Derbyshire lead mining history: Encyclopedia II - Derbyshire lead mining history - Mine ownership

Derbyshire lead mining history - Mine ownership

Derbyshire lead mining history - The king's farmers and chief barmasters

The coveted and valuable farm of the Duchy of Lancaster's right to the lead mine duties, coupled as it was with the office of chief barmaster, endowed its owner with both a considerable income and authority over the running of the industry. It was always resold at a much higher price than that charged by the Duchy, which was £110 plus annual payments of £72 for the duties and £1-6-8d for the barmastership.

Derbyshire lead mining history - Chief barmasters and the 24

At dinner in Wirksworth after meetings of the seventeenth century Barmote Court, the landlord of the inn had three tables for those attending the Court. There was the 24 table, where the members of the 24-man jury sat, and where he charged 8d per head, the barmasters table, at 10d a head, and a table where gentlemens dinners cost 1/- each. The gentlemen drank sack or claret with their dinner, the men were served with beer. The bill was paid by the king's farmer and chief barmaster. There were usually about a dozen gentlemen, some of whom were members of the jury, while others were there to present a case to the Court. Also among the gentlemen were the steward of the court, who was a lawyer and who conducted the sessions. When the chief barmaster for the Wapentake, always a man of wealth and rank, was a local gentleman such as Sir John Gell of Hopton, he often attended the Court himself. If the current chief barmaster was an absentee member of the gentry or nobility he relied on his deputy barmasters.

Derbyshire lead mining history - Deputy barmasters

The deputy barmasters whom the chief barmaster appointed were experienced local men. Their duties required them to be able to read, write and keep account of granting and removing title to mines and of ore production and the duties levied on it. Some of them were yeoman farmer/miners and others local gentlemen. The deputy barmasters actually ran the system. It was they who initiated much of the business of the Court. It was they, in administering the rules, who determined whether a miner should have a particular mine or whether another should lose one.

Derbyshire lead mining history - Giving a mine

The barmaster or his deputy granted title in a mine, the usual name for which was grove or groove, on receipt of proof that it was viable. The proof was a standard container, a dish, filled with about 65 pounds of ore from the mine in question. Every dish was calibrated by the barmaster twice a year against a brass standard dish. The miner thus granted title to the mine was said to have freed it, either for old if it was a development in an existing mine, or for new in the case of a new discovery. He was given permission to work 2 meers of ground, known as founder meers (a meer = 29 yards in the Wirksworth Wapentake), with no restriction on width or depth. A third meer was the king's, and other miners were each allowed to open a further meer, taker meers, along the vein. The miner marked each meer with his possessions or stows (a miniature version of the stows or windlass used to wind the ore from the shaft).

Since the course of a vein of lead was unpredictable, there were many disputes caused by one group of miners following a vein into another mine. There were occasions when possession was disputed by physical means.

Derbyshire lead mining history - Collecting the dues

As ore was brought from a mine, it was measured by the dish and the barmaster collected each 13th dish, a royalty or duty known as lot. This was the barmaster's reckoning. A further duty of sixpence a load (9 dishes) was paid by the merchants who bought the ore from the miners. This second duty was called cope.

Derbyshire lead mining history - Title-holding and record keeping

The deputy barmasters were responsible for settling disputes over ownership or of arresting or suspending operation of mines pending decisions of the Barmote Court. They could withdraw title whenever a mine was left unworked. They checked the mines regularly and used their knives to nick the stows at any neglected mine. After three nicks at weekly intervals title could be transferred to another miner. The mining rules required working shareholders in a mine to pull their weight. Any who did not were dispossessed, after a warning at the Barmote Court.

The deputy barmasters kept records of all changes of title and of the amounts of ore measured and the amounts of lot ore and cope collected at their regular reckonings at the mines. The lot and cope accounts involved quite complicated arithmetic. The information given included the period covered, the name of the miner or mine (occasionally both were given), the amount of ore mined, the number of dishes of lot ore received, the amount of ore sold to each buyer and the sum of money chargeable to each buyer for cope. Traditional methods were used at the reckonings ;barmasters carried knives to worke uppon a sticke the nomber of dishes of oare as they were measured which is usuall to be done at a reckoning. Many of their records have survived.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Mine ownership", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki