Introduction

Growing Up

Striking Out

Taking Charge

Growing Up

Before 1900, Whitehaven was a great city in England where many coal mines were opened. People came from all around to work in the mines. Among them were Patrick and Mary Caufield from Rostrevor, in northern Ireland.

Patrick quickly found work in England when there was little work to be found in Ireland. You might think that Patrick and Mary would have felt strange living among so many different people, but they found other Irish people living in Whitehaven. The Irish immigrants had formed their own parish, or Catholic Church group and lived in their own section of the city.

The Caufield Brothers at work as illustrated by Joce Thomas.
Click on this image to view a larger version.

Patrick and Mary had several children while they lived in England. The children's names were Peter, Edward, Bernard, William, Thomas, John, Kate and Bridget. The children all went to school, but most of them quit at early ages to work in the mines, just like their father. Bernard had only finished Grade 4 when he started to sort coal.

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