Old Monkland Colliery wood hall?

[Rena]

My great great grandfather, Rowland Evans b1828 and his wife Mary, b1835 moved from Trawsfynydd, North Wales to Old Monkland, Lanarkshire after 1855.  (they had a son Abraham, who was born in North Wales in 1855) They were definitely there by 1856, as Mary gave birth to her daughter, and in 1861, as they are noted on the census, despite being down as born in 'England' (for shame!) on that registry. He is noted as being a 'coal miner', which would make sense coming from North Wales, and most probably came up to look for work. Why Scotland, I'm not sure? They were living at Woodhall Square, Woodhall, Old Monkland, and I was wondering if these houses were still there, and what mine he might have worked at?

On his son's birth certificate, it mentions 'Woodhall' colliery, as their address, so was there a colliery named as so?
any help would be great,
thanks so much, diolch

I don't know anything about the colliery or its housing unfortunately.

Your ancestor was living in a really progressive age when the "industrial revolution" had really taken hold. A few decades earlier the population of North Wales exploded as workers moved into the area.

When new coalfields were found the owners needed to tempt experienced workers from elsewhere with higher wages.  For instance, in the 19th century you'll find Derbyshire miners moved to the Yorkshire coalmines due to higher pay.

There would be several ways that your ancestor learnt of the Old Monkland vacancies.  From newspaper adverts; from annual job fairs; and as the industrious north Wales needed feeding there would be news from cattle drovers, etc., of opportunities to be had elsewhere.

 " The Monkland Canal continued to provide market access to
many coal workings such as Woodhall, which had tramways from the pit to
the  canal  to  ease  conveyance  of  its  Parrot  coal  and  also  the  then  more
important  ironstone."
http://www.nmrs.org.uk/assets/pdf/BM45/BM45-66-86-monklands.pdf

[Henry7]

Many thanks to Falkyrn, Andrew C. and J.M.Strachan for their information about the serfdom or slavery in Scottish coal-mines until 1799.  (By then we'd all been singing Britons never, never, never, shall be slaves for almost sixty years.)

These facts certainly make an enlightening change from so much we constantly hear about, say, Bannockburn. 

[Andrew C.]

Everyday can be a school day on Rootschat.

[RJ_Paton]

Many thanks to Falkyrn, Andrew C. and J.M.Strachan for their information about the serfdom or slavery in Scottish coal-mines until 1799.  (By then we'd all been singing Britons never, never, never, shall be slaves for almost sixty years.)

These facts certainly make an enlightening change from so much we constantly hear about, say, Bannockburn.

Sadly the end of the 18th Century did not see an end to the domination of the workers whether miners or otherwise as Acts of Parliament known as the Masters & Servants Acts basically made it a criminal offence for any worker to leave their employment without giving "due notice" although the  Employers had no need to give any notice (or reason)  if they wished to dismiss a worker.

In 1866, 2 men (miners) were sentenced to 14 days imprisonment with hard labour at Hamilton Justice of the Peace Court having been charged and found guilty of  deserting their service (ie not providing "due notice") at Braidwood Colliery.
In 1875 another Lanarkshire miner was fined over £7 with an alternative of 1 months imprisonment for refusing to complete his fortnights "due notice".

A Royal Commission was set up following a Mining disaster in Yorkshire in which 26 children under 16 died with a remit to look at  the employment of women and children  in the mining industry throughout the United Kingdom. In 1842 when the Commission submitted their report the findings and submissions were reported widely and were claimed "to shock the nation" major changes were planned but met serious opposition by vested interests in Parliament. One change that did come about was that females of any age and boys  under 10 were no longer allowed to work underground.
Although well intentioned this actually led to further hardship as families found their incomes cut

[Henry7]

Ah yes, the guid auld days!

[sancti]

The mining conditions info deserves a thread of its own