Haigh & Aspull

Roger Bradshaigh and Myles Gerard were the respective land owners at Haigh and Aspull. Both were working cannel in the 17th century and considerable enmity existed between them. Through marriage the Haigh estate passed to the Earl of Balcarres and in 1807 the cannel in Sir William Gerard’s Aspull estate was purchased. Leases of coal and cannel were also obtained from surrounding estates. In 1848, the title Earl of Crawford was also assigned to the Earl of Balcarres who thus became the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres. Unlike other estate owners the successive Earls took an interest in working the pits themselves, sinking numerous shafts on the estate and elsewhere where leases had been obtained. The collieries were merged into the Wigan Coal & Iron Co. Ltd in 1865 in which the Earls of Crawford & Balcarres and members of the Lindsay family continued to play a leading role.