Letter – John Erasmus Blackett to Diana Beaumont – 8 Sep 1804

Mrs Beaumont						Newcastle 8th September 1804

Hexham Abbey



Dear Madam,

      I wish that it was in my Power to give you a more satisfactory Account of your Lead Sales; a few Days since I sold to Walkers Maltby & Co. 5,000 p[iece]s Com[mon] Lead at £29 per Fo[dder]. I was under a Necessity of making a small Reduction to induce them to make this Purchase & in Hopes of it being followed by other Lead Houses, which has not yet been the case; I expect answers from them daily, & I stay at this place solely for that Purpose; the Sales of Lead & Litharge that I have made since the 1st August will amount to about £30,000 -0-0 I hope this Month & the next  may exceed, but it will chiefly depend on the Indian Demand; that & the Manufactories will be our chief Dependence; the Dutch Ports will be chiefly shutt & it will soon be too late for those of Rusia; I yesterday sold Mr C. Blackett for Mr Paris 1450 p[iece]s Com[mon] Lead at £29 conditionally of his procuring a Ship at this late Season for Peterburgh.

	T Crawhall informed me that you & Colonel Beaumont had Thoughts of removing Mr Westgarth from Dukesfield to Allen Lead Mills & Dixon from the latter to Dukesfield Mill; on his mentioning this Matter to Westgarth he declined the Agency there & preferring quitting your Emply & I do not find that he will readily consent to be employed under Sadler at Dukesfield. Westgarth has been employed in the Concern near Twenty Years, I have found him to be sober diligent & honest exclusive of his Business as Mill Agent, for some Time Past the Superintendence of a great part of a great part of the Lead as well as the Ore Carriage has rested on him; Mr Sadler will for some Time be perfectly unacquainted with this Business, in Consequence of which your Concerns must suffer; the Business that he is to undertake will require his very close Attention; he will have much yet to learn, & in case he should be above taking such Advice & Information as may probably be offered him (altho[ugh] he may possibly make some improvement on them) I am apprehensive that he may do harm, & by being too opinionated, disgust those employed under him, & do the Concern an Injury which it would be advisable to prevent; Westgarth is well known and esteemed in the Mining Part of the Country, his Father having been principal & an able Agent at Coalcleugh many years, & he having worked in those Mines some years, he will consequently find no Difficulty in getting an Employment but I should be sorry to loose him out of the Concern & I think that it merits Consideration whether it may not be advisable to continue him for the next year at Dukesfield to put Sadler in a proper Train as to the Carriage etc. afterwards should he be thought properly qualified to succeed Mr Dickinson at Coalcleugh, he might be appointed to that Station where his Father had succeeded so well; I really believe that a Person better qualified for the Agency at that Place cannot at present be met with. 

      On the 29th Ulto. I sent by the London Waggon a Cake of fine Silver to Messrs Rundle & Bridge containing 1434 Oz & a Cake to Messrs Reads & Lucas of Sheffield of 11,720 Oz I have not yet had Advice of the Receipt & the Price, but I am apprehensive of a great Drop in the Price in April last I sold at 6s/2d per Oz: in July at 5s/11d; Mr Walton got only 5s/9d for a Cake he lately sent to London.

      The Tax for the Weardale Mines as settled by the late Appeal, amounts to £794-0-0 which Sum has been paid into the Office of the Receiver General. 	A Person of the Name of Will[ia]m Weddell may probably make Application to Colonel Beaumont respecting some Property which he thinks that he is entitled to at Blaydon, the Particular of which I enclose you from Mr Mulcaster; he is a very drunken troublesome Fellow & has plagued me very much, he certainly has not any Claim on the Property. 

      I am etc.  J. E. B.