Descent into Silence: Cawthorne’s Forgotten Tragedy by David Hinchliffe

Description

Book launched: 23 May 2021.

An account by local author and Barnsley FHS member, David Hinchliffe, documenting the ten men and boys killed in the Norcroft Colliery Disaster 23rd May 1821.

“Using contemporary reports to help piece the jigsaw together, historical context and detailed genealogical research into the backgrounds of those involved, this account offers a fascinating insight into the lives of working class families across the period, when children as young as five were forced to work underground in order to supplement the household income. The research also illustrates how the split between the businessmen operating local pits, and landowners like the Spencer-Stanhopes of Cawthorne's Cannon Hall, led to an apparent disregard for the safety and wellbeing of the local workforce. The unforgiving inhumanity of the time is underlined by the way the local ‘Overseers of the Poor’ endeavoured to eject two of the victims’ families from the area when they had fallen on hard times after the disaster.”

Contents:

• Facing Pages;
• Selective Histories;
• Curious Connections;
• Earth’s Immeasurable Silence;
• A Journey Begins;
• A Puzzling Pedigree;
• Cawthorne, Constituencies and The Commons;
• Something of Shattering Importance;
• Banks and Coal;
• Norcroft’s Coal Community;
• The Millstone of 1812;
• A Cheerless Childhood;
• The Chiliasm of Despair;
• The Accident’s Aftermath;
• Trials, Tribulations and Stony Inhumanity;
• The Sound of Profitable Commerce.

Including a concise bibliography, notes to accompany the text, acknowledgements, and lineage.

A compact paperback (216 x 16 x 138 mm) of 216 packed pages with black and white illustrations throughout. Published by local publishers, Scratching Shed Publishing,with all royalties going to heritage charities.

ISBN 13: 978-1-838489-90-8