My late friend Dulcie Hartley wrote about the Co-operative Colliery at Plattsburg as a follow-up to her work on the life and career of “The Miners’ Advocate”: James Fletcher. I’ve transcribed her unpublished typescript. Chapter 1 follows:
The following account attempts to summarise the development of the nineteenth century coal mining industry in the Newcastle district, with emphasis on the movement towards unionism and the co-operative system. With a particular focus on the emergence of the New South Wales Co-operative Coal Mining Company at Plattsburg, near Wallsend, and the role played by James Fletcher.
Chapter 1: A Coalfield to be worked on the co-operative principle
Coal was officially discovered at Newcastle in 1797 by Lieutenant John Shortland R.N. After unsuccessfully pursuing escaping convicts who had seized a government boat, he sailed into the estuary of a river (later to be named the ‘Hunter’) and found coal seams exposed on an island (later ‘Nobbys’) on the southern headland and coal scattered on the southern shore. However, it is thought that escaping convicts and small merchant boats had earlier found coal in the district.
The discovery was of considerable interest to the Colonial Secretary as fuel was urgently required for expanding Sydney Town. Trees surrounding the settlement had long since been felled and sawyers were now required to go much further afield to satisfy local demand. Coal was considered to be a much more efficient fuel and the possibility of income generated by coal exports was viewed favourably by the authorities.
In 1801 convict miners were working the coal seam near Signal Hill and a small settlement existed. Two shipments of coal were sent to Bengal and another to Capetown. However, it was not long before the mine and settlement were abandoned, but unofficial visits were made by passing ships seeking coal. Unfortunately haphazard recovery methods were used which resulted in some very dangerous shafts and tunnels.
In 1804 the government reopened the mine with convict labour and by the following year the settlement now known as Newcastle, had a population of 79. The coal mine was worked with varying degrees of success for many years, but control was later vested in the Australian Agricultural Company (known as the A.A. Co) a firm established in Great Britain to profitably develop the resources of the colony. For some years afterwards the A.A. Co. employed the mainly inefficient convicts as miners, but in 1838 experienced coal miners were recruited from Britain in an attempt to work the mines efficiently. The company had been granted a coal mining monopoly by the government but in 1844 coalmine proprietor James Brown unsuccessfuly challenged this arrangement. Although the A.A. Co. retained the coal monopoly there was general discontent in the district as many landholders were in possession of proven coal deposits. In 1847 a select committee of inquiry into the coal trade was set up and the following year the monopoly was removed, resulting in the opening up of several new coal mines.
As time passed convict labour was withdrawn and many coal miners emigrated from Britain. Their prospects were not enviable as they were paid a barely subsistence wage. The spirit of the old penal system was then rife and the poor collier was thought of, spoken of and treated like a kind of underground savage. He was required to sign an agreement before he could obtain work in the early days. If a miner did not comply with the conditions of the agreement he had to appear in court under the penal clauses of the Masters’ and Servants Act, and could be sent to prison and/or evicted from his hut.
Abundant coal fields existed in the Hunter district and the industry expanded rapidly, especially after the discovery of gold in Victoria in 1851 when the population increased and secondary industries boomed.
Hewing rates for coal miners increased during the 1850s due to the labour shortage engendered by the gold rushes, as well as to the booming economy. After the right to mine was legally obtained in 1848 Alexander Brown opened up the Victoria Tunnel seam on Dr James Mitchell’s Burwood Estate at Newcastle. Mitchell then leased portion of his estate to the following coal proprietors: James and Alexander Brown, William and John Donaldson, John Nott, Joshua L. Morgan and Dr Richard R.S. Bowker (trading as Filgate & Co.), George Barney, Colonel of Engineers, James Norton, solicitor and George K. Holden, solicitor – all trustees for the Newcastle Coal & Copper Co. In 1855 the Newcastle Coal and Copper Co., with a capital of £100,000, purchased these adjoining coal mines under an expansion programme. As the copper smelting works, earlier established by Dr Mitchell, required the use of two tons of coal to smelt one ton of ore the accessibility of cheap, local coal was of primary importance.
Australian Agricultural Company monopoly
Working conditions at the A.A. Co. mines left much to be desired, especially in the older collieries where the miners laboured under great difficulties in comparison with the more recently opened pits. The plant and equipment was old-fashioned and nearly worn out and the coal seams thinner and consequently more difficult to work. The miners were dissatisfied with working conditions and the new superintendent, Arthur Hodgson – who had arrived on the ship Dunbar in 1856 – was very unpopular. At the Glebe the huts and houses owned by the A. A. Co. were often dilapidated and the rent charged was greatly in excess of that paid by miners working at other collieries. The company’s slab huts, leaning in all directions, were rented at four shillings a week. The brick cottages standing at the foot of the slope were flooded every time it rained heavily. They were of one room with skillion roofs and were black with damp and dirt. A better class of brick home, probably erected 20 years previously for £20, was rented for five shillings a week, while slab huts were two shillings and sixpence. These rents were expensive compared with those paid by miners working for the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company at Wallsend where comfortable company cottages were two shillings a week and at Minmi Colliery where a cottage could be rented for one shilling a week.
Coal miners at the A. A. Co. collieries were also dissatisfied with the system of hiring as they could see it was open to favouritism and corruption. They were paid on a scale which increased in proportion to the quantity of coal sent up to the pit mouth each week. For example, if a miner sent up twelve tons a week he was entitled to five shillings and sixpence per ton for large and three shillings and sixpence for small coal. If he sent up fifteen tons a week he received six shillings a ton for large and four shillings for small, the rate increasing with the quantity until the maximum rate of seven shillings for large and five shillings for small was reached – in other words a production bonus. This system was open to exploitation in several ways. The foreman could place a miner a great distance from the shaft bottom or in a difficult section, either of which would prevent him from obtaining the maximum rate. Alternatively, another miner could be sent to a position from which he could easily obtain the maximum rate.
