Peter Tavy copper mine workers in the 1861 census

PETER TAVY COPPER MINE WORKERS LISTED IN THE 1861 CENSUS

The population of Peter Tavy in 1851 was 561 men, women and children. The North Mine had already opened at the time of that census and within a few years shafts for the Central and South Mines had already been sunk, with the collective mines taking the name Devon United Mines. Besides copper, over the years arsenic and tungsten were also produced. The North Mine closed in 1905 - the other two in 1924. There is no way of knowing which mine each of these workers worked in.

Like the "Bal Maidens" of Cornwall, the women worked the same long hours as the men at rough and very dirty work.

Copper was also commercially mined in Devon at North Molton, Tavistock Hamlets and at Littleham near Budleigh Salterton.

NAME	AGE IN 1861	EMPLOYED AS
Fanny Burgoin	18	Cobber*
George Burgoin	18	Miner
James Burgoin	28	Miner
John Burgoin	24	Miner
Martha Burgoin	20	Cobber*
Richard Burgoin	14	Miner
William Burgoin	16	Miner
William Burgoin	21	Miner
William Burgoyn	39	Miner
James Burgoyne	45	Miner
William Burgoyne	13	Miner
John Burley	39	Miner
John Clarke	20	Miner
John Collins	38	Timber Man
Mary Ann Dadd	17	Jigger**
William Dadd	13	Miner
William Dodd	27	Miner
James Friend	17	Miner
John Friend	27	Miner
John Friend	55	Miner's Labourer
Maria Friend	23	Cobber*
Thomas Friend	28	Miner
William Friend	22	Miner
John Geake	19	Miner
Thomas Giles	35	Miner
Roger Heard	20	Miner
Peter Holmes	14	Miner
Robert Holmes	59	Miner
Robert Jackson	38	Mine Agent/Supervisor
William Lewis	49	Miner
James Mudge	40	Miner
Elizabeth Newton	19	Cobber*
Joseph Newton	17	Miner
Joseph Newton	17	Miner
Josiah Oxenham	16	Miner
Charles Palmer	53	Miner
John Palmer	23	Miner
Richard Phillips	12	Miner
William Rice	52	Miner (& farmer)
John Rich snr.	37	Miner
John Rich jnr.	15	Miner
Joseph Rickard	16	Miner
Mark Rickard	43	Miner
Richard Rickard	16	Miner
William Rickard	13	Miner
Maria Rimmett	21	Jigger**
Samuel Shambrook	20	Miner's Labourer
John Stacey	43	Miner (& Methodist Preacher)
Richard Stevens	34	Miner
Henry Walters snr.	56	Miner
Henry Walter jnr.	17	Miner
John Walters	24	Miner
James Ware	35	Miner (& Inn Keeper)
James B. Ware	37	Miner
John Ware	66	Miner
John Williams	18	Miner
Jacob Wright	23	Miner
John Wright snr.	42	Miner
John Wright jnr.	13	Miner
William Wright	11	Miner
William Wright	11	Miner

* A Cobber was a surface worker and was usually female. Her task was to remove waste using a long-headed hammer.

**A Jigger, also usually female, sorted out other minerals from the copper ore by visual recognition.