Mining 100

This page highlights a truly historic moment which took place 10 years before Hem Heath pit shaft began to be sunk. 
It relates the opening of the Central School of Science and Technology in Stoke on 20 April 1914. It also mentions that the former  Mining Institute Library has been moved into the new Central School building.

The paragraph marks the death of Mr James Cope Cadman (1851-1914) and encapsulates the birth of the University’s precursor, the Central School and outlines the first link between the Institute’s Library collection of books and journals which was, over time, to become the nucleus of Staffordshire University Library.

 

These pages tell the story of how the Institute was a key player in the founding of a mining college based in Shelton on land which was the gift of A.F. Bolton of Oakamoor, Staffordshire.

This central location with its proximity to the rail station was felt to be preferable despite a generous offer of land at Trentham Hall (now Trentham Gardens) by the Duke of Sutherland.

Mention is made at the top of page 8 of a library being housed in a room in Glebe Street in 1909. This collection was insured at that time for £750 - about £122,000 in today’s money. Storage continued to be a problem and from 1919 to 1931 the Institute’s stock of Transactions was housed in Berresford’s bus garage until space could finally be found at the North Staffordshire Technical College in 1933.

William Young Craig (1827-1924) was one of the first benefactors. Sadly it is no longer possible to identify which volumes were given by William Young Craig but we can single out other generous donations. Aside from Craig's gifts the Mining Institute Library was founded with bequests and donations from prominent mining engineers Strick, Wynne and Cumberbatch and the famous local geologist Ward. This was the early 20th century nucleus of the current University Library and books given by these individuals and their families still form the backbone of the Mining Archive housed in the University’s Special Collections.

The Craig volumes have no book plates but William Young Craig  (Liberal MP for the area 1880-1885) was President of the North Staffordshire Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers 1879-1880. The extract  below from the Transactions of The North Staffordshire Institute of Mining Engineers Vol 4 1879-80 covers the General Meeting held at the Railway Hotel (now North Staffs Hotel) on Oct 6th 1979.  There is mention that Craig asked his booksellers to supply a selection of books for the fledgling library.

 Figure 6:  Extract from the Transactions of The North Staffordshire Institute of Mining Engineers Vol 4 1879-80

Craig was also the owner of the Minnie Pit in Halmer End. This pit was named after his daughter or, more likely, daughter in law, and due to firedamp was the scene of one of the worst mining disasters in the area on 12 January 1918. Minnie attended the opening of the pit in 1883. Wilfred Owen the war poet wrote his poem "Miners" in response to the disaster.

Figure 9: Bookplate from Cumberbatch  bequest/donations

 

John Strick

John Strick (1839-1903) was a contemporary of local geologist John Ward and a committee member of the North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club in the 1860s.  Find out more about the Field Club founded in 1865 and its Garner Medal.

John Strick pursued a military career, rising eventually to become a Colonel commanding the 1st Shropshire and Staffordshire Volunteer Artillery. He lived at Bar Hill House in Madeley and was an inspector of mines whose expertise was called upon in many mining disaster investigations. In 1894 Colonel Strick became Vice President of the North Staffordshire Institute of Mining Engineers.

On his death in January 1903 Colonel Strick left £28,000 in his will and his widow gave 390 of his books to the Institute. His death and this bequest are recorded in Volume 26 of the Mining Engineer. The Institute was so thrilled with the bequest that special bookcases were purchased to house the collection.

Isaac Cumberbatch

Isaac William Cumberbatch (1888-1971) was born in Silverdale and died in Newcastle-under-Lyme. At the age of 13 he was working as a cattleman at a farm in Hilderstone, near Stone, Staffordshire but by 1909 he was undertaking study at the North Staffs Mining Institute training to become a mining engineer. After qualifying in 1911, Mr Cumberbatch left the UK to take up a post as an under manager at Silimpopon Mines in North Borneo. He continued working in mining enterprises in the Far East until ill health forced his return to the UK in 1917. On his return Mr Cumberbatch pursued a distinguished career in mining rising to be the Chairman of the Board of the West Midlands Coal Board from 1950 to 1955.

It is touching to see that as a successful past student Mr Cumberbatch gave his own books to help the formation of the Institute Library. Note the personal motto written on the flyleaf “I hold my honour with my own hand”. Presumably this was written by Mr. Cumberbatch himself. 

Figure 14: Motto written by Mr Cumberbatch in one of the donated books.

