2-791-419 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Pitmen encamped, (in Northumberland and Durham), 1844. 'The unfortunate dispute between the coal-owners and pitmen of the north of England still continues, with as little prospect of an amicable adjustment as ever. It is the longest strike (seventeen weeks), ever recorded of this important branch of our national industry; and its extent may be judged by the fact of 20,000 of the miners petitioning for the interference of the Legislature...The owners of the mines provide cottages for their workmen near to the pits in which they are to be employed; these are granted rent free, and as the men refuse to accept of the terms offered them by their masters, the latter have demanded possession of the houses inhabited by the former, and numerous forcible ejectments have been made...'. From "Illustrated London News", 1844, Vol I.