John Buddle: "The King of the Coal Trade"

A few days ago I attended a lecture by David Kidd at the Mining Institute in Newcastle. The subject under discussion was the life of John Buddle, the "The King of the Coal Trade". I'd heard of John Buddle, of course - my mother even spent a few years of her childhood living on the street named after him in Benwell - but I didn't really know very much about his life or his work. So it was an enlightening experience.

Buddle (1773-1843), was an unusual character. He was a self-made man, specialising in the engineering processes concerning coalmining. He was obsessed with record keeping and improving the safety of miners, and spent many thousands of hours underground in pursuit of these causes as a colliery viewer. 

He was an entrepreneur, too, and had extensive interests across many fields, including shipping - being especially prominent in the construction and development of Seaham Harbour. Safe to say that he had a major influence on the development of the Northern Coalfield during the early decades of the nineteenth century. He is most commonly connected with Wallsend Colliery, and the suburb of Benwell (where he is buried).

But Buddle was a complex man. Though obsessed with record keeping and safety, he oversaw many of the region's major mining disasters. His compassion in dealing with these tragedies and his follow-up work and research endeared him to the miners ... though he also inflamed hatred from them with his anti-union stance. But the times in which he operated were complicated, too, and general standards were, of course, much, much lower in those dangerous days. Whatever your thoughts and opinion of the man, the account of his funeral is quite extraordinary (see links below).

I was prompted to write this short piece by a desire to help raise the prominence of this half-forgotten individual. If you'd like to learn more then please check out the following:

The King of the Coal Trade: John Buddle - an eight-page (pdf) summary of his life;

A Little Light in the Darkness: The Life & Times of John Buddle - free eBook by David Kidd;

John Buddle (1773-1843): Agent & Entrepreneur in the NE Coal Trade - eThesis by Christine E Hiskey.

Plenty of further reading for you there, then...