Student activity sheet 4: Coalbrookdale according to Jane and Enoch

Jane's story Hello! My name is Jane Bassett and I work as a house servant in Coalbrookdale. It`s a funny time at the moment with all these census people asking everybody questions. I cannot see the point myself - everyone knows who lives in the houses around here. Enoch says it`s got something to do with taxes, but I think he`s making it up - he does that a lot. Still he does have a lot going for him. To begin with, he has a good job. His father got him the job, just like he did for Enoch`s brothers. I think the boys get a better deal than the girls. Most of the girls my age, say about 14 to 16 years old, are still at school. Actually most of the boys under 16 are also still in school. At least I am not still there! The thing is though, what have the girls got to look forward to? Most of us will end up as servants, maids, cooks or something like that. At least that`s what most women do now. Of course the great majority of women look after the home - I don`t know what they will put for that on this census. Girls always used to look forward to getting married and making a home. My mother says that`s all girls want to do these days. She says that more than 20 of the married women around here are under 20 years of age. I am not so sure. My cousin says that it is getting harder to find a husband. She reckons most of the women between 20 and 30 are not married. She says it`s because the iron industry is in decline and men are moving away. I wonder if there are less men of that age around here today?

Enoch's story What would Jane know about the iron industry? The truth is it`s the only industry around here. Anyone who has got a job does something with iron. I reckon there must be 300 iron workers of one sort or another. Jane thinks it`s boring, she says an iron worker is an iron worker. She does not realise that there are masses of different jobs in an ironworks. Even so, things are not what they used to be. My father says wages are low because too many iron workers come from outside the county. He reckons you can`t move for wretched Irish immigrants. He also reckons half the iron workers here were not born in Shropshire. Even the ones who were born in Shropshire don't come from round here in Madeley. There ís no denying that the housing situation is tough. There are not many houses around here with less than six people in them. Actually, I think most houses in this area have about eight or nine people in them. Certainly most iron worker`s houses have that many people in them. I would not be surprised if other workers had even more. There are some sad houses where the woman is the head of the house. There are about 20 of these that I know of. That usually means the man was killed in an accident, although sometimes it`s just that the man has died of old age. Still, they are kept company by lodgers. Almost everyone has a lodger to help pay the rent. Still we don't want to make it seem too miserable here. It is not all bad and Jane thinks there are lots of jobs to be done around here. Look around for yourself to check.