 He began working at Edmondsley Colliery when he was eight years old, and then later became a boiler fireman at Littleburn Colliery.He qualified as a winding engineman in 1874, and worked in this role in a variety of mines around the county.In 1888, Charlton was elected to the council of the Durham County Colliery Enginemen and Boilerminders' Association, and served as treasurer and then president before, in 1905, he was elected as secretary of the union.