| Description | Letters and papers relating to Gregory and Yatestoop mines in Derbyshire and their engines, from 1779 to 1782 and from 1791 59 1793. Gregory mine was a lead mine. The proprietors included Joseph, later Sir Joseph Banks. The mine had an atmospheric engine, but the proprietors ordered a new Boulton & Watt engine in 1779. The recommendation to get a Boulton & Watt engine came from Mayson Wright of the Hull Water Works, who wrote to Logan Henderson on 16 Mar. 1779 saying he had recommended Boulton & Watt to a friend of his, Mr. Milnes, who was involved with a Derbyshire lead mine [3/384/72, General Incoming Correspondence 1775-1785]. The mine’s engineer was Francis Thompson, who had erected several atmospheric engines, while another local engineer, Thomas Southern, father of John Southern, acted as an observer for Boulton & Watt. The engine appears to have been set going circa July 1781, and seems to have been a considerable success. The old atmospheric engine was altered in 1792.
Francis Thompson, and possibly some of the Gregory proprietors, were also involved in the nearby Yatestoop mine, which also had a atmospheric engine. Comparisons were made between the Gregory Boulton & Watt engine and the Yatestoop engine. In May 1780 it was suggested that the Yatestoop engine be altered to the Watt principal but this did not happen. According to Dickinson & Jenkins Thompson erected an atmospheric engine underground at Yatestoop, the proposal for which is mentioned in this bundle.
Further letters referring to Gregory and Yatestoop mines will be found in the General Incoming Correspondence 1775-1785 series [3/370—3/384] from: William Milnes and William Milnes Jr.; Francis Thompson; Anthony Tissington about Yatestoop; Humphrey Winchester about Yatestoop. There are also letters from Milnes in the General Incoming Correspondence 1785-1795 M [3/396]. See also Dickinson & Jenkins p312 for details of Francis Thompson’s career as an engine builder, and for drawings of the Gregory engine see Portfolio 5/546.
The bundle is divided as follows:
Nos. 1-42. Correspondence and Memoranda.
Nos. 43-49. Undated Calculations and Indenture. |