Interview with Jock and Amy Craig

Audio recording and transcript of Jock and Amy Craig's 1979 interview with Myrtle Bergren for the Coal Tyee History Project. The Craigs reflect on and share stories about living in the coal mining community of South Wellington. Jock talks about how his family emigrated from Scotland and how his father worked for the Hudson's Bay Company in Saskatchewan before the family moved to Vancouver Island so he could work in the South Wellington coal mines. Jock also started working in the mines when he was 14 years old, and throughout the interview he shares many details about his career as a coal miner. As his family arrived in 1910, Jock has many memories of the Vancouver Island Coal Miners' Strike. During the interview, both of the Craigs talk about the August 1914 fire in South Wellington, gardening, social activities, transportation, and the sense of community that existed amongst the coal mining families. Jock also reflects on several coal mining accidents, including the 1915 flooding disaster in the South Wellington Mine in which 19 miners died.