2-791-509 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Pitman, 1844. 'The miners, or pitmen, as they are more generally termed in their local districts, are a peculiar race of men; their isolated position, their subterranean labours, their limited society, the early age at which they are sent down the pits - all tend to give them distinguishing characteristics, great similarity of manners, thought, and dialect. In stature they are small, sallow and thin in countenance, not muscular, and frequently have a particular gait and twist of body, which is contracted from the position they have to submit to in the performance of their labours'. From "Illustrated London News", 1844, Vol I.