The Industrial Condition of Tibshelf 1850-1939

Although coal mining in Tibshelf originated in the late middle ages, the village retained its domination by agrarian systems until 1867 when the Seeley Coal Company of Nottingham completed work on Tibshelf Blackshale Colliery. From this date onwards the village was transformed rapidly, and between 1867 and 1939 the whole community became reliant on the industry.

Before 1867 the mining potential of the parish had remained unexploited because the local coalmasters lacked the capital necessary to create expansion. They remained content to collect a modest yearly profit. In 1857 Tibshelf's collieries were in the hands of two local coalmaster's, John Chambers of Hurst House and Robert Milward of Nethermoor House. The mines of John Chambers, Tibshelf Old and Tibshelf New, passed to his heir Edward Chambers and a new coalmaster, J. Moseley opened Tibshelf Mine. In 1867 the Seeley Coal Company bought the interests of Robert Milward and developed his Blackshale mine. Slowly Seeley purchased mineral rights (1) and by 1881 he had also gained control of Moseley's mine. Shortly afterwards he also bought out the Chambers family interests to gain all four mines. At this time Seeley's company was redesignated the Babbington Coal Company.

The expansion of the Babington Coal Company and the resultant monopoly it gained led to the expansion of the village. The increased labour demand created by high capital input increased the parish population by 3,000 people between 1867 and 1921, when the rate of increase in the sixty years previous to 1867 would have indicated a natural growth of only approximately 200.

Between 1850 and 1867 census returns indicate that coal mining employed approximately 11% of the working population of the village. This made mining a major employer alongside Framework Knitting and domestic service (2). However the only other form of employment of any significance was in agriculture and related rural trades. By contrast, in 1881 only around 11% of the village population were not connected with coal mining in some way. Kelly's Directory of 1908 estimated estimate that, "the extensive collieries in the parish worked by the Babbington Coal Company, afford employment to about 2,000 hands." (3). This was reiterated in the 1916 and 1922 editions though the Directory for 1932 estimated the coal company employed about 1,000 people because, by the late 1920' s, the industry in Tibshelf was beginning to decline.

Under the Babbington Coal Company the designation of the four collieries was altered to a more practical system, that of numbering. Milward's Blackshale mine and Moseley's Tibshelf mine were amalgamated and renamed Low Main 1 and 2. Chambers' two mines in the north side of the parish were similarly joined and redesignated numbers 3 and 4. Between 1891 and 1893 the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire railway line effectively divided the village into two from which the mines more common names derived ; 'the bottom pit' (Low Main 1 and 2) and ' the top pit' (3 and 4).

The winding gear of number 2 mine was almost unique and, although no photographs apparently remain, some ex - miners recalled it. Their descriptions are of a winding system with two different sized wheels to reach two different levels. Low Main 2 had two cages, one that wound down to the Deep Hard coal level and one to the Blackshale level which was a full sixty yards deeper. Therefore in order to operate successfully, the engine House had to operate the cages separately, hence the unusual and elaborate system of using two different sized drums and two different sized wheels. This system was apparently used successfully from the modernising of the mine in 1867 till its closure in 1939.

The two main types of coal produced at Tibshelf were Blackshale and Hard coal. Hard coal, Top Hard and Deep Hard, was especially useful in the nineteenth century and this was almost certainly the major incentive of Colonel Seeley to purchase Tibshelf's mines as it was produced in some quantity in the parish. Hard coal had been acclaimed at the 1849 Admiralty Trials as being as good as the best Newcastle and Welsh coal for heavy industries. It was especially good for use in steam engines and smelting works as it lit easily, burned freely and left a comparatively small amount of ash.

The character of any community dominated by one industry, especially rural ones, is likely to be determinate on the character that wields the most influence upon it. In Tibshelf's case this was Colonel Seeley and his heirs at the helm of the Babington Coal Company. The company created employment and built much of the existing village therefore not only did the Seeley's control many of the villagers incomes but their homes as well. Had they so wished they could have exerted near tyrannical control though Colonel Seeley was not a domineering owner with the result that the company did not become one either. Consequently the village developed largely free of any powerful external influence. Complementing Seeley's liberal political beliefs, the village community developed with liberal overtones, and this is strikingly obvious in many remaining records.

