1921 census

[heilanlassie]

I have just found my husband's grand uncle on the 1921 census, and he appears to be an inmate at HM Prison, Carliol Square, Newcastle.
He is listed as an out of work miner from the Ashington Coal Co.
Looking through the other names on the page, most of them also seem to be out of work, some from other coal companies and ship builders.
Was there something going on in the area in 1921 that would have seen men imprisoned?

[River Tyne Lass]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tommy-Turnbull-Miners-Joseph-Robinson-ebook/dp/B09PRNJN2W

There were strikes in 1921 - perhaps it might be linked to that.
Have you tried putting his name in British Newspaper Archives search for an article?

https://durhamrecordoffice.org.uk/search-options/search-durhams-hidden-depths/hidden-depths-search-results/?SearchType=AtoZ&SearchStart=A

Possibly try Durham Archives 'Hidden Depths' to see if his name is there and if there might be related documents for him.
By the way, the book above is a marvelous read about a miner's life back in the day.

[Gadget]

It could well be. Some of my wider family who were miners in North Wales have 'miner out of work - lock out' against their occupation.

Gadget

[Copper1]

If you are of a 'certain age' - no disrespect but compulsory history teaching in the curriculum has been woefully lacking since the 1980s, you would be blissfully unaware of the conflict between coal miners, owners and the government of the day post WW1. Like today's nurses, in particular sadly undervalued, the huge effort miners made during the war for the Allied war effort was not rewarded. Hence disagreements over pay for starters began in earnest around September 1921. A temporary lull at the end of October only subsided until the following year. It was headline news for ages.

[River Tyne Lass]

Yes, I agree.  I am the daughter, Granddaughter and Great Granddaughter of coal miners.  However I didn't know the half of how bad things for miners were until I read Tommy Turnbull and also heard a talk whilst on the 'mine tour' at Beamish Museum.
I think the miners were treated very badly. 
Also far from an easy life.  Quite a few of my ancestors ended up as invalids.  My Grandfather died of exhaustion age 42 before I was born.  My Dad had a horrific accident in the 1960s which narrowly missed being fatal. He didn't come home for 6 months. My uncle by marriage to my Dad's sister lost his legs in a mine accident.

[Gadget]

I come from a long line of coal miners. At least 3 of my direct line were killed in mining accidents in the 19th century and others were injured or had lung disease from the dust in the mines. My father had a serious injury. My sister and I were lucky. We both went to university (full grants in those days) and went on to gain higher degrees - my sister ended being a Prof of Public Health and I had senior lecturing and  research posts. I'm not sure that we could have achieved this  under the present university funding arrangement.

Much of the talk at home was of how it was in the old days (including the 1920s strikes) and how working conditions  improved when the mining industry was nationalised.

PS - there were also the lovely stories of camaraderie in mining communities.

[AlanBoyd]

Yes, all of my immediate ancestors were “out-of-work” miners in the 1921 census. From the FindMyPast introduction to the census:

Taken on June 19 1921 after being delayed by two months due to industrial unrest…

[heilanlassie]

If you are of a 'certain age' - no disrespect but compulsory history teaching in the curriculum has been woefully lacking since the 1980s, you would be blissfully unaware of the conflict between coal miners, owners and the government of the day post WW1. Like today's nurses, in particular sadly undervalued, the huge effort miners made during the war for the Allied war effort was not rewarded. Hence disagreements over pay for starters began in earnest around September 1921. A temporary lull at the end of October only subsided until the following year. It was headline news for ages.

I guess I must be of a 'certain age' - having left school in Scotland in 1965.
I cannot remember being taught anything about coal miners, owners or government disputes - but perhaps (like today) Scotland is only interested in Scotland !!!

[candleflame]

Our family were all miners too in the North East. My grandad who died before I was born was injured by a roof fall and apparently walked with a stoop ever after . He was a hewer in a 3 foot down to 18 inch seam apparently. Another died after a roof fall in 1922 , having survived WW1 and getting the DCM and the MM after rescuing an injured soldier by going out into no mans land. My father in law suffered a foot injury and then a chest condition from his mining and my mother in law was determined that her sons would NOT go down the mine...... So my husband got a job in the office at the National Coal board.
My own history knowledge from school stopped at the three field system in mediaeval times. This is because at my school you had to choose for your o levels between either history or geography. At a that age I loved geography so history went, even though at 14 I'd already started doing some genealogy with my mother.