There had been minor strikes over the years, and another occurred on May 1, 1855, when the A.A. Co. issued a notice stating that all miners would have to pay for their own tools and oil (for lamps). The miners considered this a provocative act on the part of management and a ten week strike ensued. However, the introduction of scab labour forced the men to return to work. Some minor gains in wages and working conditions had occurred prior to this date. The miners’ lodges, the forerunner of the Coal Miners’ Association, were forming in 1857. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the coal miners had started to form a union at the A.A. Co.’s Borehole Colliery in 1859. The article then mentioned that in March 1860 the Newcastle district miners began to form themselves into a union.
The actual birth of the Miners’ Federation was on Queen Victoria’s birthday holiday, May 24, 1860, when a meeting of miners from Tomago, Minmi, Coal and Copper Co. and the Borehole Collieries was held in Groves’ Paddock, (near Waratah Railway Station.) Minmi men marched with music playing and banners flying, big Sam Cooper leading the marchers and carrying a flag inscribed, “United We Stand, Divided We Fall.” Mr. T. Lewis was in the chair, and the first resolution pledged those present to form themselves into a union for their mutual protection. The second resolution called for the appointment of an Inspector of Mines for NSW, as prevailed in England. The third resolution called for an eight hour working day in the mines of the colony. The fourth resolution appointed a committee of eight, two from the Borehole, two from Coal and Copper Co., two from Minmi and one each from Tomago and F Pit for collecting information on their requirements to be forwarded to the government.
The second meeting of the miners was held on the flats near St John’s church on 23 October, 1860, with J. Linsley in the chair. Miners from Glebe, Borehole and Minmi attended. It was decided to present a memorial to the Governor-General in favour of a bill for coal mines inspection, and better ventilation. It was also decided to support the striking Minmi miners and a levy was struck. The miners from J. & A. Brown’s Minmi Colliery were on strike due to the manager, Mr. W. Farthing, trying to get them to accept a sixpence per ton reduction in hewing rates. The district miners heard that Farthing had brought men in from Brown’s Four Mile Creek Colliery near Maitland to work at Minmi, so on Friday November 16, 1860, they hired a special train at a cost of £200 and 500 miners went to Minmi to hold a meeting. William Linsley was again in the chair, and after discussion, it was decided to support the Minmi miners until they obtained their old rate of pay. A decision was made to take measures to prevent scab labour from working the mine. As the strike continued the proprietors ordered the men to vacate their huts, and this they unwillingly complied with to avoid litigation. En masse they made camp on nearby land not owned by the Brown brothers, and kept the mine under constant surveillance. During the following eight weeks several groups of miners were engaged by Farthing to work the mine, but when the striking miners told them of the situation the new men refused to work. After ten weeks the miners returned to work on their old rates of pay.
Birth of the miners’ union
During this era coal miners worked under appalling conditions. They were required to hew two tons of coal each day out of a solid seam varying between 2 feet 9 inches and 4 feet in thickness, with 150 feet of earth on top of the seam. The skips were filled in a confined area less than 4 feet high and the top had to be propped with timber. There was usually water underfoot and the miners often had to lie in this whilst hewing.
The skips held seven to eight hundredweight [a hundredweight is about 45.4kg] and after filling they had to be wheeled about 600 yards to the shaft. The miners also had to lay the tracks and bail the water. Although the daily wage was usually 11 shillings and fourpence, the system allowed some men to work up to sixteen hours a day, resulting in top money. The end result was usually an early death brought on by poor ventilation, dust and dampness. The miners worked to a token system for coal produced. A small wooden token was sent up with each wagon which was weighed at the pit mouth by the check weighman who was always supposed to be a man of great integrity. The weight was then recorded under the name of the token owner.
Coal mines were still very primitive. A shaft was sunk to the seam of coal and the sides secured by tubbing, generally of wood although in some Newcastle mines the shafts were lined with brick, stone or even iron. The shaft was usually twelve feet in diameter and divided down the middle by a boarded partition, one side being used for hoisting the coal and the other for ventilation of the pit. The rope for lifting the coal, usually of hemp or wire, was worked on a pair of large grooved wheels acting as pulleys and the rope passed around a drum powered by a steam engine. The rope had each end fixed to the coal lifting frames which rested alternatively at the top and bottom of the shaft. One rope was used for simultaneously raising and lowering the frames as the weight of the descending rope acted as a balance against that of the ascending one. The frames were guided in a vertical course by rings which fitted around iron rods called conductors, and they were securely fastened at either end of the shaft. The frame held one wagon which, after loading, was taken to the pit mouth and emptied, then returned to the frame and sent down to the bottom of the shaft for another load, while the other frame with its load was ascending.
In 1860 the deepest shaft in the colony of New South Wales was 400 ft (130 m). The weekly shipment from the Hunter district at this- time was 700 tons and, at 14 shillings per ton, the annual value was more than £250,000. About one third of the output was shipped to Sydney and the same amount to Melbourne, with the balance going to other Australian ports, as well as California and the East.
The Newcastle mines were worked similarly to those in Britain and most of the miners were Northumbrians, with others from Scotland and Wales. The bord and pillar method of extraction was mostly used, although a few collieries such as Tomago Coal Mining Co. worked on the longwall principle. By the use of this method nearly the whole of the coal was removed and props were left to support the roof. A longwall face of 300 yards was worked and, after extraction of coal, waste stone and rubbish were used to fill the excavation to prevent fall ins. The men worked underground half naked by the light of flickering oil lamps in odorous, damp and poorly ventilated conditions, stooped and unable to stand upright due to the low roof. The narrow gauge railways that ran around the pit taking the wagons to the shaft were drawn by men and boys. One progressive coal proprietor (1860) had commenced using horses underground for drawing the wagons and the horses were housed in underground stables. Ventilation was provided by downcast and upcast shafts. A large furnace was situated near the bottom of the upcast shaft and the air when heated rose in one shaft, with the cold air descending the other. Folding doors in the passages connected the two ends of the mine and fresh air passed through the working areas. Unfortunately the furnace fires were often left unattended, and the resultant poor quality air endangered the health of the workers.
