Tuesday, January 5, 1836

 1836

January

Tuesday 5

7

11 50/..

..  No kiss. I all civility and grave silence. No kiss, but inquired after her blister as I passed thro’ after being dressed

Ready in an hour.  F 46 1/2° and rainy morning at 8 5/.. – The fire downstairs in progress of lighting and no breakfast things ready – Came up to my books and was 1/2 hour dusting and siding, then breakfast at 8 35/.. in an hour –

Had had Mr. Husband and sent him to look at Whiskum Cottage to see what wanted doing and tell Joseph Mann not to wait for me – Had read Burder’s Oriental Customs during breakfast –

Out a few minutes – A minute or 2 with Ann, to whom I had sent breakfast upstairs – I grave and civil.  She made no apology, no saying of being sorry, and I shall not give in, so things must go on as they can.  I suspect she will come round by and by, but it matters not.  I shall get more and more callous –

At my desk at 9 3/4 and wrote the above of today – Then till 1 5/.. (except 1/4 interrupted at 12 1/2 by Mr. Jubb’s coming), making rentals for tomorrow, duplicate copy of rents received for my father –

My aunt better and Ann a good deal better though she did not seem to think so at first –

Till 2 1/2 copying from Mr. Freeman’s little Daybook of stone got at upper Place quarry when Ann came and gave me a kiss, having tears.  I kissed her, said nothing, but went into the other room and talked kindly but gravely of one thing or other.  Wrote copy of letter about the schoolmaster.

Ann came to me at 2 1/2 and I went and sat 1/2 hour with her in the blue room – Talked over the Letter George had brought me this morning from Mr. C. Illingworth, 40 Coney Street,York, mentioning a schoolmaster and his wife, both of them capable of teaching and highly recommended if the Lightcliffe was not already disposed of – Wrote copy of answer, wishing for further particulars ‘Viz. name, age of each party, how long each has been accustomed to teaching, place of residence, references as to character, – if any children, how many, and the age of the youngest.’  If the answer favorable, should ‘lose no time in procuring an interview with the parties’ –

Had just written the copy of answer when Holt came about 3 – Has measured off water drift and pit-pheying of the latter, 56 yards in length done and 80 or 90 more to do (as Holt thinks) to the face of the coal – water drift

Length done 306 + 35 = 341 yards

Length remaining up to within 8 yards of the road

68 yards + the 8 up to the road + 1/2 the breadth of the road

Suppose = 2 yards ⸫ therefore 68 + 8 + 2 = 78 yards to drive

It seems it is some deficiency in the lead pipe just laid down by Firth that occasions the want of water to William Green – Spiggs Loose all right – the water is 3 inches Deep in Walker Pit. 

The Spiggs Company cannot agree whereabouts to sink their new pit – Clater and Sutcliffe have taken the sinking at 25/. per yard, but they are to be paid for boring, and this will make it up 30/. per yard –

The coal-trade headed by Joseph Stocks (son of Michael) is getting up a petition to Parliament against selling Coal by weight – Nobody preparing weighing machines but Mr. Rawson – The new patent machines will cost from £30 to £40 – But Holt is going to look at a small machine that will cost about £10 – Holt and company have 8 sale pits so will want 8 machines – Holt thinks the additional expense occasioned by weighing will add 1/2d per corve to the price of coal –

Mr. John Mitchell of Newhouse, Ovenden, got Firth (now living in Ovenden) to bore for him at a great expense in Old Lane, at the back of Barrett’s mill, (the preent dam is over the mouth of the bore-hole, which is covered over by a stone so as to keep the hole open) to the depth of 200 yards land the fall the ground would be as much as 100 yards so that in fact he got 300 yards below our Low or soft bed – He thought to meet with the Newcastle beds, but found nothing but a few seams an inch or 2 thick and different strata of stone and shale –

Inquire if Mr. Herbert Mitchell knows anything of the papers recording the result of this boring – Wilson’s coal steam-Engine is 12 horse power – had once overlet it to Haley, who said it would turn 16 worsted frames ⸫ 12 : 16 :: 1 : 1 1/3, ⸫ 1 horse power will turn 1 1/3 worsted frames and the power to turn 1 worsted frame lets for £20.  Again ⸫ 1 horse power = £20 + £6.13.4 = £26.13.4

the Paper mill’s Engine (bought by Mr. Holmes = 30 horse power

and the coal costs £300 a year but is to be done for less –

£300/30 = £10 per horse power for coal – This would not do

Inquire into the expense of coal and Engine per horse power.  Mills, said Holt, let very well now – Nothing pays so well –

Had Holt from 3 for 3/4 hour – Then went out – Walked with Holt to the turn into the Whiskum road – Then to Whiskum quarry – and to Barraclough road and down the fields by Walker pit to the Conery – A few minutes with William Pollard (Matty gone to Halifax) told him to see about buying Miss Holdsworth’s Godley cottages – Then down Conery Ing to the 2 fish ponds – Thence along the road to Listerwick cabin and, by my walk, home at 5 1/4 –

Found Mr. George Bates’s engineer here – Wanted a little more time – Gave him till next Monday for bringing in his Estimate –

Then had Mr. Husband – He is to send 2 masons tomorrow to reset the grate and boiler at Whiskum – Recommends doing the house end with blue slate, lapped over cornerwise as one sees them in Rouen et alibi – Said I would think about it – Not at the moment taken with the idea – Mr. Husband £100 will complete the job at Mytholm – mason’s work, joiner’s work, and moving 100 yards of stuff on the garden side –

Dressed in 1/2 hour – Wrote my letter (vide page 3 from the bottom of page 301) and put it in the bag for ‘Mr. C. Illingworth, 40 Coney Street, York, Postage Paid’ –

Dinner at 6 5/.. – Coffee – Ann came upstairs, not being dressed (no stays on) and I sat 3/4 hour with my father and Marian till 8 –

Then till 8 55/.., wrote all but the first 9 lines of today –

Kind but grave to Ann.  I must keep her in good order and then perhaps we shall get on together for a while –

Then looking over Paxton’s botanical magazine for November last and with Ann a few minutes till went to my aunt at 9 3/4 for near 1/2 hour – Looks very poorly tonight – Did not allow herself to be at all better – Spoke indistinctly and had a little spasm about the throat and tendency to hiccough –

Rainy morning till towards noon – Fair and finish afternoon – Soft, mild, fair night and F 46°

now at 10 50/.. p.m.

Found my cousin come gently at nine tonight.

 

WYAS Finding Numbers SH:7/ML/E/18/0155 and SH:7/ML/E/18/0156