Seghill Colliery payslip goes to Australia and back

It was taken to London for safe keeping but then Charles junior took it across to Australia, where he lived, when his father passed away.

Now, 50 years later, Charles junior is wanting to find its rightful owner and has asked the Chronicle for help.

From his home in Victoria, Australia, the pensioner said: "I am interested in history and wanted to find who this payslip belongs to so I could give it to their family.

"It was a Mr J Barnes, who was a miner at Seghill Colliery, and he had been talking to my dad because he was interested in working conditions, and the payslip showed how the miners even had to pay for their own explosives while the mine owners where making a lot of money.

"We had talked about the payslip on a number of occasions as I grew up, and then I had the thought that it would be great to give it back to the family it really belongs to."

Charles junior was born in Walker, Newcastle, and he and his parents moved to London in 1926. His dad worked for the Ministry of Pensions and took an interest in the appalling working conditions some people had to endure.

Charles junior then moved to Australia when he joined the Australian Army in 1951, where he met and married his wife Celia.

Charles, who later became a teacher and actor, said: "It was once when we came back to the North East for a holiday that my dad got the payslip. I was only little, but I remember being with him and talking to this miner. My dad kept it and showed it to people to prove the working conditions some had to work under.

"When my father died I got various things and one was the payslip. I had in my mind that I wanted to reunite it with the Barnes family and when my wife and I came to England for a holiday in September I was going to go to Seghill and carry out some research to try and find the Barnes family.

"However, I slipped and had difficulty walking. I had to stay in London return home with the payslip."

The payslip shows how, in 1934, J Barnes' weekly wage was £3 16s 3d. He had to pay 2s 6d for explosives, 9d for water and 2s7d for his lamps.

Charles, a father of two, added: "I hope someone reads this and the Barnes family are found. It would make them so happy to be given a piece of family history. "

Any member of the Barnes family or anyone with information can contact Lisa Hutchinson on (0191) 201 6493.