The practice of cavilling for work places in the mine first commenced at the Newcastle Coal and Copper Co.’s Victoria Tunnel in 1858. A serious creep had occurred and the men were called out. After remedial work by a group of miners including Andrew Sneddon and James Richardson, management decided that only limited production could resume with safety. To decide who would work the under manager, Mr. Berner, picked up a shovel and marked on it the numbers of the bords that could be worked with safety, but kept this hidden from the miners. He then placed his finger on a number and asked the miners to call out who would have this bord.
This system was really a ballot for work places and proved so successful that it was introduced into the local industry. In the north of England a similar method of work allocation prevailed and the system, known as “the cavil”, became the norm for Hunter district mines after being approved by the newly formed union. Held every three months, it ensured a regular change of work place.
In February of 1861 an aggregate meeting of the coal miners was held, with James Fletcher in the chair. He declared that “in union only was their strength”, and emphasised that the miners cause had suffered through lack of unity. The meeting had been called to consider the consolidation of the various local groups into one confederation. Many resolutions to improve the miners’ conditions were discussed and Fletcher expressed the opinion that in years to come many would survive “to receive the blessings of the rising generation for all the efforts and sacrifices now made to improve the social, moral and domestic condition of the class to which they belong and thus enable them to take a higher position in society than the colliers”.
Ventilation and wages
Referring to the resolutions discussed at the meeting, Fletcher said, “Let all hands be held up, for or against, and then we shall know what we are doing. Let there be no neutrals for these are an abomination in all such proceedings”. The men decided to agitate for a Ventilation Bill. Thomas Hynde moved a motion that “the firmest bonds of union should exist among the miners for the mutual protection of our rights and privileges as a class and to unite for that purpose”. A resolution was passed for a uniform day’s wage of eleven shillings and fourpence, although some thought it more imperative that an Eight Hour Bill be introduced.
Three months later, on 24 May 1861, the first Annual Meeting of the Coal Miners’ Association was held at Groves Paddock, Waratah. Over 700 miners attended from the lodges of The Borehole, Glebe, Minmi, Wallsend and Tomago. Speakers moved that the association be governed by certain rules, that a bill be introduced in parliament to regulate lifting machinery and that a working day be limited to ten hours. It was decided to continue agitation for proper ventilation and improved working conditions. Fletcher moved a resolution for an eight hour day and this was passed.
Richard Youll, speaking of poor mine ventilation, said that frequently there was not enough air to sustain even the miners’ lights and pulmonary complaints were rife in the industry. Other speakers included D. Sheriff, W. Wonders, W. Linsley, G. Curless, T. Alnwick, U. Brown and W. Davies.
Thomas Alnwick wrote to The Sydney Morning Herald in 1861, remarking that “capital and labour are necessary to each other and are mutually dependent on each other for their successful employment”. At that time there were 750 miners in the Coal Miners’ Association. Wages were eleven shillings and fourpence a day and a miner when fully employed could earn £3 8/- [three pounds and eight shillings] a week. However, this amount was seldom earned as intermittency of work always dogged the miners, and the average weekly wage was £2 1/- 5d [two pounds one shilling and fivepence]. When ships were in the harbour awaiting coals full employment occurred, but often there were slack periods with reduced demand, especially during the summer months. There was usually only a small quantity of coal held at grass.
The mine proprietors viewed the increasingly vocal Coal Miners’ Association with grave concern and retaliated with a proposed 20 per cent wage reduction. The miners believed that this provocative action was an attempt to break the union and the result was a general strike of about 700 district miners, the first occasion on which all the miners’ lodges had united. There were 270 employed by the A.A. Co., 150 at Brown’s Minmi Colliery, 35 at Tomago mine, 105 at Newcastle-Wallsend pit and 200 at the Burwood tunnels of the Newcastle Coal and Copper Co.
In August 1861 about 650 miners attended an open air meeting at Randall’s Camp on the Wallsend railway line about two miles from Waratah Station. All pits were represented except Tomago – at that time in the process of restructuring. Once again James Fletcher was chairman and John McNaughton, Robert Joseph Moffat, John Linsley, Job Morgan, R. Perks, George Curless, Samuel Quilton and James Birrell all addressed the meeting. They pledged to resist the 20 per cent reduction and it was moved by Joseph Moffat, seconded by George Curless “That in order to fortify themselves against the masters they now resolved to take steps to acquire a coalfield to be worked on the co-operative principle”. Popular George Curless, the miners’ leader, advised the men to remain “steadfast consistently and with moderation”. James Fletcher then spoke of the necessity of unity and cooperation, and instructed the men to “bind themselves together and act with firmness and determination and they would not fail to be successful”.
There was another resolution: “That this meeting, having taken into consideration the cost of the necessities of life in this immediate district, the market price of coal, the amount of dividend paid by the various coal companies and the premiums at which their shares are quoted, together with the present state of the market, is of the opinion that the miners are perfectly justified in resisting the proposed reduction of 20 per cent from their wages, more especially as the coal owners do not propose to give the public or the shipping interests any reciprocal advantages arising out of the reduction”. This was a very lucid summation of the situation. James Fletcher arranged for the printing of a circular to be sent to coal miners in England as the proprietors were trying to induce them to migrate to the colony and thus break the strike. The union pamphlet emphasised the poor pay and conditions prevailing in the colony and advised the miners against migration.
The mine proprietors had decided to recruit 500 miners from England. The A.A. Co deposited £2400 in the State Treasury to pay the immigration costs of the miners, with the government subsidising the company to the tune of £4600. The ethics of this arrangement were considered by some to be questionable as taxpayers’ money was being used during an industrial dispute to transport labour from abroad.
The mine proprietors prepared their ammunition to negate the arguments of the unionists. The following notice was printed in British newspapers:-
COAL PITS OF NEWCASTLE IN NEW SOUTH WALES
The pits vary in depth from 60 ft. to l00 ft. and the seams of coal are from 3 ft. to ll ft. thick. The coal is very flat, in no case dipping or rising more than three inches in three feet and unlike many seams in England is not hard, but easy to drive and cut. Powder is not used in any of the mines. There is no fire or choke damp. There are good facings and backs in the coal every two or three feet. The roof is in all cases good, being in some cases rock and others a coarse coal or blue metal. The workings are not wet. All coals sent out of the pit are paid for by the ton of 2400 lbs. Any man can make twelve shillings a day and a skilful hewer twenty shillings or more. Yard work is paid for at from four shillings to twelve shillings a yard in addition to the coal. Wages for all other hands employed in and around the pits are very high.
