This is a very long shot, but have any of you erudite Derbyshire cavers ever come across an eighteenth century lead mining entrepreneurial gentleman by the name of Samuel Brailsford? He may have been a solicitor, and he may have come from the Rowthorne / Ault Hucknall area, and his dates may have been 1717-1797.

Brailsford was a prominent figure of the Grassington Moor mining fields in Yorkshire in the 1770s, and the only likely gentleman that I can find is the one above. He is a feasible candidate, as he published a survey of the leases held on the moor in 1781, and the Duke's mining agent at the time, who presumably commissioned it, was based in Derbyshire.

Any illumination gratefully received...

The name doesn't immediately ring any bells with me as a Derbyshire mine shareholder in the latter part of the 18th century but if he had interests on Grassington Moor and was based in the Chesterfield area, I'd be very surprised if he didn't have mine shares in the Peak. I need to phone Jim Rieuwerts anyway so I'll ask him , likewise Lynn Willies might be able to help.

There was a Samuel Brailsford baptised on 14th April 1717 at Bolsover, the son of Thomas and Frances Brailsford.

He might have been in the Wirksworth area in 1738.

This may be the same man who died in 1797, being buried at Ault Hucknall on 6th December. The burial register of Ault Hucknall describes him as from Rowthorne and gives his age as 80 years, which ties up (copy hopefully attached). Rowthorne is within the parish of Ault Hucknall.

His long and complicated will (with three codicils) was proved on the 8th of February at London on the oath of Charles Kinder and Matthew Eustace. It does mention lead mines in Derbyshire and Yorkshire. If you would like a copy pm me your e-mail address.

Graigwen said:

There was a Samuel Brailsford baptised on 14th April 1717 at Bolsover, the son of Thomas and Frances Brailsford.

He might have been in the Wirksworth area in 1738.

This may be the same man who died in 1797, being buried at Ault Hucknall on 6th December. The burial register of Ault Hucknall describes him as from Rowthorne and gives his age as 80 years, which ties up (copy hopefully attached). Rowthorne is within the parish of Ault Hucknall.

His long and complicated will (with three codicils) was proved on the 8th of February at London on the oath of Charles Kinder and Matthew Eustace. It does mention lead mines in Derbyshire and Yorkshire. If you would like a copy pm me your e-mail address.

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Thank you. I started with a name and a date range, and looked for a likely candidate. The Rowthorne gentleman was the only one that appeared likely. Thank you the baptism record - being born in Bolsover and living in Rowthorne implies that he was not of landed gentry stock.

I had found the Chancery records for the proving of the will, but it only mentioned Yorkshire lead mines. The fact that he had interests in Derbyshire is nicely confirmatory.

I have since established that our Rowthorne man was one of the Commissioners responsible for the enclosure of common lands in Winster in 1763, and Ashover in 1779. This implies that he was a land agent by profession, which would explain why he was asked to survey the leases on Grassington Moor in 1781.

I am happy that I have the right person. Thank you for your help.

The will does appear to have been a bit complex - mentions mines in York & Derby (1811):
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CGQwAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA396&lpg=PA396&dq=samuel+brailsford+lead+mining&source=bl&ots=tTtda_roRy&sig=ACfU3U0C1XelnXkTmxGKCt68EzPvKzh7jQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi00OvFppXpAhWLOcAKHURLCpkQ6AEwAHoECAQQAQ#v=onepage&q=samuel%20brailsford%20lead%20mining&f=false

& 1816:
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=rwU3AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA661&lpg=PA661&dq=samuel+brailsford+lead+mining&source=bl&ots=r2N5awYhAC&sig=ACfU3U1j5660rCiwrt47fOt274b-wCKTjw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi00OvFppXpAhWLOcAKHURLCpkQ6AEwAXoECAYQAQ#v=onepage&q=samuel%20brailsford%20lead%20mining&f=false

Explains why:
http://sites.rootsweb.com/~brailsford/thomas_barkwith_house.htm

I bet certain PDMHS members could tell you loads of information. Maybe also NMRS folk?

Pitlamp said:

I bet certain PDMHS members could tell you loads of information. Maybe also NMRS folk?

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Thanks - I was just trying to identify with a good degree of confidence the guy associated with this meer stone, and the 1781 survey of Grassington Moor. I am happy that I have done so.

Mike Gill of NMRS would definitely be worth talking to if you want further information on Samuel Brailsford's activities, given he wrote the book on the mines of Grassington Moor. I should have his email address somewhere, PM me if you want it.

AR said:

Mike Gill of NMRS would definitely be worth talking to if you want further information on Samuel Brailsford's activities, given he wrote the book on the mines of Grassington Moor. I should have his email address somewhere, PM me if you want it.

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Thank you, but I am in contact with Mike Gill. The NMRS don't actually say anything about S. Brailsford in any of their publications, apart from the fact that he held some leases and that he did the Grassington Moor survey in 1781. The same can be said of Raistrick.

As I indicated in my previous post, I am content that I have achieved what I set out to do - i.e. given a name and a date, identified  the gentleman in question.

I am a Derbyshire lead mining historian and a specialist indexer. Samuel Brailsford is not mentioned in the barmasters books for Wirksworth Liberty. There was a Brailsford/Brelsford family there - see John Palmers transcript of the Wirksworth parish registers on his Wirksworth.org site but no promising candidates appear.

My index to the Derby Mercury newspaper notes a Samuel Brailsford who acted as an inclosure commissioner at Winster in 1763, at Litton in 1764, and at Ashover in 1779. Also Samuel Brailsford of Rowthorne paid for game certificates in the period 1785-1795.

If I can turn up anything else, I will add another reply.

My notes on the Bagshaw Collection in the Derbyshire Record Office mentions:
Bag Collection /431a  Proprietors annual accounts for various mines  1760-1781 for the Barker & Wilkinson partnership
p30 Hill Rake near Bradwell: mentions Samuel Brailsford, Nodder, Redfern, Dean Barker.

23 Sep 1758 Hill Rake a reckoning to 19 Aug. ?26-14-0d. [shares as below:]
Revd. Dean Barkers 2/24th }
Mr. John Nodders 1/24th }
Mr. John Redfearns 1/24th } 18/24ths ?20-1-1?d
Mr. Saml. Brailsford 1/24th }
our own 13/24th }

There are various refs in the Derbyshire Record Office Catalague to SB but nothing about mining

History Trog said:

23 Sep 1758 Hill Rake a reckoning to 19 Aug. ?26-14-0d. [shares as below:]
Revd. Dean Barkers 2/24th }
Mr. John Nodders 1/24th }
Mr. John Redfearns 1/24th } 18/24ths ?20-1-1?d
Mr. Saml. Brailsford 1/24th }
our own 13/24th }

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Thank you - that nicely confirms that he did have interests in Derbyshire (as would be expected). I knew about his role in the Ashover and Winster enclosures as mentioned in my second  message yesterday, which with other evidence, led me to the conclusion he was probably a land agent by profession.