The Robinson family of Dipton: Life and Loss in a Durham Colliery settlement
Building a Durham Colliery Family in the Coalfield
The Robinson family of Dipton are part of Durham colliery family history, their story beginning on 16 May 1868 when a young blacksmith named John Robinson married Martha Atkinson Robinson. Both came from deeply rooted working families: John was the son of a wagonwright, and Martha the daughter of a coal miner. Their marriage tied together two strands of the Durham coalfield community: skilled trades and pit life.
By 1871, the Robinson family were living with their first child in a tiny settlement named Collierley (not a spelling mistake – the name clearly reflected the dominant feature of the settlement). Colliery villages like this were often clusters of simple brick cottages built by mining companies to house their workforce. Each community had its own rhythm of labour and rest, with pit hooters marking the day’s beginning and end, and a strong sense of solidarity among neighbours.
A decade later, the 1881 census reveals a growing household with five children and two coal mining boarders. Taking in lodgers helped make ends meet, supplementing the family’s income at a time when work was precarious and wages unpredictable. Local newspapers often carried notices of accidents, wage disputes, and strikes, all of which shaped the lives of families like the Robinsons.
Once a journeyman blacksmith, John had by then followed the path of so many men in the area and gone underground, working as a miner in nearby Dipton. Before long, he advanced to the role of ‘stoneman’ at one of the pits owned by John Bowes & Partners, responsible for cutting through stone to open the coal seams: heavy, dangerous labour essential to keeping production moving.
A Fatal Accident at Delight Pit
Accidents were tragically common, and the Durham colliery family of Robinsons was one of many affected by mining danger. On 22 May 1890, tragedy struck when John Robinson was killed by a fall of stone at the Delight Pit in Dipton. The inquest later recorded a verdict of accidental death.
The Consett Guardian of 30 May 1890 paid tribute to him: “The deceased was an extremely quiet, peaceful, and unassuming man and was held in general respect by all.”
John was just 45 years old when he died.
Resilience Amid Loss
Martha was left to raise their children alone, like so many women of the Durham coalfield who faced sudden widowhood. She likely relied heavily on support from relatives, neighbours, and the colliery’s own relief funds, which offered small payments to families affected by accidents. Women often took in washing or sewing to survive, while older children contributed wages from early work in the mines or nearby factories. The Robinsons’ story is a reminder of the dangers of mining and the resilience it demanded of families to endure and survive in such a hazardous environment.
Their experience was not unique. Accidents like John’s shaped life in pit villages across County Durham, leaving communities bound together by shared hardship and by fortitude.
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