The Childrens' Employment Commission report of 1842 ("Appendix to the First
Report of the Commissioners. Mines. Part II. Reports and Evidence from
Sub-Commissioners," PP 1842, Vol XVII (HMSO, 1842), p 40) has a couple of
paragraphs about Long & Co's three pits on Yate Common, managed by John
Wilks. The pits employed about 50 men and boys, the shafts were about 60
fathoms deep and there was a 40hp steam engine which was able to drain the
pits in 3 to 7 hours per day. The rest of the evidence relates to the
condition of the workers.
Handel Cossham had a varied career. He is claimed to have been the son of a
carpenter from Thornbury and eventually became mayor of Bath and later an
MP for Bristol. Following his death in 1890 and than of his wife about ten
years later, his will provided for the sale of his collieries, with the
proceeds being used to build Cossham hospital. The pits were bought by the
Bennett family of Bedminster who had already acquired those belonging to
Leonard, Boult & Co. The Bennetts' company went into liquidation in about
1914 when the remaining pits were bought by Frank Beauchamp.
My main interest in all this is to try to analyse the financial side of
these businesses (productivity, profits, etc), but few records seem to have
survived. One of the main questions about Cossham is where his initial
capital came from. In about 1851 he went into partnership with his wife's
father and brothers whose name was Wethered (possibly part of the brewing
family?), but despite having apparently only been a clerk before this he
still had a relatively large sum to invest himself.
Keith Ramsey
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