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Joseph Skipsey (1832 – 1903) was a Northumberland born poet and songwriter in the middle and late 19th century. His best known work is arguably "The Hartley Calamity" about the Hartley Colliery Disaster, a devastating mining accident in Hartley, Northumberland, England in 1862 in which 204 lives were lost.〔("The Illustrated London News 1862 The Hartley Pit Disaster" at iln.org.uk )〕 He was known as "The Pitman Poet". == Birth and early life == Joseph Skipsey was born in Percy Village (generally known after the name of the colliery Percy Main), in the Parish of Tynemouth on 17 March 1832. His father Cuthbert, an overman at Percy Main Colliery, and mother, Isabella, had many children, of whom Joseph was the eighth. Joseph Skipsey faced an early tragedy when his father, Cuthbert, was shot dead on 8 July 1832 in the wake of a long and bitter miners' strike. On the Sunday evening, an "affray" occurred between a group of miners and special constables. Cuthbert Skipsey, an overman and someone who the pitmen would look up to, stepped forward in an attempt to defuse the situation. One of the specials, George Weddell, pushed him away and shot him with his pistol. Weddell was arrested, tried, found guilty of manslaughter, and sentenced to six months hard labour.〔(Trial of Constable George Weddell for the murder of Cuthbert Skipsey ) Transcript and image from Newcastle Courant, 11 Aug 1832〕 Like many children of that era, Joseph Skipsey started work in the local pit. He started at the age of seven as a trapper,〔 teaching himself to read and write using pieces of discarded newspaper, adverts etc. progressing to some of the classical British authors and then to write his own stories, poems and later songs. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Joseph Skipsey」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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