More information about Mr Cumberbatch’s role in mining can be found at

• Obituary for Isaac William Cumberbatch 
  and 
• Cumberbatch Family History - Isaac William Cumberbatch  

Frederick Wynne

The photograph of the Wynne collection bookplate shows that Frederick Horton Wynne (1877-1943) was HM Inspector of Mines and endowed a student prize at the Mining College.

• Durham Mining Museum - Frederick Horton Wynne, C.B.E., B.Sc. (dmm.org.uk)

Figure 16: Photograph of Mr Wynne from Durham Mining Museum

Mr Wynne was born in Fenton but died in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire. He was Chief Inspector of Mines from 1938 until September, 1942, when he retired. Frederick Horton Wynne was the  grandson of the late Mr. T. Wynne, first inspector of mines for the North Staffordshire area.

Mr Frederick Wynne went to school in Newcastle and studied mining at Armstrong College, Newcastle-on-Tyne. This college later became part of Durham University. Mr Frederick Wynne was a mining pupil of Mr. J. C. Cadman, father of the first Lord Cadman, of Silverdale, the coal and oil expert. Mr. Wynne became a close friend of the Cadman family.

Mr. Wynne's first appointment under the mining inspectorate was in 1904, when he became assistant inspector of mines in the North Staffordshire district. He was promoted to senior inspector in June, 1913. He worked in Durham and then in the Scottish coalfields before becoming divisional inspector in 1920 and assisting Sir William Walker, then chief inspector at the Home Office. Serving in Yorkshire as divisional inspector, Mr. Wynne was made deputy chief inspector in 1924, and subsequently became head of the mining inspectorate. He was made a Commander of the British Empire in recognition of his services to the industry in 1932.

He kept in close touch with his friends in North Staffordshire and was a familiar figure at the annual dinners of the North Staffordshire Institute of Mining Engineers. 

[Information taken from “Death of Mr. F. H. Wynne", Staffordshire Advertiser, May 29, 1943, page 3]

John Ward was born in Fenton in 1837 and died in Longton in 1906. He owned a drapery shop in Longton but from a young age was fascinated by the fossils, especially the marine fossils, which could be found in locally extracted coal from the North Staffordshire Coal Measures. 

Ward’s work was recognised when he became a Fellow of the National Geological Society in 1874. He was a founder member of the North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club and was awarded this organisations’ Garner Memorial Medal in 1895. On his death his family gave his books and some of the fossils to the Mining Institute. The books which formed his library are still held in the University’s Special Collections. The fossils were given to the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in 1984. They can still be viewed there by arrangement.

See a list of publications and Mr. Ward's obituary

The Mining Archive still houses John Ward’s 1890 seminal work on carboniferous fossils of the North Staffordshire coalfields. The photo here shows the text of the article published in Volume 10 of the Transactions of the North Staffordshire Institute of Mining Engineers pages 1-189. 
 

Useful links:

• North Staffs Field Club archives
• Staffordshire Country Studies: North Staffordshire Field Club

It is clear that the generosity and enthusiasm of these benefactors was central to the development and success of mining education in Stoke-on-Trent in the early 20th century. 

It is appropriate that this section of the online exhibition highlights the huge contribution to the Mining Institute of both James Cope Cadman and his son John, created Lord Cadman of Silverdale. 

James Cope Cadman (1851-1914) was a local man and manager of the mine in Silverdale and from 1903-1904 he was President of the Institution of Mining Engineers. 

His son John Cadman (1877-1947) rose to become one of the most influential figures in mining in the UK, if not the world. The building in which the Special Collections is housed is called the Cadman Building and so honours the family. 

John Cadman went to school in Audley, Staffordshire and then on to study mining at Armstrong College, Newcastle- part of Durham University. After University, John was an assistant colliery manager at Silverdale and then became Chief Inspector of Mines in Scotland.  It is thought that he became aware of the significance of oil due to working with “oilseeps” in Longton coalfields. In 1908 John Cadman became Professor of Mining at Birmingham University. He was the first person in the UK to create a course on petroleum geology. In the First World War John Cadman advised the British Government on the importance of securing oil supplies in Persia. For this he was given a knighthood in 1918.

In the 1920s John Cadman worked with Anglo-Persian Oil Company (later BP) and rose to become the Chairman in 1927. He was possibly the first scientist to achieve such status in a major international company.  In 1937 in recognition of his services to industry and science he received an hereditary peerage and became Baron Cadman of Silverdale. He became Fellow of the Royal Society in 1940 and died at his country home Shenley Park in 1941.

The Special Collections owns some maps which it is believed may have belonged to Lord Cadman.
 

More about John Cadman can be found at 

• The Royal Society
• Keele University - John Cadman, Lord Cadman of Silverdale
• Iranica