Two households in Coundon, County Durham

Explore the census entries for two households living in Coundon in County Durham in 1851. Compare their places of birth, their relations to the head of household and occupations by selecting the different features. Discover how to interpret this information and what the data can reveal.

	Thomas head married 46   joiner Durham, Cockfield Elizabeth wife married 48   Durham, Chapel in Weardale Thomas son unmarr 24   coalminer Durham, Chapel in Weardale John son unmarr 21   coalminer Durham, Cockfield Elizabeth dau unmarr 19   at home Durham, Cockfield Esther dau unmarr 17   at home Durham, Ramshaw Matthew son 14   work in coalmine Durham, Ramshaw Charles son 12   screen boy Durham, Coxhoe Joseph son 9   at home Durham, Coxhoe Mary Ann dau 6   at home Durham, Coxhoe Hannah son 4   at home Durham, Chilton Moses son 1   Durham, New Coundon
	Occupation The Garthwaites are all in the same profession - coal mining. Charles Garthwaite is a 'screen boy' who would have sorted the coal once it had been raised to the surface.. The girls do not work, but it seems that young boys would have started work as young as 12. The census tells whether children were attending school. Elementary education was not compulsory until after 1870, and in many industrial areas school provision before then was grossly inadequate. This was so in Coundon. Of the 21 children in Coundon at that time, aged 4-14, only two are listed as 'scholar', both from comparatively better-off families. Equally, few children of this age were working (three - aged 12, 13 and 14 - each employed in the coal-mines). Legislation had begun to restrict employment of children in industry. Most children stayed at home and received no education at all. Levels of literacy were exceptionally low in this area.
	Looking closer Four of the Garthwaite sons work in the colliery. We could use information such as this to compare with other local families or other communities to give a good impression of what is often expressed in anecdotal sources - that all the men of a family worked down the pit. In the records of mining accidents, tragically frequent in the Durham coalfield and often devastating in their impact, the close-knit coal-mining community is identifiable, and the loss of all the men of a family is not unknown. Further studies of the local industries could include finding out about about the work of women and children in the industry by tracking down local industry archives or looking at published histories to find out about the industry and whether certain parts of the country had recognised specialisms in that trade