HARTLEY. Hartley, Durham. 1st. December, 1761.
The colliery was about six miles to the north of North Shields and the shaft was 80 fathoms deep and was owned by the Delaval family. A steam engine, built by William Brown, who was the engineer at Throckley Colliery, was installed in 1760 to drive a pump. It is believed that this was the first colliery where a steam engine was used to draw coal. When a patent was obtained by Mr. Joseph Oxley in 1873 when the first engine was built this was later improved by a machine built by Mr Thomas Delaval in 1765 which could raise a corf a minute. It caused a great deal of interest and was reported to have broken down regularly. James s Watt visited the colliery to see the machine about 1768. An explosion was reported at the colliery which cost five lives including Mr. Curry, the viewer.
REFERENCES
Annals of Mining. Galloway, Vol. 1, p.274.
Sketches of the Coal Mines in Northumberland and Durham. T.H. Hair.
Sykes Local Records.
Information supplied by Ian Winstanley and the Coal Mining History Resource Centre.
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