Absentee landlord
A person who owns and rents out land but lives somewhere else.

Coke
Coal is burnt to remove harmful gases and this turns the coal into coke.

Collier
A coalminer.

Commons
A large meadow where the villagers’ animals grazed.

Conacre
Land rented out to grow potatoes.

Cottier
A farm labourer.

Eviction
Forcing people to leave their homes and land.

Fallow
To leave a field unsown for a year so that the soil regains its nutrients.

Loom
A machine used for weaving cloth.

Migration
People moving to a new place to find work.

Piecer
A child who had to lean over the spinning-machine to repair the broken threads.

Smelting
Separating the iron from the rock in which it is contained.

Turnpikes
Barriers on roads where tolls are collected.

Toll
Money paid for travelling along a road.