Saturday 24th January 1835

Up at 10 to 9 – xx – breakfasted – Washington came – brought bills for me to look at before he paid them – told him to take some one with him on 2nd of February & say to Mr. Greaves he was come to take possession of the land – read nearly 50 pages of Sismondi – taught John’s children – Newspapers came back from binding  looked over clothes – had luncheon – walked to Cliff Hill – heard of letters in Newspaper from Mr. Protheroe senior to Mr. Samuel Waterhouse senior, & Mr. John Edwards – sudden deaths of two men at Haugh edge – Mrs. Snip in bed since tuesday – Mrs. L[ampleugh] Hird prevented from dining with her on thursday in consequence of being taken ill at Low Moor – promised to shew Mrs. Rodgers how to knit slippers.

Courtesy of West Yorkshire Archive Service, Calderdale WYC:1525/7/1/5/1/38

[up at] 8

[to bed at] 11 1/4

no kiss   Adney‘s cousin came on her getting up – fine morning Fahrenheit 42° at 9 5/.. – breakfast – Washington at 10 – Joseph Mann at 10 1/4 – brought his brother James – settled the fortnights account and when they had had their beer went out with them about 11 into the Upper for about 1 1/2 hour – It was James Mann that was working in Hinscliffe’s pit on the waste at the time of the night time filling up – Samuel Holdsworth was a go-between for Rawson in agreeing with Hinscliffe – Samuel Holdsworth or Rawson or some of them promised James Mann £10 if he would not tell – but he never got a farthing and lost £3 on account of wages he could not make out of the coal he had got – he pointed out the Spiggs land and gave me the most intelligible information I have had – shewed me where they were now

getting coal, and how they were driving the drift (in what direction) towards the top and corner of Spiggs wood to loose the coal under water – not more than 8 dayworks to get – and this all under water – none loose – when I said (without mentioning names) that I had heard there were 6 dayworks loose and 14 dayworks under water – why! how could that be? (said James Mann all along the spokesman and oracle) when Keighleys only bought the coal for 12 dayworks and then they thought they could get as much from Samuel Holdsworth for loose for his coal adjoining the Lane, as they had paid (I suppose they paid £600 for their share which equals one half) nay! they had told him they should want £1000 for the loose on which Samuel and they had had a deal of fratching – the fact is, Samuel Holdsworth has 15 dayworks loose independent of the Spiggs loose; but the Spiggs loose can loose him 40 acres, and will loose all this in spite of us if there be not a sufficient barrier of coal left all along the Lane side – and how is it likely they should leave a sufficient barrier when they have but 8 dayworks to get, and the Lane is 250 yards long and the barrier should be 50 yards broad? 250 x 50 = 12500/3136 = dayworks – 44 yards – no! indeed it is not likely they should leave 1/2 their coal ungot – and Samuel Holdsworth knows this well enough – but Samuel is almost fast with Stocks and Emmett they used to make him drunk almost every day at one time till they got him bound to keep open 2 drifts and I know not what – Almost fast about cleaning out some of his out drifts, or water headhold or something having bound himself to lay no rubbish etc. etc. etc. – In fact, if a sufficient barrier of Spiggs coal is not left, Samuel Holdsworth and Dean and 1/2 Northowram that way will be loosed – seemed to think Mickle moss should be loosed another way, by the deep valley just below it – and Stocks’s coal Upper brea way – Advised me not to stop the Spiggs loose till I have bottomed Walker pit – I can then throw water on the Rawsons, by driving thro’ the barrier of coal left at the top of my land – there will be about a daywork loose that can be got from Walker pit – the pit will be bottomed in or by the end of August – I can then dam up the water all along the face of my coal, and give Rawson’s a fine quantity – it will then be far the best to stop the Spiggs concern altogether – and it will be time enough no mischief can be done before then – their drift will just be finished and all lost to them, for it will be full of water – James Mann thinks Rawson has from 50 to 100 dayworks of his own yet to get – a sight of coal already got on this side – Pitchforth’s coal came in very well for Rawson, and now Sammy Hall’s – but the water I can after bottoming Walker pit throw upon him (if Spiggs be loosed) will = 2 horse power to lift – (thought I then this + Holt’s = 4 horse power that Rawson’s engine must be double what it is now) – 

home at 12 3/4 for Adney had sent for me to say a pipe from the water closet cistern was burst – sent for the glazier – the frost did it – it is the pipe bringing water into my aunt’s closet – something must be done to secure it in future before the wainscot is put up – Had Pickells about more covers for the drain in the Low land – said I could not spare more from the Little field wall – he picked 2 loads about home and made them suffice – off with Adney to Cliff hill at 1 3/4 – there in 50 minutes for an hour – Mrs. Ann Walker very civil and good tempered and glad to see us – home in 50 minutes at 4 20/..  – then down with Pickells at the draining in the low meadows, and then took him to Walker pit and out planning the new pit-road till dark – came in at 5 50/.. – dinner at 6 1/4 – coffee – 1/2 hour with my father and Marian till 8 1/4 – then reading aloud to Adney the Halifax Guardian ‘Protheriana’ the long silly letter of Mr. Prothero senior and then reading a little of the London paper till 9 3/4 – 20 minutes with my aunt till 10 5/.. – fine day – Fahrenheit 43 1/2º at 10 1/4 p.m. – the Leeds Intelligencers of and for many years back and last years Morning Herald, not quite complete for the year came home this morning from binding at Whitley’s –

Courtesy of West Yorkshire Archive Service, Calderdale SH:7/ML/E/17/0152 & SH:7/ML/E/17/0153