In 1841 more that half those employed in colliery work were born outside County Durham. Many such as sinkers and excavators were transitory workers developing the collieries and railways and moving on. There were 12 colliery sinkers in Whitworth in 1841 but in 1851 there was only one. Similarly, in 1841 there were 19 excavators but none in 1851. Some incomers did stay and one example is the Willey family, who moved out of colliery work and into the “pub trade”. (Photograph of Whitworth Colliery Sinkers c. 1850 courtesy of the North of England Open Air Museum at Beamish, Regional Resource Centre)