The advertisement continued along these lines, painting a rosy picture of life in the colony, quite the antithesis of the information earlier forwarded to the Coal Miners’ Association.
In pursuit of the August decision to obtain a coalfield to be worked on the co-operative principle, James Richardson and George Downing discovered an outcropping seam on the side of a creek in present-day Devon Street, Wallsend (formerly known as Plattsburg.). Under Joseph Moffat, manager pro tem, a small shaft was sunk to prove the coal. The men working on the new venture at this time were William Wonders, Hugh Walker, Allan Wylde, Richard Youll, James Fletcher – the latter chairman – and Messrs. Sharp and Alan of the Coal Miners’ Association. Samples of coal from the nine feet seam (the Borehole) were taken by Richardson and Downing for display at the office of The Newcastle Chronicle and at the Ship Inn in Watt Street, Newcastle. Other miners involved at this stage included Samuel Fletcher, Robert Forrester, Richard Perks, William Davies, Duncan Cherry, William Bower, Matthew McClaren and James Nelson. Towards the end of August 1861 these men arranged to lease land so they could establish a co-operative coal mine.
The implementation of this principle had occurred previously. In 1844 in Rochdale, Lancashire, England, a co-operative had been established by a group of about twenty artisans, mainly weavers. A model for other workers, the Co-operative movement became very popular in coal mining communities as it had a strong ideological appeal, as well as providing savings for security, given the uncertainty of employment in the industry.
By the beginning of September 1861 a deposit of £100 had been paid by Alan Wylde, chairman of the Coal Miners’ Association (Secretary James Fletcher) to the owners, Messrs Kenrick, Brooks and others, for the lease of land near Ironbark Creek, Wallsend. Soon after it was reported that the miners “had already been offered £1500 for their bargain …… They have declined an offer of £20,000 by capitalists as assistance as they are determined to use their own resources ….. The manager is to be elected by Union members. They intend electing a number of men from each mine and from these the manager will be chosen by ballot”.
The land leased in October 1861 by the New South Wales Co-operative Coal Mining Co. was Portion 23 of 1280 acres and Portion 24 of 320 acres, both in the Parish of Hexham and bounded by Ironbark Creek. In 1830 Portion 24 had been granted to Dr George Brooks, a former Army surgeon who became the first surgeon in Newcastle. In 1839 Portion 23 was granted as a marriage settlement to Mary Stephen Cowper on her marriage to Dr Brooks. In 1861, after the death of George Brooks, Portion 23 was divided by his heirs. New Portion 4 became the settlement of Plattsburg. [ A daughter of Mary and George Brooks had married a son of John Platt of “The Folly”, now part of Sandgate and Mayfield; hence the suburbs “Plattsburg” and “Maryland”.
John Brooks, a son of Mary and George, subdivided his land on the eastern corner of Wallsend and it became known as Brookstown. Land in both these new subdivisions was purchased by coal miners for residential sites. The lease was registered on 12 February 1862 and the lessors were G.W. Brooks, A. Kenrick, W.H. Platt and M.E. Platt. The lessees were George Curless, Thomas Alnwick, Thomas Hall, James Richardson, Benjamin Lunn, James Lindsay, Richard Youll and Job Morgan. The lessees were also the trustees of the New South Wales Co-operative Coal Co. The 21-year lease included both surface and underground, and the lessees were entitled to fell timber. For the first two years the Co-operative Colliery was to pay sixpence per ton royalty to the lessors; for the following two years at the same rate, but not to be less that £500 per annum and for the fifth and every succeeding year a similar royalty, but not less than £1000.
Birth of the Co-operative mine
The prospectus of the New South Wales Co-operative Coal Mining Co. showed a capital of £30,000 in 6,000 shares of £5 each. All shares were to be personal estate and transferable as such. Dividends were to be paid out of net gains and profits, and not out of capital. No more than eight shares were to be allotted to any one person during the first six months and a deposit of five shillings per share was to be paid before execution. Capital could be increased under certain conditions and shares issued to other persons outside those named at the discretion of the directors. Directors were to receive eleven shillings and fourpence, equal to one day’s pay, plus travelling expenses for every meeting attended.
The directors were required to change at regular intervals and to be replaced by men who had stood as candidates. Unfortunately the company was never fully subscribed and this lack of capital hampered development from the outset.
As previously mentioned, the first manager of the colliery was Joseph Moffat, pro tem, and he held this position in September 1861. During this month there were approximately 200 men constructing a corduroy road (sawn logs laid side by side) over swampland to Ironbark Creek.
Tenders were called for a new tunnel of about one mile, as well as for the conveyance of coal from the head of Ironbark Creek to its junction with the Hunter River, a distance of about three miles. At this time the minimum depth of Ironbark Creek at low tide in the most shallow section was five feet. Tenders for these works were to be forwarded to James Fletcher at the Borehole Colliery. On completion of the corduroy road it was expected that about 60 drays would be used to take the coal from the pit to the creek. Three new shafts were being sunk, in addition to the other where they had struck the Borehole Seam.
Contractor Thomas Adams was engaged to take 300 tons of coal by lighter from Ironbark Creek to Newcastle Harbour. Due to the continuing strike there were many willing hands during October and the forest resounded with the noise of woodsmens’ axes felling trees. The Cowper Pit, 35 ft. in diameter and already sunk to 80 ft., was expected to go a further 20 ft. before striking the seam.
The proprietors of the Newcastle Coal and Copper Co. were becoming restive as the strike continued so they decided to retaliate. As a result, early in October 1861 Captain Sinclair, master of the barque Mandarin, together with nine sailors escorted by members of the police force, arrived at the Victoria Tunnel at Burwood. The sailors worked for a couple of hours loading small coal into trucks while the miners watched. A group of women then arrived and, after climbing on top of the coal heap, started to abuse the sailors. The women then commenced tin kettling, that is, making as much noise as possible by beating iron saucepans and frying pans with metal tools, and ringing cow bells etc. The police were unable to stop the women who kept up the din while the sailors, escorted by the police, went for their breakfast. Later on, while the sailors were distracted by a derailment, the women on top of the coal heap started pelting them with lumps of coal.
