Notts NUM Area History Part 2

It was not until the advent of the steam engine and the industrial use of steam power that started with Thomas Savery in 1698. He constructed and patented in London the first engine, which he called the “Miner’s Friend” since he intended it to pump water from mines. This machine used steam at 8 to 10 atmospheres (120-150 psi) and had no moving parts other than hand-operated valves. James Watt was another steam entrapaneur that enabled mines to be sunk deeper, to work thicker seams of coal more productivly, One of the first thick quality coal seams that was reachable in the Notts area is the Top hard seam at about 5’8” in height. The first ventilation fan in Notts was fitted at High park colliery near Moorgreen reservoir, this pit was sunk in 1854, and the fan replaced the furnace system that drew the air around the workings. The furnace system of ventilation was recognised to be a major contributor of mine explosions, and disasters, nationwide the unions petitioned through there representatives, after the North east’s, Hartley colliery disaster, where 209 men lost there lives , this brought about a change in ventilation practices, and having the necessity of an upcast shaft as a means of ventilation and escape.
During the 1840s 50s and 60s the first sods of earth were cut in the circle that was to become the new colliery shafts, of the South Notts coalfield. The pits started to produce coal about 3-4 years after sinking started, and were to supply the expanding railways, steel works, and cotton mills, hospitals, factories, cities and households of the county. The industrial revolution had seen great advances and coal was at the heart of it. Collieries were generally sunk in rural open places, or a couple of miles on the outskirts of a village. The huge estates of Dukes, Lords, and the upper classes of that time also sank shafts, and the housing and infrastructure for people wanting to work the mines came secondary and dwellings were built densely, two up two down, often with no garden and only an ash pit toilet outside.
In Nottinghamshire the first records of a union being organised was in the early 1840s about the same time as the chartist movement was petitioning and demonstrating, for the right for workers to be allowed to vote, but the union was a much isolated attempt, and the coal owners, would not recognise the union at the collieries, and the establishment wouldn’t give the chartists any quarter either, The “People’s Charter,” drafted in 1838 by William Lovett, was at the heart of a radical campaign for parliamentary reform of the inequities remaining after the Reform Act of 1832. The Chartists’ six main demands were:

Votes for all men;
Equal electoral districts;
Abolition of the requirement that Members of Parliament be property owners;
Payment for M.P.s;
Annual general elections; and
The secret ballot.

The Chartists obtained one and a quarter million signatures and presented the Charter to the House of Commons in 1839, where it was rejected by a vote of 235 to 46. Many of the leaders of the movement, having threatened to call a general strike, were arrested. When demonstrators marched on the prison at Newport, Monmouthshire, demanding the release of their leaders, troops opened fire, killing 24 and wounding 40 more. A second petition with 3 million signatures was rejected in 1842; the rejection of the third petition in 1848 brought an end to the movement and many were imprisoned and deported to Australia.
The burning embers of a union did however survive in the county, and gently smouldered with a small membership until 1863, when the Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire Miners Association was formed, it was involved in various strikes and lockouts. Then in 1880 the Derbyshire Miners Association was formed, and the Nottingham section reorganised itself into the ‘’Nottinghamshire Miners Federation” in 1881.
In December 1885 Nottinghamshire again reorganised and changed it’s name to the ‘’Nottinghamshire Miners Association’’ membership was only 500 members and 11 branches, the first agent for the NMA was a man by the name of Hopkin, after only a few months, funds were in such a state, that he could not be paid. In the autumn of 1886 he resigned and made way for a much respected charismatic councilor, and Methodist preacher, called William Bailey, who was both enthusiastic and had the drive to take the Association forward. He was full time agent and general secretary of the NMA, and membership levels rocketed from 500 to just over 19,000 from the years 1886 to 1895 under his guidance and leadership. This figure accounted for 84% of the miners in Notts being a Notts Miners Association member, out of a total workforce of 22,758 of which 4,707 were surface workers.

