Miners at Lightmoor Colliery

I've been sorting through some of my early research and I've noted down that some of my Bowdler ancestors worked at Lightmoor Colliery. My only reference is that someone on this site helped me to discover this. Frustratingly, this was when I was an over-enthusiastic, inexperienced researcher and didn't keep proper records!

Having spent the last 45 minutes searching through old posts on here I'm at a loss as to know where my assertion came from! I posted on 20 September 2014 to say that people here had helped me discover the information, but equally there's a much more recent thread from August this year saying that employment records for the collieries are very sparse.

The 1901 Census shows that four brothers all worked in the mines: Tom Edwin Bowdler (23, coal hewer), George Godwin Bowdler (21, coal labourer above ground), Oliver Willie Bowdler (19, coal pump attendant below ground) and Hubert Roy (16, coal pump attendant below ground). The family lived in the Forest at Blaize Bailey, a mile or so south of Littledean.

If anyone here can recall helping me, or alternatively tell me that I'm mistaken, then please put me out of my misery!

What I do know (and have properly documented) is that the boys' father (George Godwin senior) received a small bequest in the will of William Crawshay (owner of Lightmoor) as he had worked as a gamekeeper on his estate.

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Hi Janey,
I've just clicked on your blue username hyperlink on the forum and it tells me you've posted 67 times since joining the forum in early 2014, I say this as you may not realise you can do this. It then lists all your posts within the various threads. At first glance none of the post titles suggests talk of places of employment, but it could well be hidden within the text of a reply. I'm wondering if you've looked thro them all in a methodical way to hopefully find the post or posts you recall ?. I say this as I know sometimes the forum's search engine doesn't immediately find things I think it should find, so this method may be more effective. I know you've already done this, but I just tried searching things like "Bowdler Lightmoor" and so on but without any luck so far.

You mention the names in the 1901 census. Are these the people you believe were at Lightmoor ?. Certainly given their living in Littledean area yes they MIGHT have been at Lightmoor, but it's far from certain. And yes sadly employment records are sparse !

Presumably the 1911 census records for these same names don't add any more information ?.

One possible link to a named pit would be if they were mentioned in the old newspapers, have you searched them on the BNA site, I think I recall searching a little for you in one of your earliest posts ?
That said, I cannot now find any combined mentions of Bowdler and Lightmoor in any BNA articles ????

atb J

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Hi jefff,

Sorry for not replying until now but I only seem to find time for research at the weekend, never in the evenings these days.

I did a comprehensive review of all my old posts plus various searches before starting this post. It was very much a last-ditch attempt to find something, just in case anyone recalled it.

I hadn't thought about looking on BNA, however. This did yield one article using a Bowdler/Lightmoor combination. This showed that (Edwin) Charles Bowdler gave evidence at an inquest into the death of a collier which occurred at Lightmoor in 1915. So this links my family to this particular mine, but not my great-grandfather speecifically.

In passing, I also picked up an article from 1943 noting that my great-great grandmother Sarah-Jane Bowdler (nee Edwards) was a nonogenarian - so that was a useful by-product!

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Hi Janey,
no need to apologise for your "slow" reply, by my standards you're very quick !

Yes I guessed you had looked properly but thought best to check. Ah well, no doubt it will turn up just while you're looking for something else, haha.

Glad the BNA suggestion was useful. I just searched for Bowdlers in this site's Inquests section, in case it also had that 1943 one. I guess you've already done the same, but if not then please do so. The database only has one involving the Bowdler family, but not that 1943 one, but one for a baby boy who died in 1881 after his head was struck by a door slamming in the wind !. It looks like 11 months old Henry Bowdler, son of collier Joseph, was a resident of the Littledean end of Cinderford, so they may well be in your tree ?. Unfortunately the Inquest doesn't state which pit Joseph worked at.

Hopefully this link takes you to the full details;
https://forum.forest-of-dean.net/inquests/php/popup.htm?../images/B401.png

Record_ID: 63741
Entry_Number: 930
Year: 1881
Month: Oct
Day: 18
Surname: BOWDLER
Forenames: Henry
Residence: Soudley
Age_at_death: 11 m[onth]s
Officiating_Minister: W[illia]m Lynes
Event: Burial
Cause_of_death:
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P85/1 IN 1/13
Page_No: 117
Parish_Chapel: Cinderford St John
Soundex: B346

1881 East Dean, Gloucestershire, England
Household Role Sex Age Birthplace
Joseph Bowdler Head M 27 Coal miner. Township Of East Dean, Gloucestershire, England
Emily Bowdler Wife F 23 Coal Miners Wife. Township Of East Dean, Gloucestershire, England
Jane Bowdler Daughter F 5 Littledean, Gloucestershire, England
Thomas Bowdler Son M 4 Manchester, Lancashire, England
Henry Bowdler Son M 1 Maidenham, Gloucestershire, England

etc, etc.
Later census' shows they moved to Soudley, sadly Joseph was only in his 50s when he died, presumably the effects of a lifetime underground.

Record_ID: 66082
Entry_Number: 31
Year: 1914
Month: Jun
Day: 18
Surname: BOWDLER
Forenames: Joseph
Residence: Soudley
Age_at_death: 59
Officiating_Minister: F W Baldwin Vicar
Event: Burial
Cause_of_death:
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P85/1 IN 1/15
Page_No: 4
Parish_Chapel: Cinderford St John
Soundex: B346

----

Oops, I now see we've already discussed Henry Bowdler's tragic death, see https://forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=49242

atb J

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