We know very little about James. He appears in the 1851 Census, lodging at 98 Brook Street in Ratcliff, Middlesex with Mr and Mrs Appleby. Mrs Appleby was a Milliner but her husband Felix, James and two other lodgers were Coalwhippers. James was apparently 45 years old and had been born in Ireland. He does not appear in any other Census, and his death can not be identified in the GRO data.

The definition of Coalwhippers is a simple one: they were the men who raised coal out of the hold of a ship. They were employed in the Pool of London and originally discharged the vessels by carrying baskets of coal from ships to barges.

It seems that the occupation was one that had been associated with widespread malpractice and abuse, and begat such detrimental social practices that governments of the late 18th and early 19th centuries felt compelled to interfere with the trade on a number of occasions. The root of the problems was that many of the men were effectively employed by publicans who of course favoured as employees those who partook most freely of the publicans' beer.

Matters were brought to a head in 1843 when the Coal Vendors Act established a central office of employment so ending the involvement of the publicans. The Hansard account of part of the process of the introduction of the Bill which led to the Act, with William Gladstone being the main protagonist, can be read here:

Coal Vendors Bill Debate