| Description | The records only relate to the early period of the company dating from 1892 to 1909. They are divided into the following series.
NCB/A/SON/1 Empl;oyment records, 1892-1904
NCB/A/SON/2 Accounts, 1892-1909
NCB/A/SON/3 Order and sales records, 1893-1909
NCB/A/SON/4 Management records, 1892-1908
NCB/A/SON/5 Agreements, 1983-1909 |
| Administrative History | The company was established by Mr A. Mein of Bishop Auckland of Durham, with the help of a syndicate of fellow Durham shareholders. It was firmly in the control of the Mein family, whose members held all the principal posts. It was officially incorporated in 1891. A lease was made with Hugh Browne to work coal under Pinxton Range, Berristowe and Winterbank Farms. The first shaft was sunk in June 1892, which reached the Top Hard Seam in April 1893. After delays caused by the 1893 Miners Strike and subsequent flooding, regular coal production started in Oct 1893. The company experienced boom years in the 1890s and early 1900s, but profits were not ploughed back into the business so that investment could be made to improve future production. The company were well known for caring more for their profits than their workers, although the company is said never to have experienced a stirke by its workforce. It first provided safety lamps for miners in 1934. There was an explosion at Suth Normanton Colliery in 1937, which was blamed by the company on workers smoking underground. The company was blamed for not being tighter on people smoking on site. By the start of World War II the colliery was running at a loss, though still employing over 350 men.Its out put was always small and its equipment very antiquated by 1947. South Normanton Colliery was transferred to the control of the National Coal Board following the nationalisation of the coal industry in 1947. The colliery was closed in 1952. |