List of Mines worked under the Coal Mines Regulation Act, in Nottinghamshire, during the Year 1896.
Name of Mine Situation Owner and Postal Address Manager Under-
Manager Workers Minerals Worked Remarks (Seam of Coal worked, &c.)
U/G Sur.
Annesley Nottingham Annesley Colliery Co., Nottingham Henry Lewis John Poxon 1070 237 Coal, M & S Top Hard
Awsworth, “Nos. 1 & 2” Kimberley Awsworth Colliery Co., Kimberley, nr. Nottingham Joseph Cunliffe Samuel Henshaw 210 65 Coal, M, G & H Tupton, Silkstone, Kilburn
Bentinck, “No. 1” Kirkby New Hucknall Colliery Co., Mansfield Benjn. Madew John Blood 126 64 Coal, H Deep Soft
Bentinck, “No. 2” Kirkby New Hucknall Colliery Co., Mansfield Benjn. Madew Joseph Fletcher 3 3 Coal, G Silkstone
Bentinck, “No. 3” Kirkby New Hucknall Colliery Co., Mansfield Benjn. Madew Joseph Fletcher 7 2 Coal, M Tupton
Bestwood Nottingham Bestwood Coal and Iron Co., near Nottingham Jos. Cunliffe Isaac Marper 874 328 Coal, M & S Top Hard
Brinsley Eastwood Barber, Walker & Co., Eastwood, Nottingham W. Chambers John Henshaw 317 79 Coal, H & S Deep Soft, Deep Hard
Broxtowe Basford Babbington Coal Co., Babbington, Nottingham Geo. Fowler Samuel Starr 311 66 Coal, H Deep Soft
Bulwell Basford Babbington Coal Co., Cinderford, Nottingham Geo. Fowler Griffin Walters 136 45 Coal, M & S Top Hard
Cinderhill, “Nos. 1 & 4” Basford Babbington Coal Co., Cinderhill, Nottingham Geo. Fowler Samuel Kirk 608 248 Coal, M & S Top Hard
Clifton, “Nos. 1 & 2” Nottingham Clifton Colliery Co., Nottingham Henry Fisher Thomas Severn 649 198 Coal, M & H Deep Hard, Deep Soft
Clinton Eastwood P. Newton, 4, Albert St., Derby
E. Clarke 6 4 Coal, M Coombe
Cossall Ilkeston Cossall Colliery Co., Nottingham W.J. Hedley James Holding 454 103 Coal, H Kilburn
Digby Eastwood Digby Colliery Co., near Nottingham Granville Chambers I. Pilkington 185 28 Coal, H & M Deep Soft, Deep Hard
High Park Eastwood Barber, Walker, & Co., Eastwood, Nottingham Geo. Harrison H. Knighton 431 97 Coal, M & S Top Hard
Hucknall, “No 1” Hucknall Torkard Hucknall Colliery Co., near Nottingham A.S. Douglas Enoch James 526 130 Coal, M & H Tupton or Furnace, Top Hard
Hucknall, “No 2” Hucknall Torkard Hucknall Colliery Co., near Nottingham A.S. Douglas John Wright 582 109 Coal, H Top Hard
Kimberley Basford Babbington Coal Co., Cinderhill, Nottingham George Fowler William Clements 135 43 Coal, H Deep Soft
Kirkby The Butterley Co., Alfreton B. McLaren John W. Elliott 453 126 Coal, M & S Top Hard
Langton, “Nos. 7 & 9” Pinxton Coke and Co., Pinxton, Alfreton H. Stevenson Job Smith 360 96 Coal, M & H Deep Soft, Deep Hard – Standing
Linby Nottingham Linby Colliery Co., Nottingham Henry Lewis M.W. Jennings 1012 263 Coal, M & S Top Hard
Moor Green Eastwood Barber, Walker and Co., Eastwood, Nottingham A. Chambers John Varley 648 102 Coal, H & M Deep Soft, Deep Hard
