NEIMME/Brown/2/3. To Mr Barnes giving directions re the management of Nuthall Colliery, 7 Jan 1765.
The collection comprises 2 letter books of William Brown (1717-1782) an important viewer, engine builder and waggonway constructor of the eighteenth century, particularly on Tyneside. The letters contain much information about contemporary technical developments and several are reproduced and discussed in Old Mining Records and Plans, by T.V. Simpson in the Transactions – Institution of Mining Engineers 81, 1930-31, 75-108.
Physical characteristics
Paper bound volumes, buckram half bound, labelled Letter Book, 1749 – 56 on spine of one and 1765 on the other. A bookplate is inside the front cover with the arms of the Dixon Dixon family, the volumes having been presented by Mr Dixon Brown.
Brown volume 1 contains copy letters to and from William Brown, mainly dated 1749/50 – 1756 with 2 letters from 1761. From p. 348 the letters are reversed and are copies of letters to and from Carlisle Spedding earlier in the volume.
There is an Index of Names.
Volume 2 contains copy letters from William Brown, 3 Jan – 3 May 1765, with an Index of Names. A transcription is now available here.
Full information on William Brown in
Turnbull, L. The world of William Brown : railways – steam engines – coalmines
Newcastle upon Tyne: North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers, 2016 (Available for £15 (+p&p) from The Common Room)
