Archival/written
Contractor's weekly return at Brinsley Colliery, 1912.
A brief but useful guide to primary sources for mining history:
Nottinghamshire Archives
Nottinghamshire Archives holds the records of:
- New Hucknall and Blackwell Collieries Ltd
- Nottingham and Clifton Collieries Ltd
- B A Collieries Ltd
- Barber Walker and Co Ltd
- Bolsover Collieries Ltd
- Cossall Collieries Ltd
- Newstead Collieries Ltd
- Sherwood Collieries Ltd
- United Steel Companies Ltd
- Stanton Ironworks Company Ltd
- Staveley Coal and Iron Co Ltd
- Wollaton Collieries Co Ltd
- Miscellaneous National Coal Board records.
Most of the records pre-date Vesting Day in 1947 (when collieries were nationalised under the National Coal Board) and consist of minute books, shareholders' ledgers, registers of workmen and photographs.
A detailed catalogue for these records is available:
Some family archives have material relating to coal mining:
- Lothian of Melbourne ("There is a considerable amount of material on coal mining, mainly of 19th century date, but including, for example, detailed accounts of the construction of a drainage sough at a Selston mine in 1573-1576") [DD/LM]
- Portland of Welbeck [DD/P]
- Edge of Strelley ("papers concerning coal mining in Strelley in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries") [DD/E]
Use the Access to Archives catalogue for more information:
Nottingham University Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections
Many family papers contain material on coal mining activities:
- Middleton of Wollaton Hall (includes medieval leases and 16th century accounts etc for pits in Bilborough, Cossall, Trowell and Wollaton) [Mi]
- Galway of Serlby Hall [Ga]
- Holden Family of Nuthall Temple, Nottinghamshire [Hn]
- Newcastle of Clumber Park (material relating to Shireoaks Colliery) [Ne]
- Portland of Welbeck Abbey [Pw]
- Assorted papers relating to the mining industry in the East Midlands and elsewhere; 1852-1945 [MS649]
See the online catalogue for further details:
National Archives
A guide to mining-related archives held by National Archives:
Bilsthorpe Heritage Society
The group interested in recording the history of Bilsthorpe and its colliery and holds a collection of letters and papers going back to the start of the mine in 1925, including over 7000 workmen's work records. Contact Robert Bradley for more information.