As they became more confident the women came closer to the sailors, poking their gridirons, saucepans and tin kettles in the sailors faces. The mine officers, Messrs. Berner and Spence, also copped a share of the attack. As the melee continued the sailors were driven up on top of the coal heap which was now on fire. An officious constable then tried to arrest one of the women, but after a scuffle, a miner named James Jones rescued her. A friendly policeman advised Jones to make himself scarce and eventually the sailors, with their police escort retreated, leaving the coal loading unfinished.
The women of the Borehole and Wallsend mines had acted similarly during earlier strikes with displays of tin kettling when “blacklegs” had attempted to work the mines, but on the occasion of the Victoria Tunnel “riot”, over-reaction by the authorities resulted in a telegram being sent to Sydney calling for police reinforcements. Thirty police and an additional ten mounted men arrived in Newcastle by the next steamer under Captain McLean, Inspector General of Police, together with Divisional Inspector Singleton.
On October 9, 1861 John Jones, Thomas Griffiths, John Griffiths, Abigail Green, Flora Crumpton and Anne Hopkins were charged with resisting the police. Thomas Griffiths denied the charge, stating that he was at home minding the baby for his wife, and John Jones successfully proved he was not the person sought. What he did not reveal in court was that the man the police were after was his cousin, James Jones. The charges were withdrawn, but James Jones was still a wanted man. He, however, had taken the advice of the policeman and had hidden underground in the tunnel of the new Co-operative Colliery. A group of miners from the Borehole Colliery at Hamilton regularly came out to Plattsburg to work on the new mine so they kept Jones supplied with food. He stayed underground for one week while the police searched for him all around Burwood and Glebe, after which time the search was discontinued.
Miners’s wives versus sailors
Meanwhile, on October 9, 1861, a conference of a Reconciliation Committee was held at the Co-operative Store, evidently seen to be on neutral ground, for negotiations. The proprietors who attended were Alexander Brown Snr. from Minmi, J. B. Winship of the A. A. Co. and Captain Cross of Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Co. The miners’ delegates were James Fletcher, Alan Wylde, Hugh Walker, Samuel Fletcher and Edward Turnbull from the A. A. Co; George Curless, Robert Forrester, Thomas Alnwick and Richard Perks from Newcastle Coal and Copper Co; James Richardson and Robert Bousfield from Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Co.; Duncan Cherry and William Davis from Brown’s Minmi Colliery. James Fletcher was chairman of the committee and after discussion, the men returned to work on much the same wages and conditions as previously applied. And so ended the 1861 strike which lasted eight weeks.
While the Co-operative Colliery was being established the recruitment drive of the mine proprietors for immigrant coal miners from Britain had borne fruit. One shipment on the Annie Wilson, (Captain Tuckett), arrived in Sydney on April 8, 1862. Forty one miners with their families boarded the Paterson on April 20 for Newcastle, twelve of whom were allocated to the A. A. Co. , eleven to Newcastle-Wallsend Co. nine to Newcastle Coal and Copper Co. and nine to the Minmi Colliery.
Confrontation between the A. A. Co. and the miners continued. At a meeting of Wallsend miners held on April 26, 1862, it was decided to support the striking A.A. Co. miners who had gone out the previous day. There was an unusual resolution passed at this meeting: “That no miners should support The Newcastle Chronicle or patronise any store or public house that supported this paper”. The miners had decided to boycott the paper as they were of the opinion that the editor had deliberately sensationalised the miners’ strike.
Further trouble occurred regarding hewing rates and by May of 1862 the miners from the A. A. Co. were again on strike and Borehole miners were evicted from their homes at Hamilton. J.B. Winship of the A.A. Co. travelled to Victoria and South Australia in an effort to recruit 400 miners for the Newcastle district. As a result Newcastle miners advertised in interstate newspapers advising miners not to come to the district.
On June 28, 1862 the barque Mary E. Rae, under Captain Green, arrived from Melbourne with 190 miners aboard. Union official George Curless boarded the ship to advise the new recruits of the position, but Winship arrived and ordered him off. When the new arrivals landed at Newcastle they were invited join the strike. A leaflet written by Alan Wylde, chairman of Lodge No. 1, Coal Miners’ Association, was circulated among the new arrivals, advising that they had been brought to Newcastle under false representations.
Another shipload of miners from interstate arrived on the Annie Wilson and those who refused to fulfill their working contracts with the A. A. Co. were fined or imprisoned. There was continuing industrial unrest well into the following year.
The Co-operative miners progressed slowly with the opening up of their new colliery. In June of 1862 the New South Wales Co-operative Coal Mining Co. petitioned the Legislative Assembly for a private bill for a branch railway across their lease and the adjoining land owned by the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Co., to meet with the Great Northern Railway line. The government had decided to charge tuppence per ton mile royalty for the use of the Great Northern line and the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Co. one penny per ton mile. Later in the year the Co-operative Colliery management experienced difficulties with the proprietors of the Newcastle-Wallsend Co. who had restricted use of their railway to the Co-operative.
The district colliery proprietors were not making things easy for the fledgling Co-operative mine. In May 1862 the A. A. Co. summonsed William Wonders and James Richardson, both provisional committee members of the Co-operative Colliery, for refusing to vacate their company owned huts during the strike. Surprisingly, judgement was for the men, with the A.A. Co. ordered to pay costs.
By August of 1862 things had picked up at the Co-operative Colliery. The A.A. Co. strike (really a lockout) had resulted in a ready work force and many were employed by the Co-operative Miners’ Association on building the railway line to link the mine with the Great Northern line.
