Year 5 - Victorian Child Workers

In Year 5 History, we pretended to do the jobs of Victorian children in the mines - trappers and drawers - to experience what it would have been like for them.

Trappers—Trappers were children who operated the air doors, providing ventilation for the miners. By keeping the fresh air flowing, they prevented the buildup of dangerous gases. The children would sit in the draft of the doors, cold, damp, and very frightened, with little or no light for 12 hours a day.

Drawers - Drawers pulled heavy carts of cut coal to the pit's surface with heavy chains around their waists.