A family of coal trimmers in South Wales

Image: Betty Wills / CC BY-SA
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

On the St David's Day weekend I had to choose a Wales-focused topic for this blog post!  The following item is based on an article I wrote in 2015 for the Glamorgan Family History Society journal.  In the course of my CLOSE one-name study I have been researching a family which migrated to the Cardiff area from Gloucestershire in the 1840s, no doubt attracted by the availability of work associated with the coal industry.  

Gloucestershire origins

The family which moved to the Cardiff area from Gloucestershire in the mid-1840s consisted of William CLOSE, b 19 Feb 1819 in Stoke Gifford, his wife Sarah THOMAS, b 1815, and their two sons Edwin, b Marsh Common 1843, and Jesse, b Marsh Common 1844.  Sadly Sarah died of typhus fever in 1845 at the age of 30, and in 1849 William married again, to Caroline REED, producing two more children: Kish, b Cardiff 1850, and Louisa Mary, b 1854 in Cardiff.

The 1851 census, taken on 30 March indicates that the early years of William and Caroline’s marriage were somewhat turbulent.  We find Caroline (coal heaver’s wife) living with her son Kish at 75 Union Street, St John, Cardiff, while William (collier) is a lodger at 7 Railway Terrace, St Mary’s, Cardiff.  William’s two children from his first marriage are both away from home in Gloucestershire, 6-year-old Jesse with his grandmother Jane CLOSE in Stoke Gifford, Edwin listed as a visitor (but probably grandson) to James & Elizabeth THOMAS in Almondsbury.  At the age of just 7 Edwin is described as a farm labourer.

The Welsh Newspapers Online website adds colour to the basic information gleaned from the 1851 census:  the Monmouthshire Merlin of 18 Apr 1851 reports that “William CLOSE, labourer, was charged with leaving his wife and family chargeable to the parish.—Defendant pleaded that his wife greatly neglected his two children by a former wife, and also that she was of a violent and jealous temper. He was ordered to pay 5s per week.”  It would appear that William and Caroline made up their differences, since they are found living together in all the remaining census records until William’s death in 1890.  However, there is no evidence to suggest that the boys from William’s first marriage ever returned to live with their stepmother Caroline.  The 1851 census lists William's occupation as 'collier', but in 1861, 1871 and 1881, he is described as a 'coal trimmer'

Coal trimmers at work [image from Pechristener / Public domain]

What is a coal trimmer?

Census and other records show that four generations of this family worked as coal trimmers in Barry or Cardiff Docks.  When coal is tipped into the hold of a vessel, it will naturally fall in a conical shape, and it was the trimmers, armed with shovels and rakes, who had the responsibility of ensuring that the load was spread evenly, making the cargo safe so that it could not shift and unbalance the vessel during the voyage.  Those interested in knowing more about this occupation might be interested in contacting Swansea University, which according to Archives Wales holds papers from the Coaltrimmers’ Union (Cardiff, Penarth and Barry Branch).

Second generation

All three of William’s sons followed their father and became coal trimmers. Edwin was described as a striker in 1861, coal miner in 1871, but as a trimmer 1881-1901 and a retired coal trimmer in 1911.  Jesse’s occupation varies from census to census, but always appears to have some connection with the coal industry: 1861 horse driver; 1871 labourer; 1881 coal trimmer; 1891 dock labourer; 1901 labourer on coal.

William’s 3^rd son, Kish, like his half-brother Jesse, appears to have changed his occupation several times: 1871 blacksmith, 1881 coal trimmer; 1891 coal backer (carrying sacks of coal on his back); 1901 coal trimmer; 1911 checkweigher (Cardiff Washed Coal Co.).  Not long after his marriage to Louisa Ann ROSSER in 1872, the South Wales Daily News of 1 May 1874 reported that Kish and Louisa CLOSE were charged with assaulting Enos ASH, and were fined 5s each plus costs. Over the next few years Kish had a number of brushes with the law:  in 1878 he was fined 25s for keeping unlicensed dogs, and a further 7s 6d in 1892 for a similar offence.  In 1890 he was charged with assaulting his wife, but Louisa did not appear in court to give evidence and consequently the case was dismissed.

The work of a coal trimmer was not without its dangers.  The Evening Express on 11 July 1902 reported that Kish CLOSE fell 30ft into the hold of the Steamship Longet, sustaining a severe cut on the side of the head.  Kish was evidently a member of the above-mentioned Cardiff, Penarth and Barry Coaltrimmers and Tippers Union.  The Barry Herald of 4 September 1908 reported on a special meeting when Kish was presented with a compensation cheque of £450 - a vast sum in those days! - in respect of another accident in November 1907 on board the S.S Trenego, caused by the collapse of a bulkhead.  One wonders whether Kish had to work as a checkweighman (as recorded in the 1911 census) after that accident because he was no longer fit for the work of a coal trimmer.

Third generation

Neither Jesse nor Kish had sons who survived into adulthood, so the line of coal trimmers could not continue beyond them.  However, Edwin CLOSE married Ann MAISEY in Cardiff in 1867, and had five sons and seven daughters.  Their two youngest boys followed different career paths, Charles b 1883 becoming a Wesleyan Methodist minister, and Ernest b 1885 a steel worker at a plate mill.  However, like their father and grandfather before them, the three older sons, William Henry b 1867, Benjamin (Ben) b 1869, and Edwin Charles b 1879 kept up the family tradition, and are all listed as coal trimmers up to and including the 1911 census records. In 1907 Ben was recorded (The Cardiff Times, 13 Jul 1907) as the branch chairman of the Cardiff Coaltrimmers' Union.

Fourth generation

Until the publication of the 1921 census, it is uncertain how many of the fourth generation of this family were involved in the coal industry in their youth.  What we do know, however, is that by the time of the 1939 register, four of Edwin's grandsons had evidently pursued different career paths: commercial traveller, clothing salesman, bread baker, managing clerk.  Other grandsons are not listed in 1939, so their occupations are unknown. However, one great-grandson of  the original coal trimmer William CLOSE (1819-1890), Sidney Benjamin CLOSE (1889-1973) - son of Ben the union chairman - was listed as a coal trimmer in the 1939 register, continuing the family tradition.