At a meeting of the Coal Miners’ Association in September of 1862 chairman Thomas Alnwick reported to an estimated 600 miners present that some dissatisfaction had occurred in the union due to striking A. A. Co. miners receiving wages whilst employed at the Co-operative mine. Delegates from every lodge in the union attended the meeting and rumours circulated among the miners that the meeting had been called to dissolve the union. A resolution was read noting: “This meeting use every legitimate means at its disposal to resist the proposed reduction (in wages) and pledges itself that no member of the association leaves his employment to work with the A.A. Co. until an honourable arrangement has been made”. Men had so far stood out for 20 weeks to defend their rights. W. L Linsley said that men had left employment in other collieries and had came to the Co-operative Colliery to undermine them in their rights. However, he espoused the principle of unity.
The resolution to resist the proposed reduction in wages was carried. Popular and eloquent George Curless said: “They should never have attempted to join the working of two principles simultaneously. The union and the co-operative principle would have each worked better by themselves”. In an effort to resolve the impasse of the union and the Co-operative mine, Curless proposed a resolution “that each member of the union contribute his proportionate share towards the support of the A. A. Co. men on strike. With reference to the A. A. Co. Borehole men working at the Co-operative mine who considered themselves entitled to the same support as the unionists, we hereby resolve to meet them by voluntary contributions, only such subscriptions to be returned to subscribers with interest”. This was a somewhat unrealistic and visionary solution to the problem, considering the pressures on men whose families were ill-housed and starving. Nevertheless, James Fletcher seconded the resolution, stressing that it was by working on the co-operative principle that the miners could hope for “salvation from their present oppressed and troubled condition ….. The union is a broken reed compared to the Co-operative Society ….. which would be the mainstay of the Union”.
Tension between mine and union
It is apparent that from the outset there was a potential for conflict and ambivalence in the roles of the union and the co-operative principle. The Co-operative Miners ‘ Association was established by the shareholder miners and, as shareholders, they were classified as proprietors. Their association attempted to function in isolation from the mainstream of district unionism, yet some shareholders were employed at other mines where they were members of the miners’ lodges. A very awkward situation prevailed which caused dissension throughout the life of the mine while it operated on the co-operative principle.
The A. A. Co. strike ended in November 1862, after nearly seven months. It was always classed as a lockout by the miners and had caused great hunger and deprivation. The psychological effect lingered for many years, resulting in dislike and sullen resentment of mine proprietors by the mining community. No doubt the type of treatment handed out by the A.A. Co. motivated the derisive commentary in the poem The Miners Creed.
The Miner’s Creed
1. Thou shalt have no other Boss but me.
2. Thou shalt not make to thyself any comforts or the likeness of anything to thine own interest, neither on the earth above, or in the Pit below. Thou shalt bow down to me and worship me, for I am thy Boss, and a jealous Boss, and I will show thee no mercy, but endeavour to make thee keep my commandments.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Boss in vain, lest I discharge thee at a moment’s notice.
4. Remember that thou work six days with all thy might, with all strength and do all that I desire, but the seventh day thou shalt stay at home and do no manner of work, but thou shall do all thou canst to recruit thy exhausted strength for my service on Monday morning.
5. Honour thy Boss, that thy days may be short and few, for I shall not want thee when thou gettest old, and hath to spend thy days on the township, as I shall not care.
6. Thou shalt belong to no labouring societies, as it is against my will.
7. Thou shalt always speak well of me, although I oppress thee; but thou shalt be content if I only find thee work and pay thee what I think fit.
8. Thou shalt starve and thy children if it is anything to my interest. Thou must only think of me, not thyself.
9. Thou shalt hold no meetings to consider thine own interest, as I wish thee to be kept in ignorance and poverty all the days of thy life.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy Master’s money, or his comforts, or his luxuries, or anything that is his. Thou shalt not covet his money, though he gets three crowns per day and thou one. Thou shalt not object to anything as I want to reign over thee and tyrannise thee, and keep thee in bondage all the days of thy life.
In December 1862 the Co-operative Colliery, incorporated by an Act of Parliament on December 9, 1862, was calling tenders for the construction of a viaduct on its railway line and applicants were asked to apply to the manager, James Fletcher. This contract was won by Thomas Brooks and John Goodsir, Newcastle timber merchants. At the same time Fletcher was also calling tenders for the construction of a dwelling house and office for the colliery. By the beginning of 1863 a village was springing up around the works at the new settlement of Plattsburg.
During 1863 Robert Bousfield was secretary of the Co-operative Colliery, James Fletcher having transferred to the Minmi Pit as colliery manager for the Melbourne and Newcastle Mining Colliery Company. The Brown brothers had recently sold out to this firm.
The Co-operative Colliery was now continually hampered by a shortage of finance. In 1864 the Minmi Pit flooded and by June of that year James Fletcher was once again at the Co-operative Colliery, this time as secretary. The Minmi Pit was pumped out, but the Melbourne and Newcastle Colliery Co. had liabilities of £61,152, so Captain Blatchford proposed at the third half-yearly meeting that the company should be wound up. The following year J. & A. Brown were able to regain possession of the Minmi collieries.
An offer in June of 1864 from J. & A. Brown to combine the Co-operative Colliery with their new Hartley Vale Colliery, just to the south, must have been tempting, but management held out. However, the necessity of purchasing rolling stock, machinery and essential plant forced the directors of the Co-operative Colliery to take out a mortgage in 1864. This indenture mentioned that the directors and trustees, as mortgagors, were borrowing £1000 from William Brooks, Alexander Brown and West Maitland Solicitor, William H. Mullen.
An important event occurred in September of 1864 at a general meeting of about 400 miners. Chaired by veteran Samuel Fletcher, the object of the meeting was: “To form a Burial, Sick and Accident Fund for the miners like that which existed for the Druids and Oddfellows established in England many years ago”. Daintry from the Borehole moved a motion that the fund be independent from the union, “but the principle of it would bind every member of the Union”, and John Davis seconded the motion. It was mentioned that in England members paid 14 shillings a month and in cases of sickness or accident, received 10 shillings a week. Historians have written that James Fletcher established the Sick and Accident Fund during the 1850s, but there seems to be little evidence of this. In 1859 a Mutual Benefit Society was initiated by the A.A. Co. for its Newcastle colliery workers, but James Fletcher was not a committee member or a delegate. Perhaps his name became confused over the years with that of Samuel Fletcher.
