The true and gruesome tale of a South Tyneside teenager who worked down the pits - and now it's in a new book

Life was tough for a South Shields teenager living in the borough 123 years ago - and now you can read all about it in a newly published book.

The harsh realities of early 1900s life were experienced by Teddy Orton who was 13 when he started working at St Hilda Colliery.

He was a trapper boy and opened and closed the ventilation doors which were essential to the pit’s safety. It was a lonely job which involved a ten-hour shift in the pitch black with only rats and beetles for company as well as the pit ponies he would see pulling the tubs.

John has fond but distant memories of his ‘Granda’ who died in 1955. The little he knew of his early life was picked up from what his Nan, Gertie, said about ‘the old man’.

When John decided to do his own research into his Granda’s early life, he was shocked to discover the poverty Teddy had endured.

“When I started reading the press reports in the old pages of the Shields Gazette, I was shocked and distressed to read what my Granda’ and his brother and half-sister had endured.”

John also researched the Shields Workhouse records and the Census returns.

Teddy was brought up in Wilson Street,. The terraced houses on cobbled streets were crammed with big families in upstairs and downstairs flats and underground rooms. There was a ‘netty’ and cold water tap in the yard where the weekly washing was done.

The men worked in the shipyards, the foundries, heavy industry, the mines, or went to sea. The women did all the family chores including scrubbing the front step and sharing the latest gossip with their neighbours.

Teddy’s parents had moved up to Shields from Loughborough. His dad worked in the shipyards as a rivetter and boilermaker.

Teddy endured the hardships that were common in those days when his dad was unable to work after becoming unwell with rheumatism. He died in 1902.

The family spent eight months in the South Shields Workhouse and later, a neighbour was given custody of the children by the Court. The husband worked at St Hilda Colliery and he had found Teddy a job as a trapper boy earning 7s 3d a week.

Teddy worked hard down the pit and went to night school to better himself. He also attended St Mark’s Church, Laygate where he met his future wife, Gertie who was a sailor’s daughter and whose family had moved to Shields from Blakeney, Norfolk.

By 1914 when war broke out, Teddy had passed his mining exams to become the youngest Deputy in the Durham coal field. The tale of Teddy’s early life ends there - but his story, together with Gertie’s, will follow in John’s next book, The Sailor’s Daughter.

The Pit Boy, which costs £11.99 in paperback or £5.99 in ebook is published by UK Book Publishing, Whitley Bay, and is on Amazon as a printed book or e-book. It is also available in the Word Library and Shop.