial growth. The workforce consisted not only of men, but also of thousands of coalmining women, who mined, sorted and transported the coal. Angela John looks at the lives and struggles of these women, and their fight in the 1880s to keep their jobs at the pit. She focuses on the contrasting careers of two women from very different backgrounds: Jane Brown, a Lancashire pit lass; and campaigner Margaret Park, and Mayoress of Wigan. Through the campaign, the author throws new light on Victorian attitudes to working women, and working conditions in general in a major nineteenth-century industry.

 

This book is part of a book series called Women in History .

There are 48 pages in this book. This book was published 1984 by Cambridge University Press .

This book has the following chapters: 1. In search of women miners; 2. Down the pit; 3. Above ground - the pit lass; 4. The right to work; 5. Full circle; Key dates; Glossary; Suggestions for study.