Newcastle Basford Babbington Coal Co., Cinderford, Nottingham George Fowler Francis Keeling 142 39 Coal, M & S Top Hard
New Hucknall, “No. 1” Mansfield New Hucknall Colliery Co., Mansfield S. Watson Jacob Wilson 246 70 Coal, M & S Top Hard
New Hucknall, “No. 2” Mansfield New Hucknall Colliery Co., Mansfield S. Watson W. Keeling 387 74 Coal, M Deep Hard
New Hucknall, “No. 3” Mansfield New Hucknall Colliery Co., Mansfield S. Watson W. Fidler 402 71 Coal, H Tupton
New London Eastwood Digby Colliery Co., near Nottingham Granville Chambers George Gittens 505 107 Coal, M & H Deep Soft, Deep Hard
New Selston Alfreton J. Oakes and Co., Riddings, Alfreton J.H.W. Laverick G. Searston 331 56 Coal, M & H Deep Soft, Deep Hard
Newstead Nottingham Newstead Colliery Co., Nottingham J.B. Smith J. Greensmith 1180 281 Coal, M & S Top Hard
Plumptre Eastwood The Butterley Co., Alfreton H.R. Watson Jas. Walker 381 66 Coal, M & H Deep Soft, Deep Hard
Pollington Alfreton J. Oakes and Co., Riddings, Alfreton J.H.W. Laverick William Wright 371 54 Coal, M & H Deep Soft, Deep Hard
Portland, “Nos. 1, 2, & 4” Kirkby The Butterley Co., Alfreton M. McLaren W.W. Jepson 286 147 Coal, M & S Top Hard
Pye Hill, “Nos. 1 & 2” Alfreton J. Oakes and Co., Riddings, Alfreton J.H.W. Laverick John Dean 357 63 Coal, M & H Tupton, Silkstone
Selston Eastwood Barber, Walker and Company, Eastwood, Nottingham W. Chambers John Lowe 366 71 Coal, H Deep Soft
Shire Oaks, “Nos. 1 & 2” Shire Oaks Shire Oaks Colliery Co., Worksop John Jones W. Cottingham, No. 1
W. Horsey, No. 2 690 181 Coal, M & S Top Hard
Silver Hill, “No. 1” Mansfield Stanton Iron Co., Teversall, Mansfield J. Piggford Thos. Machin 302 107 Coal, H Tupton
Silver Hill, “No. 2” Mansfield Stanton Iron Co., Teversall, Mansfield J. Piggford Thos. Machin 141 62 Coal, H Silkstone
Steetly Shire Oaks Shire Oaks Colliery Co., Worksop R.E. Jones Samuel Edwards 340 70 Coal, M & S Top Hard
Sutton, “No. 1” Mansfield Sutton Colliery Co., Mansfield J. Wroe
10 56 Coal, S & M Top Hard
Sutton, “No. 2” Mansfield Sutton Colliery Co., Mansfield J. Wroe
30 1 Coal, H Dunsil
Teversall, “Nos. 1 & 2” Mansfield Stanton Iron Co., Teversall, Mansfield J. Piggford Josiah Ball 544 154 Coal, S & M Top Hard
Trowell Moor Stanton Gate Dunn Brothers, Trowell, Notts Enock Prime James Kirk 275 52 Coal, H Kilburn
Tunnel Alfreton J. Oakes and Co., Riddings, Alfreton J.H.W. Laverick G. Searston 107 36 Coal, H Deep Soft, Tupton
Warsop Main Mansfield Staveley Coal and Iron Co., Chesterfield E.E. Booker Martin Cropper 132 127 Coal, S & M Top Hard
Watnall Eastwood Barber, Walker and Co., Eastwood, Nottingham Isaac Chambers Z. Clay 589 136 Coal, M & S Top Hard
Wollaton, “Nos. 1 & 2” Nottingham Wollaton Colliery Co., Nottingham Lot Hodgkinson James Granger 837 193 Coal, M & H Deep Hard, Deep Soft
Total 18051 4707

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