so joine itselfe w'th the iron and copper, being bred up together, that thei will hardly be parted but by great charges and long tyme; but as is before declared, beinge rosted before it come to smeltinge (what by force of the fire and of the venemous arsenicque) this hurtfull stone is so dryed up, that when the ure cometh to smelteinge, it cannot incorporat itself to any substance to become a slagge or drosse, but is like a sinder consumed w'th the force of the fire, wherby it can no way hinder or lett the copper. 9. The ixth and the last corrupt humor is a kinde of White Stone, named Sparr, w'ch in all respects is like to the black stone, and if in the same sorte it be not corrected, it is no lesse prejudiciall to the smeltinge then the other Thus, Right Honnorable, I have so breefly as I coulde, rudely sett forth the nombre, nature, and operation of the hurtfull Humors that be in our Copper ures, and how by arte thei may be so corrected that such of them as be moste hurtfull enemyes, shalbe made freindes; and the hurtfull force of the rest so overcome and taken away that thei shall not hurt or hinder the copper makeinge. Moste humblie beseecheinge yo'r Honnor to pardone my boldnes in troubleing you, and to accept my goodwill herein and hearafter (as occasion and tyme shall serve) I do purpose by Godde's Grace to sett forth a more ample discourse, and by the help of Mr Jochim not onely to dissipher ye hurtfull Humors that be in any ure (groweing in this realme) be it copper or lead, but also a remedie so to correct or kill the same, as the same ures ither of copper or leade shalbe smolten to benefitt without the hurt of those humors. [Endorsed.] NOTES touching that which was don at ye Copper Mynes by Mr. Nedham and Joachim Gaunse, with offers of Joachim Gans for the Melting of Copper and making of Vitryol. Having so far (I hope) interested the reader in the general MAGNATES OF THE COPPER MANUFACTURE IN THE SWANSEA DISTRICT, DURING THE EARLIER PORTION OF THE 19TH CENTURY. TAKEN FROM THE LIFE & REPRODUCED BY THE AUTOTYPE CO subject, I now proceed to give the names of the Shareholders in this, to us, most interesting concern "The Mines Royal Society," from an original list supplied to Mr. Secretary Walsingham,-it is true, that we only get a moiety of them, viz., the English proprietors, but the names of the foreign holders may again turn up or be known to some of my readers-in which case I trust we may some day see a complete List of the Co. published. XV. SHAREHOLDERS IN THE MINES ROYAL SOCIETY. A.D. 1580. The hole mass of the Minez Royall waz divided intoo xxiiij ti equall parts, whearof Thurland, for the English, had xij parts, and Daniel, for the Straungerz, had the other xij. The English parts again divided too partnerz and intoo porcionz as foll'weth : The Lorde Treazorer [Burleigh] The Earl of Leicester ... Tamwoorth Thom's Revet W. Patten* .... .... .ij parts. ij parts. j part. a quarter of a part. .j q'rter of a pt. j q'ter. quarter. ⚫j q'ter. j q'ter. .j q'ter & q'mi. q'ter. Matthu Feeld Anthony Ducket j q'ter. .j q'ter. .j q'ter. .q'mi. q'ter. j q'ter. S'ma..xiiij parts. * Referred to in some of the letters printed in several of these pages. The rezidu of the parts whearof most be at the dispozicion of Daniel, hoow he hath bestowed them, or what remayneth w'th him, not yet certeinly known.-W.P. [Patten.] [Indorsed] The distribution of the parts of the Mynes Royall. 1580. This return is initialled W. P., most probably the "W. Patten" of the List, who is down for a half-part. I understand this name of 'Patten' has long remained connected with the Copper Trade-Is it possible that the 'Daniels' so respected in the days of good Queen Bess were the stock of the Daniels no less trusted in this our time by their employers in Mining and Smelting operations at Swansea. Have they, I wonder, any tradition of their origin and whereabouts? It is time now to come to the Royal license under which these "English and Straungers" derived their authority for seeking ores and erecting works for the smelting thereof. Before giving details of the Patents or Charters of Elizabeth, James, etc., it may perhaps be well to premise that the metalliferous ores in this country were reserved to the Crown, and that it was therefore necessary to have a Grant for the searching for and the working of them, and further that it was also requisite to have a Patent or Crown Grant for the constitution of a Company or aggregation of persons, such as is now effected more generally by an Act of Parliament or a "Limited Liability Company registration." * Vide Percy's "Metallurgy," Vol. I., p. 291, where it is stated that an ancestor of the present Col. Patten first introduced Copper Smelting into Lancashire in 1717 or 18, and Mr. Keates informs me "they for long "time remained heads of the Firm of the Cheadle Copper and Brass Co., "for I recollect more than 60 years ago, Col. Patten (the Father of Lord 'Winmarleigh) saying, his ancestors had been connected with Mining and "Smelting for generations." 66 † After all, I strongly suspect that "Daniel" was but the Christian name of Hochstetter the German, see next page, post. Indeed, on reading more carefully the paragraphs before and after the List of the Mines Royal Shareholders, I have no doubt about it.-G. G. F. |