Boys in the Pits

Boys in the Pits: Child Labour in Coal Mines is a 2000 book by Robert McIntosh, published by McGill-Queen’s University Press. The book is about child labour in Canada in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with special reference to the history of boys, aged 8 to 15, who worked in coal mines. These boys worked underground, leading horses along subterranean roads, manipulating ventilation doors, helping miners cut and lift tons of coal, and filling wagons with freshly mined coal.

Robert McIntosh is an employee at the National Archives of Canada.