Attendance and work effort in the Great Northern Coalfield, 1775–1864¹

Abstract

The transition to industrial capitalism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was accompanied by a decline in irregular work attendance. The chronology of that decline is unclear due to a lack of quantitative evidence. This article examines detailed colliery records from a crucial period of industrial transition and shows that traditional patterns of attendance and work effort survived in one of the leading sectors of the industrial revolution well into the second half of the nineteenth century. The study shows how regional and local sources can throw new light upon problems for which national quantitative data are unavailable.

The working week in the long nineteenth century: Evidence from the timings of political events in Britain

“…The pattern is also strongest in the first few decades of the nineteenth century, supporting those accounts of Saint Monday which make it coextensive with industrialisation, rather than a precursor to it (e.g. Reid 1976, Hopkins 1982, Kirby 2012. It also flatly contradicts Voth's claim that Saint Monday was never widely observed in northern England (Voth 2000).…”

“…If the tradition of Saint Monday was in fact gaining popularity at this time (contrary to Voth's argument), then this leaves us with the mystery of where those extra working hours came from. I cannot attempt to solve that problem here, but future work might benefit from paying closer attention to the question of whether Saint Monday was a full holiday, irregular absenteeism or a tradition of short working (see Kirby 2012).…”

“…Peter Kirby's recent history of the Wylam Colliery, Northumberland, turns to microhistory in response, using detailed work records from the coal field between 1775 and 1864 to track the changing patterns of work across the period. His central finding is that, while there were no full shutdowns of the colliery on Mondays, short working was extremely common (probably due to the physical exhaustion of workers) and that this tradition only disappeared with the emergence of half-day Saturdays in the 1850s (Kirby 2012). Given the obvious limitations of using sources from a single location, other quantitative studies have instead relied on indirect measures of time-use.…”

Review of periodical literature published in 2012

“…He shows how, ‘perversely’ (p. 793) as it might seem, the ease with which contracts could be dissolved helped to perpetuate London's vibrant apprenticeship system throughout the long seventeenth century, and possibly even beyond. Changing patterns of attendance at work are the focus of Kirby's article, which uses a micro‐historical approach to explore how much workers became more regular in their working habits. Taking the Great Northern Coalfield as his case study he shows how traditional work patterns, including the taking off of ‘Saint Monday’ continued in this sector long into the nineteenth century.…”

“…Taking the Great Northern Coalfield as his case study he shows how traditional work patterns, including the taking off of ‘Saint Monday’ continued in this sector long into the nineteenth century. Kirby's employment of detailed local records makes an important contribution to longstanding debates about productivity and work‐discipline during the industrial revolution.…”