Thomas Jordan (B.1892): Life and Labour
‘All the hustle and bustle, nowhere peace and quiet: the quest for the black diamond overruled sanity, order and grace. Yet, men …
Thomas Jordan (B.1892): Politics, Protest and Class
Thomas Jordan grew up on a colliery in Usworth, County Durham and followed his father down the mines aged 14. Although in …
Kiera Sayers: Writing Lives Evaluation
Coming into this module, I was initially quite overwhelmed at the thought of a weekly public blog because, aside from a one-off piece …
Thomas Jordan (B.1892): Purpose and Audience
‘Most working-class autobiographies begin not with a family lineage or a birthdate but rather with an apology for their authors’ ordinariness’ (Gagnier, …
Thomas Jordan (B.1892): Home and Family
Family is a central theme in Thomas Jordan’s memoirs, but in a less than traditional way. He does not so much focus …
Thomas Jordan (B.1892): An Introduction
Mr. Thomas Jordan. 2 Simpasture Court, Newton Aycliffe. Co. Durham. Thomas Jordan was born in January 1892 in Birtley, County Durham …
Thomas Jordan (B.1892): Education and Schooling
‘I had never been a very clever scholar… so I was doomed for the pits.’ (Jordan, 2) Thomas attended a church school …
Thomas Jordan (B.1892): Habits, Culture and Belief
‘Usworth colliery was a booming place… Cinemas and theatres appeared in New Washington and they filled to capacity.’ (Jordan, 6) Working-class people …
Thomas Jordan (B.1892): War and Memory
Thomas Jordan left the mines of Durham after the 1912 National Miners Strike and enlisted in the army on April 15th, aged …
Thomas Jordan (B.1892): Reading and Writing
As I have mentioned in previous posts, the memoir of Thomas Jordan are in the form of an oral history interview. We …