Colliery Worker Database 1759-1855 Guide
The database includes details of every individual known to have been associated with the early Neston collieries (opened 1759, closed 1855). Where relevant, it includes information on their lives other than when they were doing colliery work and/or for a period before or after the colliery closed. Sources include parish registers and censuses (primarily for the Neston area but also other locations) as well as other primary sources which name individuals. All sources are indicated (see ‘Sources’ below).
With the limited information given in the sources there is sometimes uncertainty about linking information in different entries to one individual. Generally, at least three matching criteria have been sought, and/or other potential candidates eliminated, before making a link. However, it should be recognised that some uncertainty inevitably occasionally exists.
The database should be viewed as a living document. As new information comes to light it will be updated periodically.
How to Read the Database
The database is arranged in alphabetical order by surname (column 4). Where different individuals have the same surname, entries are then arranged by Christian name and, if both names are shared, by date of the first entry. At an individual level, entries are in date order.
Note that the background colour of an entry generally has no significance – it is simply to distinguish one individual from the next. However, a white background means that the entry falls outside the normal criteria for inclusion e.g. it is wholly outside the collieries’ opening dates or relates to someone who was not a colliery worker but who was otherwise connected to the collieries.
Column 1 - Type
This categorises the information recorded:
Baptism: of a child of a colliery worker
Bap/Bur: baptism of a child who then died and was buried before age 15
Birth: known to have occurred but not recorded as a baptism
Burial: recorded in a parish register
Census: a record of the existence of named individuals in 1841, 1851, 1861 or 1871
Death: known to have occurred but a burial is not recorded
Ecc. Census (1851): the Ecclesiastical Census information for Neston in that year (available at Cheshire Archives)
Event: a significant occurrence in a worker’s life other than those listed in other categories
Marriage or Remarriage: of a colliery worker and his wife or second/third wife
Reference: brief mention of a colliery worker in a primary or secondary source
?: indicates information uncertain
Column 2 - Subject
Indicates the subject of the event
Ch.: child
Col: colliery worker (collier/coal miner or other occupation)
Wi: wife
Column 3 - Date
The date of the event or of the reporting of it.
‘00’ means that all or part of the date is unknown or to be confirmed.
Blanks indicate burials of children, with the date recorded in columns 10-15.
Column 4 - Surname
Surname of colliery worker (spelt as per the original).
Column 5 – Male Forename
Christian name of colliery worker (spelt as per original except that Latin names in Roman Catholic registers have been anglicized).
N/S = not stated
Column 6 – Female Forename
Christian name of wife of a colliery worker and/or child’s mother (spelt as per original except that Latin names in Roman Catholic registers have been anglicized).
N/S = not stated
Column 7 – Child’s Forename
Christian name of child of a colliery worker who was baptised, born or buried (spelt as per original except that Latin names in Roman Catholic registers have been anglicized).
N/K =not known
Column 8 - Occupation
Occupation of colliery worker as per the original source, where stated. For children, this is the father’s occupation; for wives it is their husband’s occupation except entries in italics are the wife’s occupation/description.
Column 9 - Residence
Location as per original source; modern spelling used. All locations are in Cheshire unless otherwise stated.
Fl. = Flintshire
Yks. = Yorkshire
Columns 10-15 – Children’s Date of Burial
These are only applicable to children with a recorded ‘Burial’ or ‘Bap/Bur’.
They are categorised by age: up to 2; 3 to 5; 6 to 8; 9 to 11; 12 to 14; or unknown but believed to be under 15 (e.g. stated as ‘child’).
Ages are those stated in the relevant source or, where no age appears in the source, is the difference between date of baptism and date of burial. Baptisms were generally with a month of birth; burials were always within days of death.
Column 16 - Notes
These should be self-explanatory. They are not intended to be comprehensive – there is considerable scope to expand on them over time with more information about the individuals concerned.
Bishop’s Transcripts were copies of the parish register sent to the Diocesan Registry. They occasionally differed from the parish register in points of detail.
Column 17 – Age
This is the age of the individual concerned at the time of the recorded event – male, female or child. Recorded children’s ages usually relate to burials and could be measured in days, weeks, months or years.
For husbands and wives, the man’s age is stated first e.g. ‘35/32’.
‘!’ indicates that the age differs by more than one year from what might be expected from the previously stated age.
‘(i)’ indicates that the age was not stated in the source but has been inferred from another entry in the database where the age is stated in a source. Only selected entries have had ages inferred.
The figures are occasionally supplemented by ‘wd’ (widow), ‘wdr’ (widower), ‘sp’ (spinster).
Column 18 – Source(s)
Baptisms, marriages and burials are all sourced from NPR unless stated otherwise here.
Census details are taken in the stated year from the location stated in column 9.
Abbreviations:
BPR: Burton parish register
CALS: Cheshire Archives and Local Studies
CMLBA: Cheshire Marriage Licences, Bonds and Allegations
FRO: Flintshire Record Office
IME: Institute of Mechanical Engineers
NEIMME: North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers
NPR: Neston parish register
PR: parish register
reg.: register
TNA: The National Archives