As the Seeley's were liberal employers, the miners received comparatively good treatment and in Babbington Coal Company mines as a whole, disputes were rare (4). For example in the winter of 1871 - 1872 there was a considerable improvement in the trading price of coal and Seeley voluntarily increased the wages of all his employees in response. In 1880 Seeley was elected to the House of Commons as a Liberal M.P. Much of his support came from Trade Unionists whose support he had actively encouraged by words and deeds. One campaign speech advocated, "a fair pension to the widow of the man killed on the railway or in the coal mine." (5). Seeley often sympathised with union demands. In the Tibshelf mines (along with Birchwood, the only mines owned by the Babington Coal Company outside Nottinghamshire) strikes were much rarer than in the mines of surrounding mining villages.

In the 1882 dispute, when the Derbyshire Miners Association agitated for a 15% pay rise, the Company granted varying increases of between 11 and 12% in return for its miners not striking. As a result Tibshelf minrrs received a pay rise without striking whereas elsewhere the strike gained only a 10% increase. In the 1893 dispute, the Great Lock Out, Seeley was publicly against wage reductions, although he did eventually issue lock - out notices. But even then he did not forget his responsibility to his workers, by providing, at his own expense, a soup kitchen for miners and their families (6).

Seeley's interest in the social welfare of his communities is also relatively impressive as Babbington Coal Company employees usually received a house with a garden, a pig - sty, coal, water and gas. Furthermore, the Company also provided medical services and care plus a sick pay entitlement through contributions to the Babington Collieries Field Club (7).

Unsurprisingly, Seeley was viewed as something of an absent benevolent parent and in many matters concerning land settlements or disputes with the District or County Councils, the Parish Council requested his influential aid. For example, in August 1895 the Parish Council decided to write to " Colonel Seeley asking whether he will use his influence in the matter of obtaining land for recreation purposes." Between 1867 and 1939 the background presence of Colonel Seeley and his heirs gave the village an unusual freedom and stability that was often lacking in neighbouring mining communities which helped to further its social and economic growth.

The demise of the industry in Tibshelf came in 1939 shortly before World War II broke out. Cutbacks had been implemented in the late 1920's and early 1930's in response to the world depression, the number' of workers in the Tibshelf mines being halved. However the Babington Companies commitment to Tibshelf continued. In January 1939) F. J. W. Seeley spent £16,000 on electrification and £9,000 on a dry cleaning plant. However disaster struck as a twenty four foot major fault was found in the Low Main seam and in April 1939 the Babington Coal Company went into liquidation. The mines were sold to the Sheepbridge Colliery Company who subsequently closed them down (8).

The Parish Council was thrown into panic by this sudden event and immediately sought to attract new industry. On May the 16th it was " resolved that this Council approach the firm of Brown Bayley's Steelworks Ltd of Sheffield, inviting them to set up their proposed steelworks at Tibshelf and giving them details of water supply, railway facilities and gas and electric services etc." On June the 20th the proposal was put before the firms board. The matter was virtually agreed. In September Britain went to war and the deal was put on ice. Fate, it would appear, had not granted the community of Tibshelf a happy 1939.

FOOTNOTES

1 - A record of such acquisition of mineral rights is held at the Derbyshire Record Office. The main points of it are as follows :

a) The Seeley Company has rights to all nines, seams, beds and coal (Deep Hard coal. Low Main coal and Blackshale coal) under two fields but there are no rights of access to the surface.
b) The Company has full power and liberty to drive, maintain, and use, planes, levels, drifts, waterways, airways, tramways and others as the company likes and winning working and carrying away the coals and minerals in common with other Mines, unless subsidence or injury is caused to people on the surface or damage is caused to buildings.
c) The coal must be worked as the best in the district, and the land owner, William Downing, his heirs, assigns or agents, is allowed, once a year, to inspect the mode of working.
d) Any surface damage, injury or subsidence must be compensated to the satisfaction of W. Downing, his heirs, assigns or agents.
e) Colonel Charles Seeley will pay £448.

' Conveyance of Mines of Deep Hard, Low main and Blackshale coal under lands at Tibshelf in the County of Derby' between William Downing and Colonel Seeley, 1st November, 1888. Derbyshire County Records Office, accession number 430Z/T69.

2 - " The parish abounds in coal, and resides the employment of the Collieries, some of the inhabitants are employed in frame - work knitting of cotton hose." White's Directory of Derbyshire 1857, p.782.

3 - Kelly's directory of Derbyshire 1908.

4 - A. R. Griffin, Mining in the East Midlands 1550 - 1947, p.83.

5 - Griffin, p.130.

6 - J. E. Williams, The Derbyshire Miners. Chapters VII and VIII.

7 - Griffin, p.84.

8 - Griffin, p.276.

