Journal entry – John Grey – 29 Aug 1834

Friday 29th August



I received today a Proposal for working the Coal at Hartburngrainge from the party by whom the Boring was lately made.  They offer a Rent of £20 Per Man for each Hewer employed. The Rent to commence when the Colliery comes into regular working.  The Wood used in the sinking, which would be little, & some Cottages to be supplied by the Lessors.  They give no idea of how many Men’s work they would be likely to sell, but I imagine that the demand might not exceed the produce of two, in which case, the rent would only be £40, a sum hardly sufficient to authorise the damage of Ground however poor in quality.  The Tenant of the Farm would be compensated for present damage by the Colliery Lessee, & the hire of two Cottages would cost £5 a year which would be better than to build new ones, till it was seen whether the Colliery was likely to be permanent or not.  Having had an application from another person I have written to invite him to give me an offer also, which if he should do, I shall have the honor to send both together to the Board, that they may decide whether they would accept either offer or not.  I had today an interview with Mr Johnson, Agent of the Railway Company, who agreed to the settlement of certain matters in dispute between the Company & the Hospitals Tenants of Dilston Nursery Ground and the North Farm, which Mr Hooper expected that he had left in a train of satisfactory settlement, but which have lain over till now.  I pressed him by Letter previously, to come to some arrangement for those Farms through which the Way passes, & which are now to be let, without the intervention of the Tenant at all, which is attended with continual squabbling.  But he told me today that, the Company understood that they had Mr Hoopers promises that upon the expiring of the current Leases, they should not be charged with the rent of Land occupied by the Way.  I told him that no document had come into my Hand to lead me to such a conclusion & that I apprehended some mistake, as I had received no directions from the Board respecting it.  That my idea was, that as the Farms fell out of Lease, they should be let exclusive of Land occupied by the Way, & that the Company should pay the Rent of such Land directly to the Hospital, but that if they had anything to show to the contrary, they had better communicate it to the Board that a proper understanding might be come to, and a Plan of the easy and regular settlement decided upon.  I went over all the Embankments, Wears etc in the Dilston Grounds, & found with great satisfaction that the late Flood had not made the slightest impression upon the newly made Slopes by the river side, but that they are getting a strong cover of Grass & small, Willows which I had planted for their protection. There is therefore good reason to hope that we shall not have much expense or trouble with them in future.