Made this nineteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five, between A. and B. esquires, proprietors of the colliery called C. D. in the county of Durham, of the one part, and the several persons whose names or marks are hereunto subscribed of the other part.

The said A. and. B. esquires, do hereby retain and hire the said several other parties hereto, from the fifth day of April now next, until the fifth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-six next ensuing, to hew, work, fill, put, and drive coals, and to do such other work as shall be necessary to carry on the said colliery, as shall be required or directed to do by the said A. B. esquires, their executors, administrators, or assigns, or their agent or viewer, at the respective rates and prices, and on the terms, conditions, and stipulations, and subject to and under the penalties and forfeitures hereinafter specified and declared; that is to say,

First, A book shall be kept at the office of the said colliery, to be called the condition book, in which shall be entered, by or under the direction of the principal agent of the said colliery, all and every the said terms and conditions made between the said A. and B. and the several other parties hereto, which relate to their hiring, and are not specified herein, and such terms and conditions shall be as binding to both parties, as if they had been severally enumerated herein ; and that a copy of such conditions book, as far as the entries therein relate to each individual of the said parties hereby hired, shall be delivered to each individual on his request; and the said condition book shall always remain open to the inspection of any magistrate requesting the inspection thereof; and that a copy of this agreement shall be delivered to any person appointed by the said parties hereby hired to receive it, within fourteen days from the time of entering into the same.

Second, That all penalties and forfeitures hereinafter agreed and required to be paid to the said A. and B. their executors, administrators, or assigns, by the said other parties hereto, shall be demandable and paid on the first pay-day after they have been respectively incurred, and shall thereupon be deducted from the first and next following earnings or wages of such persons incurring the same, until fully paid; and if they shall not be demanded on such first pay-day, and deducted as aforesaid, or if they shall be remitted or abandoned by the said A. B. their executors, administrators, or assigns, or their principal agent, they shall not afterwards be received or enforced, or required to be paid.

Third, That if by any accident happening to the engine of the said colliery, or from any other cause, a pit should be rendered unfit for working, and the said parties hereby hired shall be laid idle for more than three successive days, two shillings and sixpence per day shall be thereafter paid to such of them as are men, and one shilling per day to such of them as are boys, provided that they respectively work at any other labour offered to them by the said A. and B. esquires, their executors, administrators, or assigns; and in case such work is not provided for them, and it can be proved they are left at liberty by the said A. and B. their executors, administrators, or assigns, to find employment elsewhere, and that such employment may be had, then the men shall receive only one shilling and sixpence a day each, and the boys only ninepence a day each ; and in the event of their being fully employed in any other colliery, no payment whatever shall be made during such employment.

Fourth, That the said A. and B. their executors, administrators, or assigns, shall provide and keep at the mouth of each pit, a tub of the standard measure of the corves to be used at the colliery, and that the corves sent to bank, and suspected to be deficient in measure, shall be measured and compared with such standard; and if found deficient, no payment shall be made for hewing and filling the same, but the hewer thereof shall not be subject to any other forfeiture on that account: and the measuring and comparing a suspected corf with the standard shall not take place unless the hewer thereof be present, until after two hours from the sending such corf to bank, or until the number of suspected corves at any pit shall amount to eight. And in case any foul coal, splint, or stone, shall be found in any corf to the amount of one quart or more, the hewer thereof shall forfeit at the rate of threepence per quart of such foul coal, splint, or stone, but shall receive the agreed price for hewing the clean coal therein. And if the whole quantity of foul coal, splint, or stone, found in any one corf, shall exceed four quarts, the hewer thereof shall either forfeit and pay five shillings or be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and be subject to such penalty as may be inflicted by law, over and above paying the threepence per quart of foul coal, splint, or stone, at the option of the said A. and B. their executors, administrators, or assigns.

Fifth, That the sums or forfeitures required to be paid by the said parties hereby hired, for such days as they shall respectively lay themselves idle, shall be respectively paid to them, to the same amount, by the said A. and B. their executors, administrators, or assigns, for each and every day they shall be respectively laid idle by the said A. and B. their executors, administrators, or assigns, or their agents; except on the pay Saturdays, the Christmas holidays, which shall not exceed ten days, and in the cases hereinbefore provided for.

