Description
Book SynopsisLetters between a colliery manager and his employer provide valuable evidence for the growth and development of the coal trade in north-east England.John Buddle (1773-1843), the most eminent coal viewer and mining engineer and manager of his day, worked for a number of different coal owners in North-East England. In particular, for over twenty years he acted as colliery manager for Charles Stewart, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry. In this capacity Buddle wrote to his employer more than 2,000 letters, of which this book provides a selection. They give not only a detailed, and at times almost a day-to-day account of the coal trade of the Tyne and Wear at a time when the industry was expanding rapidly, but also a discussion of Lord Londonderry's always difficult financial affairs, of his local political activities, and the general condition of the region in a period of change. Buddle emerges from these letters as a self-confident professional man with far-reaching ideas tempered by prudence, ready to speak his mind and by no means always agreeing with his aristocratic employer, though ultimately always bowing to his decisions; Londonderry is revealed as ambitious, willful, and incapable of living within his means. The letters reveal the sometimes troubled relationship between the twovery different men, one that came close to breaking-point in 1841, though the breach was repaired before Buddle's death in 1843; more widely, they paint a vivid picture of north-east England in the early nineteenth century, of its politics, its economy, and its social situation at a time of lively development. Anne Orde is a retired Senior Lecturer in History, University of Durham.
Trade ReviewJohn Buddle's letters are a trove of information about the workings of the north-east coal trade as it experienced its greatest upheaval, a defining point in which Buddlehimself was a pivotal figure. * ARCHIVES *
Anne Order's immaculate editing of Buddle's letters...is a welcome addition to our knowledge of the man acclaimed in his time as he leading mining engineer of the North East. * NORTHERN HISTORY *
Table of ContentsIntroduction 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 Bibliography
