Above: Caphouse colliery surface buildings
Above: breaking through underground between Caphouse Denby Grange
T1921 Census records 990,400 of our ancestors in England and Wales as working in coal mining - at a time when the population was 38 million. This gives you an idea how high the chances are that you might have a miner ancestor (or more likely, if you do, rather than one you’ll find many, it being employment that impacted on the whole community).