Report from the Select Committee on Mines together with the Proceedings of the Committe, Minutes of Evidence, and Appendix

Soft cover. Good. House of Commons, [London], 23 July 1866; large 4to, 213 x 330mm; pp xiv, 539; standard blue paper covers, a little worn or frayed at the foot and the lower spine, small loss of the outer back cover around 4 x 4cm and with related damage to the margins of a few preceding pages, several pages curled over at the lower outer corner towards the end, one gathering of three sheets loose, but despite all that still a good or better copy of the work; one page, and possibly more, stamped with the small, neat oval mark identifying Wells Chapter Library. ... ... ... One of the drivers of the industrial revolution and, hence, the significant expansion of the British Empire and the attendant wealth created for the few, was the ready access to the energy provided by coal. At the same time coal mining, though well established, was a very hazardous and ill-paid occupation. One question asked in the hearings was "Do you think that the colliers are too poor to keep their own female relatives at home unemployed?", the somewhat deferential answer being merely "There are some that are." Elsewhere it's revealed that the men work underground for 11 to 12 hours a day (and slightly shorter on pay days) six days a week sometimes with the requirement that their sons from aged 10 accompany them to fill the tubs (typically underground 12 hours daily), that ventilation and the risk of both explosions and of roof collapses is ever present and although concerning tends to be accepted. A Royal Commission in 1886 made further recommendation but it was not until the Coal Mines Act 1911, promoted by Winston Churchill, then a junior minister in the Home Department in the Asqfuith Liberal government than any real, if still limited, progress was made. For anyone interested in the realities of Victorian working class industrial life reports such as this make fascinating reading. . ... ... ... NOTE - the volume weighs around 1.4kg, and therefore may require a carriage supplement on overseas, but not domestic, orders, the exact amount depending on destination and service.