However it doesn’t have much information. Samuel Cook’s information is biased because he’s asking for money, therefore he is probably exaggerating. This makes the source unreliable. For example instead of just writing 19 men killed he wrote “19 men and boys roasted to death, this makes it sound more brutal”. Also he writes “another horrible! A most horrible MINE DIASTER!” To make it sound like it happens all the time, and to stress how fatal it is.
Source C is written by Marie Rowlands and she talks about the west midlands but she looks at a large period of time AD1000-1987 which isn’t useful for us, because she will only be able to cover our issues briefly. She talks about that the mines have become dangerous and people have died over silly things, and enterprise grew more machinery.
Source C fits well with my background knowledge because I already know people die in mines and that’s what Marie Rowlands refers too. It is a reliable source because she is a historian. The source is more informative than persuasive about the history of the west midlands mining industry and how people died. She was a local historian lecturer. The tone of the language is objective and factual which makes it more reliable for example “As the scale of enterprises grew and more machinery was used, the number of industrial accidents, disasters and diseases increased” it’s more factual than emotive unlike source B when Samuel Cook says “another horrible! A most horrible MINE DIASTER!” this is more personal than factual.
Source D is written by Thomas Whynne who was an inspector of mines in 1854. He talks about deaths of miners and he says he doesn’t care about how they get the coal along as they get it. After a man died no-one appeared at the inquest other than the working miners, the Butty said “he would sleep there better than in his own bed”. The next day the coal fell and was killed.
Source D fits well with my background knowledge because I know mine isn’t a safe place to stay the night and I know it causes deaths. The author is an inspector but we don’t know who he is inspecting for so it isn’t that reliable. He’s purpose of writing is to inform us because he is writing a report so it is reliable. So this means he’s tone of language is factual because “A man killed by a fall of coal” isn’t the same as “boys roasted to death” as I have pick out from another source that phrase is emotive unlike the one from this source.
Source E was written by James Mitchell, a children employment commission reporter in 1842. It talks about the jobs that the adults and boys do, a brief description of there jobs are that the men lay on their sides and the boys will use their pick were clearing the coal that the men will get, and how dangerous there jobs are, in a mine what ever kind of accident your going at-least get away with just a broken bone. It talks about the right period of time but it doesn’t mention where the mining took place.
Source E sort of fits well with my background knowledge because I knew if your going to be an accident your going to at-least get away with just a broken bone but what I didn’t know of what kind of jobs the men and boys had. The author a children’s employment commission so it isn’t that reliable because we don’t know who he is writing for. He’s purpose of writing is to inform us because he is wring a report so it is reliable. So this means he’s tone of language is “factual” so it makes me believe is it more reliable because the author isn’t trying to persuade the readers, for example “the undergoing is a dangerous part of the work” in this speech there’s no emotive language used.
Source F the Black Country Museum is useful because the mine has a replica mine which was based in the 1850’s. It is well research by Sandwell library archived. It is a tourist attraction, profits comes first in order to survive. Its limited health and safety but it des show how dangerous mining could be. All the buildings have been brought across the Black Country and reconstructed on the site. Its well research it shows the danger of mining i.e. “pillar and stall method” this is shown in source A and D.
Source G the Black Country museum website talks about
Admission prices
Opening times
Visiting the museum
Where we are?
It has a short range of information on the museum, but it does not really help us with our enquiry in the working conditions in the mines of the Black Country in the 19th century.
In conclusion all the sources have issues which we should question, but they do all have something in common, deaths and danger this can be a starting point for a full investigation on mines and mining conditions. There are no sources giving there views of the mine owners and there no sources giving the view of the miners themselves. We will need to include there details to give a full balance view of what it was like to be a miner in the Black Country in the 19th century.