A.D. Hesketh 1987 (amended 2001)


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The Industrial Condition of Tibshelf 1850-1939 Although coal mining in Tibshelf originated in the late middle ages, the village retained its domination by agrarian systems until 1867 when the Seeley Coal Company of Nottingham completed work on Tibshelf Blackshale Colliery. From this date onwards the village was transformed rapidly, and between 1867 and 1939 the whole community became reliant on the industry. Before 1867 the mining potential of the parish had remained unexploited because the local coalmasters lacked the capital necessary to create expansion. They remained content to collect a modest yearly profit. In 1857 Tibshelf's collieries were in the hands of two local coalmaster's, John Chambers of Hurst House and Robert Milward of Nethermoor House. The mines of John Chambers, Tibshelf Old and Tibshelf New, passed to his heir Edward Chambers and a new coalmaster, J. Moseley opened Tibshelf Mine. In 1867 the Seeley Coal Company bought the interests of Robert Milward and developed his Blackshale mine. Slowly Seeley purchased mineral rights (1) and by 1881 he had also gained control of Moseley's mine. Shortly afterwards he also bought out the Chambers family interests to gain all four mines. At this time Seeley's company was redesignated the Babbington Coal Company. The expansion of the Babington Coal Company and the resultant monopoly it gained led to the expansion of the village. The increased labour demand created by high capital input increased the parish population by 3,000 people between 1867 and 1921, when the rate of increase in the sixty years previous to 1867 would have indicated a natural growth of only approximately 200. Between 1850 and 1867 census returns indicate that coal mining employed approximately 11% of the working population of the village. This made mining a major employer alongside Framework Knitting and domestic service (2). However the only other form of employment of any significance was in agriculture and related rural trades. By contrast, in 1881 only around 11% of the village population were not connected with coal mining in some way. Kelly's Directory of 1908 estimated estimate that, "the extensive collieries in the parish worked by the Babbington Coal Company, afford employment to about 2,000 hands." (3). This was reiterated in the 1916 and 1922 editions though the Directory for 1932 estimated the coal company employed about 1,000 people because, by the late 1920' s, the industry in Tibshelf was beginning to decline. Under the Babbington Coal Company the designation of the four collieries was altered to a more practical system, that of numbering. Milward's Blackshale mine and Moseley's Tibshelf mine were amalgamated and renamed Low Main 1 and 2. Chambers' two mines in the north side of the parish were similarly joined and redesignated numbers 3 and 4. Between 1891 and 1893 the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire railway line effectively divided the village into two from which the mines more common names derived ; 'the bottom pit' (Low Main 1 and 2) and ' the top pit' (3 and 4). The winding gear of number 2 mine was almost unique and, although no photographs apparently remain, some ex - miners recalled it. Their descriptions are of a winding system with two different sized wheels to reach two different levels. Low Main 2 had two cages, one that wound down to the Deep Hard coal level and one to the Blackshale level which was a full sixty yards deeper. Therefore in order to operate successfully, the engine House had to operate the cages separately, hence the unusual and elaborate system of using two different sized drums and two different sized wheels. This system was apparently used successfully from the modernising of the mine in 1867 till its closure in 1939. The two main types of coal produced at Tibshelf were Blackshale and Hard coal. Hard coal, Top Hard and Deep Hard, was especially useful in the nineteenth century and this was almost certainly the major incentive of Colonel Seeley to purchase Tibshelf's mines as it was produced in some quantity in the parish. Hard coal had been acclaimed at the 1849 Admiralty Trials as being as good as the best Newcastle and Welsh coal for heavy industries. It was especially good for use in steam engines and smelting works as it lit easily, burned freely and left a comparatively small amount of ash. The character of any community dominated by one industry, especially rural ones, is likely to be determinate on the character that wields the most influence upon it. In Tibshelf's case this was Colonel Seeley and his heirs at the helm of the Babington Coal Company. The company created employment and built much of the existing village therefore not only did the Seeley's control many of the villagers incomes but their homes as well. Had they so wished they could have exerted near tyrannical control though Colonel Seeley was not a domineering owner with the result that the company did not become one either. Consequently the village developed largely free of any powerful external influence. Complementing Seeley's liberal political beliefs, the village community developed with liberal overtones, and this is strikingly obvious in many remaining records. As the Seeley's were liberal employers, the miners received comparatively good treatment and in