Sixth, That the said parties hereby hired, shall, except when prevented by sickness or other sufficient or unavoidable cause, do and perform a full day's work on each and every working day, or such a quantity of work as shall be fairly deemed equal to a day's work, and shall not leave their work until such day's work or quantity of work is fully performed or finished, to the extent of each man's ability; and in default thereof, each of the said parties hereby hired, and so making default, shall, for every such default, forfeit and pay to the said A. and B. their executors, administrators, or assigns, two, shillings and sixpence.

Seventh, That the head-ways shall be driven not exceeding two yards wide, and the boards not exceeding five yards wide; that the hewers shall stow away and cast aside such quantity of small coals as the said A. and B. their executors, administrators, or assigns, shall require, and shall do the business of drivers, and shall set on corves, and do shift work, when it shall be requisite; and that the drivers shall duly drive such a number of corves as shall be a reasonable and fair day's work; and that for every corf of coals set out for slack filling or bad separation, after the hewer thereof shall have come to bank, the putter thereof shall forfeit and pay threepence for every such corf so set out. And that each hewer shall be provided with a shovel, maul, and wedges, by the said A. and B. their executors, administrators, or assigns, for which he shall be accountable, and shall provide himself at his own charge with picks ; and that the hewers and drivers shall, when required by the said A. and B. their executors, administrators, or assigns, put with trams, and act as barrowmen, at such rates and prices as are hereinafter mentioned; and that the parties hereby hired shall and do, in performing their respective duties, obey, abide by, and fulfil all the lawful directions of the said A. and B. their executors, administrators, or assigns, or their principal agent at the said colliery.

Eighth, That the said hewers agree to ryme out the top band when required, and to work and send away the coals, separated in whatever manner they may be directed by the said A. and B. their agent, or viewer; and for every corf of good coals mixed with bottom coals sent to bank, to forfeit and pay one shilling for every such corf; and for every corf of round coals and mixed with small coals, to forfeit and pay one shilling for every such corf sent to bank.

Ninth, That if either of the said parties be desirous of measuring the corves used in the said colliery, and of such their desire shall give to the other party three days previous notice, such corves shall be measured with the standard coal peck, in the presence of any two of the said parties hereby hired, who shall be nominated by the rest for the purpose ; and that such corves, whenever they are found not to agree with the standard coal peck, shall be with all convenient speed made to agree therewith, but not so as to interrupt or stop the working of the said colliery.

Tenth, It is hereby mutually agreed, that in case any dispute or difference shall arise between the said parties, relative to any matter or thing not hereby provided for, such dispute or difference shall be submitted to the decision of two viewers of collieries, one to be appointed by the said A. and B. their executors, administrators, or assigns, and the other by the said parties, of the other part; and in case of their disagreement, to the decision of a third person, to be appointed by such two viewers ; and the judgment and decision of such two viewers, or umpire, as the case shall happen, shall be conclusive between the parties on the matter referred to them : provided always, and it is hereby declared, that nothing herein contained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to alter, prejudice, lessen, or otherwise affect the legal remedies and power which by law belong to masters and servants, in their respective relations to each other, or to magistrates having jurisdiction in case of dispute or difference between them. It is also agreed, that if any of the parties, or any of their families, be detected keeping swine going at large, shall pay ten shillings and sixpence for each offence : keeping a dog or dogs, for each one shilling and sixpence per week: keeping poultry or pidgeons, for each to pay sixpence per week: keeping an ass or asses, mules, horses, cows, for each five shillings per week: carrying a gun or poaching, shall pay five shillings for each and every offence: trespassing in any of the fields, or injuring any of the hedges or ditches on the neighbouring estate, shall forfeit and pay five shillings for each and every offence, or be proceeded against as the law directs. If any of the said parties, or any of their families are detected stealing or taking away round coals, timber, deals, or any other property belonging to the said A. and B. shall forfeit and pay, for the first offence, ten shillings and sixpence; for the second offence, to forfeit and pay one guinea, or be proceeded against as the law directs. Such penalties or forfeitures to be deducted out of their first earnings.

And, Lastly, That the rates and prices to be paid by the said A. B. their executors, administrators, or assigns, to the said several other parties, of the one part, shall be as follows ; viz. —

[Here follow the rates and prices, which are regulated according to the local circumstances of each Colliery.]

Binding-money not to exceed one shilling to each individual.