| |
|
|
Organisation of the Lead Industry
Lead was at first mined by independent workers who combined the occupation with subsistence farming. This was not
particularly efficient, particularly as improving technology required financial investment. Lords of the manor and
other owners of mineral rights encouraged miners to band together into partnerships of perhaps 4-6 men to operate on
a somewhat larger scale. The partnership would then 'bargain' for the price of the lead they mine with a local agent who would buy it.
Larger companies became involved in lead-mining earlier than the coal industry. One of the earliest was the London
Lead Company, a joint-stock company incorporated in 1692, which employed large numbers of miners in the 19th century.
Also known as the Quaker company, this operated particularly in Teesdale. The Blackett and Beaumont families' company operated mainly in Weardale.
Learn more about
|
|
|
 |
