Introduction
George Edward Tuck is a notable example of a young man who left a rural life in the West Country for the coal mines of South Wales. Born in Misterton in 1873, he began his working life as a farm carter, following in his father’s footsteps. However, after his marriage in 1899, his life took a different turn. After a few years spent at Hardington Marsh where George worked as a railway platelayer, he and his family moved to Seven Sisters in Glamorganshire in 1903, where he worked as a coal miner for many years before becoming incapacitated. In December 1935, he witnessed a fatal accident as he was finishing his shift.
Birth
George, the sixth child of George and Maria Tuck, was born at Misterton on 27 December 1873.[1] His father, George, was a farm labourer.
Beaminster
By April 1891, George and his parents had moved to Buckram Farm Cottages, Beaminster, where George and his father worked as farm carters. They later moved to Misterton.
Marriage
On 14 October 1899, while living at Misterton, George married Jane Caddy at Chedington. She was the daughter of Thomas Caddy, a hurdle maker.
Hardington
Shortly after their marriage, George and Jane moved into one of the railway cottages at Hardington Marsh. The 1901 census recorded George as a platelayer.
George and Jane’s first son was born at Hardington on 30 September 1900.[2] Their next son was born and died there in 1902.[3]
Seven Sisters, Glamorgan
By 1903, George and his family had left the village and embarked on a new chapter.[4] Their third child was born at Seven Sisters, Glamorgan, on 13 May 1905. [5]
In April 1911, George was a coal miner living at 6 Rhyddings Terrace, Seven Sisters, with his wife, three children and a nephew.[6] George and Jane’s last child was born one week after the census was taken.
George and Jane remained at the same address until at least September 1939.
In June 1921, both George and his oldest son were unemployed coal miners.
A fatal accident
On Saturday, 21 December 1935, a tragic incident occurred as George was leaving the Seven Sisters Colliery with his fourteen-year-old assistant, Elvet Evans. As they stood in a refuge hole to let three horse-drawn trams pass, the boy fell under the horse’s hind legs and was killed instantaneously.
At the inquest, George said the boy must have slipped. He added that in thirty-two years underground he had never had an accident. The jury inquest returned a verdict of “accidental death.” [7]
The boy’s father sued the mine’s owners, Messrs Evans and Bevan, and received £65, which included £15 funeral expenses.[8]
After the boy’s death, George may have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, as the 1939 Register lists him as “Incapacitated.”
Death
Jane died in 1950, aged 75, and George died in 1958, aged 84.
Children
George and Jane had three sons and two daughters. Their second son died in infancy.
References
[1] 1939 Register.
[2] Western Gazette, 5 October 1900, p.8.
[3] Civil Registration Birth Index; Civil Registration Death Index.
[4] Guardian valuations; Porthcawl Guardian, 27 December 1935, p.8.
[5] Civil Registration Birth Index; 1939 Register.
[6] The 1911 census schedule shows two addresses for the same property: 6 Rhyddings Terrace and 38 Neath Road.
[7] Porthcawl Guardian, 27 December 1935, p.8.
[8] Herald of Wales, 21 November 1936, p.3.
