1864

Pits Sold

Nichols and Fletcher sold a small pit at Brampton.  J Rhodes sold Buckland Hollow to the Buckland Hollow Coal Co.  R Potter took over Rutland mine from I and R Potter.  Thos Buxton and Co’s lease of Molineux (Molyneux) was taken over by Eastwood and Co from 1864-1868.

The Doctor

Dr Josiah Court, later referred to locally as ‘t’owd Doctor’, came to Staveley in 1864 and was appointed by the Derbyshire Miners’ Association to care for the men.  He was knighted later for his work on nystagmus (‘stag’), an eye disease pertinent to miners working in almost total darkness for long periods.  Bright light affected the eyes to the extent that anyone afflicted with the disease could not control the oscillation of their eyeballs.  This condition would continue to be a big problem until better lighting was introduced underground in the 1930s.

Union

The Miners’ Association presented a petition to Parliament urging that – all Agents, Chief Managers, Overmen be subjected to an examination, and that Certificates of Competency be issued by some qualified person or Board of Examiners. It was similarly requested by HS Tremenheere, Inspector of Mines in 1849. (See 1872).

Sheepbridge Coal and Iron Co Formed

In August 1864 Sheepbridge Coal and Iron Co Ltd was formed with a capital of £500,000 with J Stores-Smith as Managing Director and F Fowler as Vice Chairman. The Company opened 3 Derbyshire pits about the same time Dunston, Nesfield and Sheepbridge and would open 3 others to the east later, namely Langwith, Glapwell and Norwood (1864-1865). All were sunk to the rich Top Hard seam. The Company had Newstead (Nottinghamshire) under their control for a short period by having shares in the Staveley Co.

Dunston mine had 2 shafts 7’ 6” (2.29m) dia with one cage in each and a Ventilation shaft 12’ 0” (3.65m) dia and a Pump shaft 9’ 0” (2.74m) dia sunk to 4’ 8” (1.42m ) thick Silkstone at 104 yards (95m). Guibal fan 30 feet (9m) dia for both Dunston and Nesfield. Undermanager was William Springthorpe, (Cert No 26 in 1887, born 26th Dec 1839).

Nesfield mine one drawing shaft 9 feet (2.74m) dia and a pump shaft 8 feet (2.43m) dia, both to Silkstone at 65 yards (59m).

Sheepbridge mine, 3 shafts 73 yards (67m) to 5’ 8½” (1.74m) Potters seam. Winding shaft 9 feet (2.74m) dia, Ventilation shaft 11 feet (3.35m) dia with furnace at pit bottom and Pump shaft 9 feet (2.74m) dia.

Shireoaks

Shireoaks (Nottinghamshire) on the border of North Nottinghamshire with South Yorkshire was taken over from the Duke of Newcastle by the Shireoaks Colliery Co, who became the lessees.  The 2 shafts were 50 yards (46m) apart, 12 ft dia (3.65m) and sunk to 515½ yards (471m).  It was the first pit to sink through the Permian strata and 1,000 gallons of water was issuing into the shafts.  200 yards (183m) of cast iron tubbing was installed to hold back the water and the thickness increased with the depth.  No1 engine had Cornish valves, flat ropes and a flat drum. Each cage had 3 decks and held a total of 6 x 8 cwt wooden tubs.  There were 10 Lancashire boilers and a smoke stack 185 ft (56m) high.  Gas works supplied gas to the miners’ cottages and the surface buildings.
R Eddison was the General Manager for the Company and Chas Tylden Wright the Manager of the mine.

Tenders For Shirland

In July 1864 tenders for 2 shafts to be sunk at Shirland at 12’ 0” (3.65m) dia and app 120 yards (110m) deep.

Collieries Sunk or Opened in 1864

• Alton (Joseph Buxton)
• Avenue colliery, bottom Soft coal, Woodhouse and  Jeffcock 1864
• Cinder Hill No4 shaft was sunk at 10 feet (3.05m) diameter (Thomas North)
• Dunstan (New) (Lancaster)
• Foxley Oaks (Whittington Coal Co) Blackshale, Surveyor C Adams for FC Gillett
• Pilsley No1 (Thomas Holdsworth) was sunk in 1864 and in 1865 a pumping and ventilation shaft to the Deep Hard seam
• Shirland sinking began in October 1864 (GP Beavan and Co)
• Whitmore (John Knowles), Belper.  (6)

Colliery Hospital

The Clay Cross Co built a colliery hospital for its workforce. It was used as a surgery afterwards. In 1861 the company already had a ‘hospital’, an end-terraced house in Stoppard’s Row.  Certain collieries only had proper means of transporting injured or dead men to the hospital or home.  Usually it was on any old cart. The usual way of expressing the death to a new widow was – ‘We’ve brought him home missus’!

Avenue

At Avenue colliery (Wingerworth Colliery Co) sunk 1863, only a small amount of Threequarter coal worked for the half year to Lady Day 1864 amounting to 0 acres 3 roods 0 poles, Woodhouse and Jeffcock, Surveyors.

