Today we tend to associate 19th century coal owners with those draconian characters portrayed in long lost Dickensian novels; masters who made men suffer in the pursuit of capital. Although there is a great deal of truth in this accusation, in defence of the ‘masters’ we must acknowledge certain facts. The coal owners were almost as much at the mercy of the leaser as the miners were to those who employed them. In almost every case the owners were bound hand over fist by the lords of the manor who may not always have owned the soil but who certainly owned everything beneath it. It became more potent that the leaser’s privilege resulted in the misery and demoralisation of millions of people and the decay of a national industry. In many cases the sinking of a pit was a huge gamble, a mine would often be leased for say twenty years and an agreement reached whereby so much a ton was paid on an estimated output during the tenure of the lease. As long as prices and demand were good the leaser’s claim was satisfied without much difficulty, but when times were bad and prices fell, the owner was forced to compel his workers to take reductions. There were very few reductions in the rates of the lease. The Lord often levied tolls upon the lessee whether coal was dug or not. By the time the twenty-year period ended an immense quantity of coal which the owner may have expected to dig up and for which accordingly he had paid the landlord was left untouched. The owner was then forced to try and renegotiate the lease. If an agreement could be reached then the owner could dig up the coal he may have hoped to “bring to bank” long ago and in consequence pay rents and royalties on the same coal, exactly as if it were new coal from a new mine. It was evident that the idle rich were getting richer with no risk and little effort. The figures were astronomical. In the twenty-year period between 1914 and 1933, Lord Leconsfield obtained a total of £210,259 in colliery rents, an annual average of £10,512, three quarters of which came from the Brayton Colliery. However, it should be stressed that the owners were not beyond criticism. In the first twelve years of the present century the profits of the owners were never less than 9d. on every ton of coal raised; and never fell below 1s. 1d., during the twelve-year period following the introduction of the 1912 Act.
The founder of the Harris mining dynasty Joseph Harris was born at Brigham in 1780, the son of John and Mary Harris. He established the business in the early part of the 19th century and from his residence the Mansion House, Greysouthern, Cockermouth, worked a variety of local pits including Harris, Sandriggs and Whitecroft. In the mid 1830’s he expanded the enterprise by taking out leases on the Millbank Colliery, Bridgefoot, and on collieries at Broughton and Ellenborough. He also developed the Old Domain Colliery at Oughterside, reaching both the Yard Band and thirty-inch seam from the No 1, No 3 and Hall Pits. This colliery ceased working shortly after the owner’s death in 1860.
The business continued under the direction of his son John. In the 1850’s he obtained a 21-year lease on a 50-acre site from the Misses Langcake and sank initially Brayton Domain No 1 and later No 2 pit, on a royalty belonging to Sir Wilfrid Lawson. In July 1857 John married Ann Mary Jefferson of Whitehaven. Their first child Joseph was born on the 11th of September 1860. There then followed a series of sad catastrophes, beginning in December 1861 with the death of Ann during childbirth and culminating on the 25th January 1863 with the unexpected death of John. In his will (dated 22 May 1861) John appointed his four brothers-in-law as executors and a decision was taken to place the total estate in the hands of a receiver appointed by the Court of Chancery in London. The business remained in the hands of the trustees for eighteen successful years, a period which witnessed the opening out of both the No 2 pit and No 3 Harriston pit; and the development of Harriston village. Upon attaining the age of 21 Joseph assumed control of his inheritance and continued to develop the colliery: later opening both No 4 and No 5 pits. He died in 1946, four years after the final closure of the colliery. He was followed by his eldest son John Frederick Harris, who briefly managed the colliery.
Contrary to popular belief the miners were a poor second when it came to the formation of unions. In 1842, thirty years prior to the organisation of the workers association, the Cumberland Coal Owners established their own association. Thus, creating a weapon, for fixing the price of coal, avoiding unnecessary competition, and resisting the demands for increased wages and working conditions. These measures were satisfactorily employed to protect their interests and maximise their profits. By 1890, their constitution almost reciprocated that of their workers. Rule 13, for example, read as follows:
“No member of this Association shall make any alteration in the general rate of wages paid to his workmen, or in hours of working at his colliery, without the sanction of the Association, or refuse to concur in any alteration of the general rates of wages or hours of labour resolved by the Association in general meeting.”
Other rules demanded that two thirds majority votes were required before the management could permit a district strike or lock out. Once a strike occurred, they then had to seek permission to accept the terms of settlement. If such rules were adhered to then the remaining collieries would not only subsidise the strike but occasionally, maintain a level of the owner’s profit.
The workers with their inherent poverty and lack of education were inferior foes in the battle against the employers whose wishes were sustained by the magistrates and judiciary system. The laws of England had long been established to protect the rich at the expense of the poor and one could never assume that men of property would convict a peer of similar standing, when the recipients of their actions were men from inferior classes. After a worker employed as a Trailer was accidentally killed by a gas explosion at Allhallows pit in 1877, the colliery manager was charged with failure to ensure sufficient ventilation. Although found guilty he was fined a paltry £5 for his actions. Even in the 20th century the magistrates continued to show undue leniency towards employers, while paying little regard for the fate of miners and their families.
Not that the Harris family were devoid of compassion, indeed when compared to local and national contemporaries they could almost be described as philanthropic. During the strike of 1921, when many of the miners were without household coal, Harris allowed his workers to glean coal from the waste banks thus ensuring they at least had warmth in their homes. Later, when the depression set in following the closure of No 4 pit he allowed the unemployed miners to glean coal from the pit banks in an effort to relieve their hardship.
The townsfolk were also recipients and shared the good fortune of the Harris family. In October 1896, Joseph Harris married Hope Knowles of Lazonby Hall. The marriage caused great celebrations and merriment in the neighbourhood of Aspatria. The collieries were closed, and work was suspended for the occasion. The celebrations included an employees sports meeting, with prizes for the sixteen events. A procession through the town by the school children, followed by a sports event and tea in the National School. The celebrations ended in the evening, when over 700 adults were provided with a substantial meal, the numbers requiring three principal venues: the Market Hall, Noble Temple and National School.
In 1931, the Town Band found it necessary to provide new instruments for the use of their members. Harris loaned the £1,000 required free of interest and the money was repaid over a four-year period by penny subscriptions from the miners. In token of their gratitude the band adopted the name Aspatria Collieries Silver Band.
In January 1991, almost fifty years after the closure of No 5 pit, a miner’s reunion took place in the Noble Temple, Aspatria. The reunion came about after a chance meeting between Len Hewitson, one of the last surviving members of the Colliers Silver Band and Joseph Harris, great, great grandson of the former owner.
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