One source which might be worth checking out for the meaning of the word 'Viewer', is John Curr's 'The Coal Viewer & Engine Builder's Practical Companion' published in 1797, republished in the 1970s, I think by the Newcomen Society. Check out Mike Moore - he has had this in the past. Alternatively, try abebooks - I got my copy there for the princely sum of £5 a couple of years ago!
Robert Waterhouse> Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 14:44:13 +0100> From: [log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Mine Agents> To: [log in to unmask]> > Mike Syer wrote:> > I will be interested to see other replies to this query. In the > > meantime, I can only give what seems to me to have been the situation > > in the Durham coalfield.> Thanks for this, Mike. I've not come across Viewer before, which isn't > to say that it didn't exist but it could be one of the localised terms > mining is so fond of - along the lines of deputies being known as > firemen in some pits right up to the end. I'd avoided going into too > much detail in case it seemed that I was using the list for genealogy > but perhaps I need to add something to focus the area that I'm > particularly interested in.> > One relative's career has been followed quite easily as he was alive > into the 1920s, rising from nothing more than an unskilled labourer's > son to a mine owner and local councillor in the Black Country. The other > two - Edward Davies and his son Davies Edward Davies - are probably > going to give me considerably more trouble as Davies died in 1860. All I > know about Edward is that he was already a Mine Agent when my > 3xGreat-grandfather was baptised in Wrexham in 1801. Not knowing what > kind of time-span to look for his wedding prompted me to ask about a > Mine Agent's career progression, though I love to delve into the social > history that surrounds the names and dates so I'm looking forward to the > discussion whatever it brings.> > I'm guessing that Edward was in charge of a coal mine - rather than > clay, iron or lead also found near Wrexham - because Davies is a > recorded as a collier, living at Broughton near Wrexham, when his eldest > child is baptised in 1822. Given that hard rock and coal mining are such > different fields, it seems unlikely to me that Davies would move > disciplines and rather more likely that he went to work at his father's > pit. It's unfortunate that the 1841 census for much of the area around > Wrexham has been lost but at the 1851 census Davies is a Mine Agent, > living at Ffynnon-y-cwrw near Bwlchgwyn and within easy walking distance > of the mines at Pentre Saeson on the outskirts of Brymbo. I have no idea > who owned those mines or how to find out so any prompts on that score > would be very welcome.> > Keith
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