It was not until July of 1865 that the Co-operative Colliery was officially opened when a banquet was held on the mine property. The Reverends Chaucer and Dr. Lang M. P. were members of the official party, as were Messrs. Curless, Brookes, Kenrick, Tully, Clark and the Manager, James Fletcher. A specimen of coke manufactured at the new coke ovens was exhibited, as was a sample of coal from the Borehole seam. All present extended good wishes for “Success to the Co-Operative mines of Plattsburg”, and Rev. Chaucer and Dr. Lang descended the tunnel and examined the coal seam. Both these clerics were outspoken men, with John Dunmore Lang being a fiery Presbyterian who often challenged the establishment. He was a man of many interests, being a patriot, statesman, historian and anthropologist. During 1850 his Sydney lectures on “A Republican Vision for Australian Colonies” evoked great community interest. He harboured a democratic vision for Australia and brought many immigrant settlers to the Colony.
Dr. Lang spoke on the wisdom of adhering to the principle of co-operation for success. The machinations of several district coal companies were discussed regarding the selling price of coal, as the Co-operative Mine was experiencing ruinous competition. During the day the miners had sent a train load of handpicked coal to Newcastle in the company’s new wagons. After the banquet a ball and supper was held at the Black Diamond Hotel in Blane Street, Newcastle.
At the end of 1865 the supervisor of the colliery, Captain Robertson, reported that 170 tons had been shipped to Melbourne and 140 tons to Sydney, but production was still intermittent.
April of 1866 saw the Co-operative Colliery once again in financial difficulties, and a meeting of district miners was held at Griffiths Flat, near Lambton. Shortage of funds had just about brought production to a standstill and the directors were seeking financial support from district miners. An attempt to boycott the meeting was made by the Union. Co-operative Colliery management had circularised the district advising of the coming meeting, but the union displayed their own posters in the mining villages, advising that no meeting was to take place. As a result attendance was poor.
James Richardson mounted the platform (a tree stump) and spoke of the need for all district miners to become shareholders to enable the Co-operative Colliery to meet its present liabilities. He maintained that it was due to the existence of the Co-operative mine that the present high wage of 3/6 per ton hewing rate prevailed. Mr. Beveridge spoke in support of Richardson as did William Linsley, James Moody and Job Morgan. At this time there were still 3000 £5 shares unallotted. However it would have required a firm commitment by the miners to support the Co-operative Colliery as the purchase price of one share was equal to approximately two-and-a-half weeks wage.
Dr William Brookes addressed the meeting with great eloquence in an effort to persuade the district miners to give financial support. Nevertheless there was friction between the Co-operative Colliery and the union and one miner said that the chairman and secretary of the Miners’ Union should have been canvassed for their help. That this had not occurred had created resentment from union officials.
Dr Brookes had been prominent in mining matters since arriving in Newcastle in 1854. Previously he had been politically active in England and played a major role in the anti-corn law agitation and the Chartist movement. Brookes became an Alderman on the Municipal Council of Newcastle, Mayor in 1867 and in 1869 became Member of the Legislative Assembly for Newcastle. He was not a doctor of medicine but held a doctorate in philosophy and from 1863 to 1866 was proprietor and editor of The Newcastle Telegraph. He was also the correspondent for The Empire – a Sydney newspaper.
Unhappiness with management
Brookes had supported the miners from the outset in their visionary scheme to form a co-operative mine. In 1864 he was a director and in 1866 became Chairman of the Co-operative Colliery. An expert arbitrator and mediator, Brookes had supported the miners in their push for a Ventilation Bill. In 1859 when troops were sent from Sydney to suppress the so-called riot at the A. A. Co. mine, Brookes was credited with intervention that helped avoid bloodshed. He was often referred to as the “Miners’ Champion,” the “Miners’ Advocate” and “The Old Man Eloquent”. During industrial disputes he often mediated with miners and proprietors and was a counsellor of peace and a supporter of passive resistance when necessary.
A second meeting of district miners was held in April 1866 at Griffiths Flat and the chairman, Hugh Walker was disappointed to find it poorly attended with only 300 miners present. The Co-operative Colliery was trying to woo financial support from miners who were not already shareholders, but many expressed dissatisfaction with management. One said he would like to see a change of management, (at this time James Fletcher was manager) stating that if a new manager was appointed “and the miners had more confidence in management he thought that three parts of them would join the company. He himself would support the company if certain alterations in management took place”. Fletcher defended himself and mentioned the names of several men with whom he had been in dispute in his position of secretary/manager, and said that these men were giving the company a bad name. He said he had always been fair and just in his treatment of employees.
Thomas Alnwick spoke in favour of the Co-operative Colliery and Dr Brookes defended Fletcher in his joint role of manager/secretary. Brookes said the blame for the financial troubles of the colliery did not lie with management, but with the men themselves for not fully supporting the Co-operative. The strong competition from other mine proprietors was affecting profits as well.
Brookes maintained that “The Co-operative Company had done more for them than their union …. that had not prevented strikes [and] that had not supported them when they were thrown out of work during the great lockout of 1862. The Co-operative Company had supported them for twelve months” when they had no work. He went on to say, “The Co-operative Colliery was doing the work of the union without costing them a penny; it kept their wages from being reduced”. The coal industry was depressed and the value of their shares had fallen due to other companies keeping the price of coal down in order to crush the Co-operative Colliery. Many miners were aware that Brookes had a vested interest in the colliery, having loaned it a considerable sum on mortgage, and his comments on the role of the union were no doubt repugnant.
Several men at the meeting said that if Fletcher was removed many who had withheld support would join the Co-operative. Brookes again defended Fletcher, maintaining that he had done his best and only earned £3 a week. Fletcher said he was determined to continue with the colliery to see it out of its financial troubles. Richard Youll spoke up in support of Fletcher’s management, saying he was the “right man in the right place”. Youll added that “Co-operative collieries spanned the vast chasm which always existed between labour and capital”.
