Thomas Rees in the 1851 Census

[Katarzyna]

Yes, Arthur, extremely hard work. The pictures in post #38 show this well. I can only imagine how they felt at the end of the day. We don't know how lucky we are these days do we?

[Janet in Yorkshire]

Just throwing ideas into the pot -
With regards to "Forge Haulier" perhaps we need to bear in mind that as well as coal mining, from c 1850, that area of Wales to the west of Newport (The Valleys) was also the home of an emerging steel industry. Thomas could well have hauled raw iron or forged steel along tracks at the developing forges and mills.
I have coal miners in the Northumberland coalfields around this time. They had various job descriptions, but haulier wasn't one of them. There were some boys who worked with horses underground, which suggests that pit ponies were becoming the norm for below ground transportation, sadly born out by inquest reports of accidents where people were crushed or run over by runaway or toppling waggons.

Jay