Babbington Coal Company mines as a whole, disputes were rare (4). For example in the winter of 1871 - 1872 there was a considerable improvement in the trading price of coal and Seeley voluntarily increased the wages of all his employees in response. In 1880 Seeley was elected to the House of Commons as a Liberal M.P. Much of his support came from Trade Unionists whose support he had actively encouraged by words and deeds. One campaign speech advocated, "a fair pension to the widow of the man killed on the railway or in the coal mine." (5). Seeley often sympathised with union demands. In the Tibshelf mines (along with Birchwood, the only mines owned by the Babington Coal Company outside Nottinghamshire) strikes were much rarer than in the mines of surrounding mining villages. In the 1882 dispute, when the Derbyshire Miners Association agitated for a 15% pay rise, the Company granted varying increases of between 11 and 12% in return for its miners not striking. As a result Tibshelf minrrs received a pay rise without striking whereas elsewhere the strike gained only a 10% increase. In the 1893 dispute, the Great Lock Out, Seeley was publicly against wage reductions, although he did eventually issue lock - out notices. But even then he did not forget his responsibility to his workers, by providing, at his own expense, a soup kitchen for miners and their families (6). Seeley's interest in the social welfare of his communities is also relatively impressive as Babbington Coal Company employees usually received a house with a garden, a pig - sty, coal, water and gas. Furthermore, the Company also provided medical services and care plus a sick pay entitlement through contributions to the Babington Collieries Field Club (7). Unsurprisingly, Seeley was viewed as something of an absent benevolent parent and in many matters concerning land settlements or disputes with the District or County Councils, the Parish Council requested his influential aid. For example, in August 1895 the Parish Council decided to write to " Colonel Seeley asking whether he will use his influence in the matter of obtaining land for recreation purposes." Between 1867 and 1939 the background presence of Colonel Seeley and his heirs gave the village an unusual freedom and stability that was often lacking in neighbouring mining communities which helped to further its social and economic growth. The demise of the industry in Tibshelf came in 1939 shortly before World War II broke out. Cutbacks had been implemented in the late 1920's and early 1930's in response to the world depression, the number' of workers in the Tibshelf mines being halved. However the Babington Companies commitment to Tibshelf continued. In January 1939) F. J. W. Seeley spent £16,000 on electrification and £9,000 on a dry cleaning plant. However disaster struck as a twenty four foot major fault was found in the Low Main seam and in April 1939 the Babington Coal Company went into liquidation. The mines were sold to the Sheepbridge Colliery Company who subsequently closed them down (8). The Parish Council was thrown into panic by this sudden event and immediately sought to attract new industry. On May the 16th it was " resolved that this Council approach the firm of Brown Bayley's Steelworks Ltd of Sheffield, inviting them to set up their proposed steelworks at Tibshelf and giving them details of water supply, railway facilities and gas and electric services etc." On June the 20th the proposal was put before the firms board. The matter was virtually agreed. In September Britain went to war and the deal was put on ice. Fate, it would appear, had not granted the community of Tibshelf a happy 1939. FOOTNOTES 1 - A record of such acquisition of mineral rights is held at the Derbyshire Record Office. The main points of it are as follows : a) The Seeley Company has rights to all nines, seams, beds and coal (Deep Hard coal. Low Main coal and Blackshale coal) under two fields but there are no rights of access to the surface. b) The Company has full power and liberty to drive, maintain, and use, planes, levels, drifts, waterways, airways, tramways and others as the company likes and winning working and carrying away the coals and minerals in common with other Mines, unless subsidence or injury is caused to people on the surface or damage is caused to buildings. c) The coal must be worked as the best in the district, and the land owner, William Downing, his heirs, assigns or agents, is allowed, once a year, to inspect the mode of working. d) Any surface damage, injury or subsidence must be compensated to the satisfaction of W. Downing, his heirs, assigns or agents. e) Colonel Charles Seeley will pay £448. ' Conveyance of Mines of Deep Hard, Low main and Blackshale coal under lands at Tibshelf in the County of Derby' between William Downing and Colonel Seeley, 1st November, 1888. Derbyshire County Records Office, accession number 430Z/T69. 2 - " The parish abounds in coal, and resides the employment of the Collieries, some of the inhabitants are employed in frame - work knitting of cotton hose." White's Directory of Derbyshire 1857, p.782. 3 - Kelly's directory of Derbyshire 1908. 4 - A. R. Griffin, Mining in the East Midlands 1550 - 1947, p.83. 5 - Griffin, p.130. 6 - J. E. Williams, The Derbyshire Miners. Chapters VII and VIII. 7 - Griffin, p.84. 8 - Griffin, p.276. A.D. Hesketh 1987 (amended 2001)