At the beginning of the 19th century, many children from poor families did not go to school. A number of them worked in factories, farms, chimney sweeps and also in the coal mines. In Wales there were two coal-fields – one in the North and one in the South. Coal was very important in the 19th century because this was the fuel of the industrial revolution.
Many women and children were employed in the coalmines because it cost less in wages. It was also necessary for them to work to earn enough money to live on.

Children as young as 5 or 6 worked down the mines. Some of them worked opening and closing the air doors. The trucks were filled with coal, having separated the waste material from the coal, and this is what other children had to do. Having loaded the trucks, other children then had to push or pull them along dark and narrow tunnels.

Many of the children worked for up to twelve hours every day in terrible conditions. They would take food down the mines with them, but sometimes, the rats helped themselves to their food!

If the children did not work hard enough, the master would beat them. They saw very little daylight, and it was only on Sunday that they managed a day of rest. They were only paid a few pennies per day for their labour.

The work was very dangerous as there were no safety regulations then. There was a danger that the tunnel might collapse and also the danger of poisonous gases and explosions.They used to take a canary in a cage down the mine, and if the bird died, they knew that gas was present.In 1815, Sir Humphrey Davey invented a safety lamp which did improve matters but there were still many serious injuries and deaths recorded.

Lord Shaftsebury and other people believed that there should be laws passed to prevent young children from working such long hours and under such dangerous conditions. The children were questioned about their working conditions, and this resulted in reports being written to highlight these conditions. As from 1833 laws were passed that were to improve the working conditions of women and children..