Edition, with full notes and introduction, of documents fundamental
for our understanding of a major group of workers. "There is in
Newcastle upon Tyne of keelmen, watermen, and other labourers,
above 1800 able men, the most of them being Scottish men and
Borderers which came out of the Tynedale and Reddesdale." Thus
begins a report of 1638 lamenting yet another "strike", which opens
this volume. For hundreds of years, the coal of the north-east of
England was transported down the River Tyne by keels -
shallow-drafted barges, with a large sail, and a single giant oar.
The work of manning such vessels from the point at which coal
reached the river, to where the crew of the keel loaded it into
sea-going ships bound for the east coast, for London, and further
afield, was hazardous, unpleasant, very physically demanding, yet
poorly rewarded. The struggles of the keelmen to improve their lot,
retain their livelihoods, and maintain themselves and their
families in sickness and old age gained them a reputation as
unruly, even dangerous. Yet they also demonstrated a close working
solidarity years before trade unionism was established, as well as
providing independent charitable support for themselves. This
volume brings together much varied primary source material relating
to the keelmen from many local and national archives. Letters from
the city of Newcastle's local authorities to Cabinet Ministers from
Robert Harley, through the duke of Newcastle, to Robert Peel,
complaining of the keelmen's behaviour, and demanding government
support in dealing with them, are a constant theme. But the keelmen
also had their supporters, including the writer Daniel Defoe.
Covering over 200 years of keelmen's activity, the volume covers
strikes, riots, prosecutions (of rioting keelmen but also those who
proclaimed "Bonnie" Prince Charles king of England in 1750),
impressment by the Navy - keelmen were in high demand - and the
efforts to establish charitable foundations for the men and their
families, concluding with the decay of their "hospital" in 1852. A
full introduction to the volume sets all these documents in the
context of their times.
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