The Newcastle Chronicle, trying to pour oil on troubled waters (and no doubt trying to avoid another boycott), supported the Co-operative colliery. The editor wrote disparagingly of absentee capitalistic proprietors of local mines and the monopolistic district coal traders who could regulate wages. The writer asked: “Can it be said of those who emigrate to this country that when their lungs receive our air, that moment they are free – they touch our country and their shackles fall”. The article continued, stating “that the miner is not a fit and proper person to represent himself in the business area of the commercial world” due to inexperience in commerce. “Labouring men should strive to attain a higher social rank than their forefathers and co-operative societies helped to achieve this end. Full confidence in management was a requisite of cooperative societies, but this had not occurred at the Co-operative Colliery”.
Due to the dissatisfaction of the miners, James Fletcher reconsidered his position as manager/secretary. As a result, on October 3, 1866 the Co-operative Colliery was advertising for a new manager, Mr. Fletcher having resigned. Applications were to be forwarded to the secretary, Charles Robertson.
During the year the trustees were again forced to obtain further finance. A sum of £3056 was advanced by William G. Laidley and Thomas Ireland, Merchants, Shipbrokers and Agents, of Newcastle and Sydney. At this time the directors were James Moodie, Isaac Eggleston, William Wonders, Frances Shaw, William Brookes, Hugh Walker and John Beveridge. The lessees were George Curless, Thomas Alnwick, Thomas Hale, James Richardson, Benjamin Lunn, James Lindsay, Job Morgan and Richard Youll.
Grim financial reality
The June 1866 half-yearly balance sheet revealed liabilities of £12,700 on shares. A sum of £3163 was held in hand and assets, property and working plant etc. were valued at £15,863. A dividend of ninepence to shareholders and sixpence to non-shareholders had been paid. The financial position continued to deteriorate and by June 1868 James Nelson, a disgruntled shareholder, wrote to The Newcastle Chronicle about the affairs of the company. At this time Dr William Brookes was chairman and, according to Nelson, the colliery was incurring a debt of £1000 each month. The whole co-operative principle had degenerated and the directors were estranged from the trustees. In July 1868 James Fletcher, once again managing the mine, said “The company’s coals would not sell – that the mine would not pay, and that he could not make it pay. The best thing for the shareholders was to wind up the concern”. This admission of defeat must indeed have been a bitter pill for the man who.a few years earlier had maintained that by working on the co-operative principle the miners could hope for “salvation from their present oppressed and troubled condition”.
James Nelson, speaking up again, accused the chairman, Dr Brookes, of tricking the Co-operative Colliery workers into signing an agreement which prevented them from suing the company for back wages. Many miners had substantial sums owing them.
During March of 1869 a letter to The Newcastle Chronicle written under the pseudonym “Nil Desperandum”, made an impassioned plea to avoid foreclosure. “Let all who feel interested in co-operation as a medium of elevating the working classes and as the only means of settling the knotty question of capital and labour, bestir themselves and push this to a successful issue”. However, the writing was on the wall for the New South Wales Co-operative Coal Mining Co. and the great experiment ended in 1869 when Laidley and Ireland foreclosed and the company was wound up. An aggrieved James Nelson stated that the mine’s history was “only a repetition of deception after deception from beginning to end”. He accused Dr Brookes of exercising “Cromwellian protection” for the miners.
“Nil Desperandum”, again writing to The Newcastle Chronicle in 1869, summed up the failure of the Co-operative Colliery as mainly due to inefficiency of management. “Due to lack of capital the opening of the mine had been of a temporary and inferior nature. Work had proceeded along the lines of “penny wise, pound foolish”, and money had been frittered away. Also the high rate of interest on borrowed money ate into profits. But these difficulties would never have arisen had the miners been true to themselves and at the commencement taken up the shares they promised at public meetings”. He made the ironic statement that there was a lack of co-operation throughout the venture, as well as discord among the original promoters. Disagreement and power struggles had also occurred among the shareholders.
From the foregoing it seems evident that internal jealousies in the administrative structure of the colliery had prevailed from the early days, resulting in suspicion and lack of trust. Key positions had been vigorously contested with many candidates standing.
In retrospect, management and shareholders must have been incredibly naive not to realise that the local mine proprietors would make every effort to prevent the financial success of the colliery, to retain the status quo and to continue control of the labour forces. As soon as production increased the other companies reduced their selling price to six shillings and ninepence a ton. Unlike most of the other collieries, the Co-operative was not on freehold land and royalties made heavy inroads into profits. On many pay Saturdays there were insufficient funds to pay the miners who, at the best of times, only received thirteen shillings and fourpence out of every £1 earned, the balance going to share capital. [There were 20 shillings in a pound.]
James Fletcher exhibited an ambivalence in his perception of unionism during the early years of the Co-operative Colliery. His commitment seemed to be governed by the prevailing circumstances. For example, while employed as a collier in 1861 he said that “unionism was their (the miners) strength”, the end result being “to enable them to take a higher position in society” than that of mere colliers. However, by September of 1862 Fletcher, now manager of the colliery, recommended working “on the co-operative principle ….. their union is a broken reed compared to the Co-operative Society which would be the mainstay of the union”. Nevertheless, in later years, as a mature mine proprietor, he spoke of the advantages of the union as a means of protecting men from serfdom.
James Richardson, in retrospect, mentioned the problems encountered at the colliery in the early days. Together with a lack of finance: “there was not the trust and confidence among the men that there should have been. Suspicions were unjustly prevalent and jealousy arose as to who should hold the chief positions. So the scheme was in reality killed by those who should have fostered it. No reproach can fall upon the mortgagee who at no time acted harshly. We had borrowed his money and could not repay; therefore it was right he should take the mine and perhaps in sense it was better so, for under new ownership one success came and the men were assured of regular work and wages”.
The early troubled days of the colliery had spawned a variety of managers. Among them were Joseph Moffat, James Fletcher, Andrew Sneddon, James Swinburn, Charles Robertson and Alan Wylde. Under managers had included T. Hepplewhite and R. Davidson. James Swinburn had formerly managed the Waratah Colliery and was considered to be one of the best mining engineers in the country. Andrew Sneddon, like Isaac Davis, had been one of the larger subscribers to the Co-operative Colliery, each depositing £500. Sneddon later became the proprietor of nearby Maryland Colliery and of Northern Extended at Teralba.
CHAPTER 2 TO FOLLOW
