Dear list,
I'm trying to put together a potted biography of Captain Jehu Hitchens (father of Josiah Hitchens of Devon Great Consols fame). I know that he had been Clerk to the Tavistock Canal Company from 1803 to 1815 when he was disgraced on a (probably) trumped up charge of financial irregularities. He probably dug the first shaft in Blanchdown Wood which was subsequentry reworked as Gard's Shaft in 1844, when Devon Great Consols was found. He was involved in building the Shillamill Manganaese Mill in 1841, but died shortly afterwards, I think in 1842.
Does anyone know anything more, particularly his dates, but preferably, lots more?
Robert Waterhouse
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