Pits in Blackwell area in Nov 1864

• Clegg’s pits
• Dunsil pit (Chamber’s)
• Eddison’s left off Lady Day
• Hucknall colliery (Mellers) 47 yards (43m) to Dunsil seam
• Littlemoor (Chamber’s).

Collieries Closed in 1864

• Babbington (sunk 1853/54, North and Co)
• Cossall Old Level, Deep Hard
• Dunston (Messrs Lancaster)
• Gilt Brook (Lady Palmerston) Lower Soft, George H Bond, Deep Soft and Deep Hard 1864 FC Gillett
• Handley Wood Hopewell (Barrow)
• Granville Old Wide pit, (South Derbyshire), Little or 5 foot (1.5m) or Nether seam (Trustees of Court Grenville)
• Littlemoor (Chambers), near Newton, 65 yards (59.5m) to Top Hard
• Littlemoor Dunsil pit (Chambers), near Newton, 60 yards (55m) deep
• Lower Birchwood (Seely), Soft coal pit
• Marlpool (Gould and Checkland) abandoned after 13 years
• Smoile (W Worswick)
• Staveley (J Marples) Blackshale
• Thornsett Bridge (J Bradbury). 

Iron Stone

Ilkeston (Duke of Rutland) Black Rake ironstone, Engine pit 35 yards (32m), barrier marked on Butterley Co plan by Mr Coke’s direction (3 Sep 1864), (worked Aug 1858-29 Sep 1865, Aug 1858-Michaelmas 1868, finished 6 Dec 1872, re-started again 1877-Sep 1877)

Brown Rake shaft sunk 7 Aug 1852-Mix 1867, met old works. To East of the Hall, Engine pit 80 yards (73m) 1850c, Bath pit.

Wingerworth (Wingerworth Iron Co) Tupton and Blackshale ironstone workings 25 Mar 1864, Richard G Coke, Surveyor.

Tupton and Speighthill collieries, were shown on an 1864 map of Derbyshire.

Beauvale Waterspout

At Beauvale Waterspout (Nottinghamshire) (Barber Walker and Co) the Soft Coombe seam was abandoned.

Fatal Accidents in 1864

• Cinderhill and High Park, explosions occurred and were attributed to faulty ventilation. 
• Mexbro’ pits, there was an explosion at one of them in 1864, claiming the lives of several men.  It was attributed to faulty ventilation also –?
• Babbington, Severn (boy..?) was killed 20 Jan 1864
• Hady pit Derbyshire, the mine was flooded suddenly, and the following 12 were drowned – William Belfit, Dennis Cutts, Herbert Fiddler, James Fiddler, Mathew Fiddler, Charles Mosley, Benjamin Sharman, George Shaw, Luke Slack, Daniel Taylor, Albert Wilcockson and George Wilson – ages unknown
• Farewell pit, Staveley, William Hawkins (18) was killed on 17 May 1864
• Bagthorpe, John Gill (15) killed 10 Jun 1864
• Clay Cross No4 Michael Flannery and Thomas Garvey were severely burnt by wildfire or explosion and died in hospital 28 May 1864
• Newthorpe, Enoch Smart (53) was killed on 16 Sep 1864.
• Newhall Field (Shoddy), William Wildsworth a sinker was examining the sides of an old shaft using a rope provided by the Co Engineer. Wildsworth fell to the bottom of the shaft when the rope broke. Thomas Evans HMI found that the rope was very old and rotten and the Engineer was dismissed.

Leicestershire Pits At Work in 1864

• Bagworth (Lord Maynard)
• Coleorton (Walker and Worswick)
• Ibstock (EM Green and Co)
• Lount (Walker and Worswick)
• Moira (Marquis of Hastings)
• Moira New (Marquis of Hastings)
• Nailstone (WH Wilks)
• Oakthorpe (Marquis of Hastings)
• Snibston (George Robert Stephenson and Co)
• Swannington (William Worswick)
• Whitwick (J Whetstone and Co).
  Note that several mines had changed hands since 1853/54 and Moira New had just been sunk.

The partnership of John Smedley and William Bland dissolved and Gresley Wood Co Ltd and Newhall Field Co Ltd were formed.

Derbyshire output 1864 from 164 pits (78 Chesterfield area, 31 Alfreton, 10 Ripley, 1 Belper, 5 Buxton and Glossop, 6 Stockport, 14 Ilkeston, and 9 Burton) was 4,470,750 tons and
Nottinghamshire output (3,071 men) from 21 pits 796,700 tons. Total sales from the Erewash Valley transported by canal were 210,311 tons and 1,652,228 tons by rail.
10 Leicestershire pits produced 890,500 tons.

Birchwood pit (Butterley Co) produced its maximum tonnage for the year – 21,991 (@ 3000lb to the ton and 28,009 tons @ 2,480lbs to a ton.  Butterley Co tonnage for the year from 14 collieries was 760, 449 tons (or 952,070 tons - depending upon figure used).