Taking Control
More than 50 different companies owned Cleveland’s ironstone mines between 1850 and 1880.
Coming and going
Many of the new ironstone operators owned just one mine. These small businesses often failed or were bought by bigger companies.
Success stories
The most successful mining companies also controlled other parts of the iron and steel-making processes.
They owned blast furnaces for extracting the iron, collieries for the coal to power the furnaces, and local railways for transporting the iron and steel.
These companies included Darlington’s Pease & Partners, Newcastle’s Bell Brothers and Bolckow, Vaughan & Co in Middlesbrough.
What is in this case?
- Joseph Pease Jubilee plate This commemorates the Stockton & Darlington Railway’s 50th anniversary in 1875. Joseph Pease started the railway company with his father. He also became Britain’s first Quaker Member of Parliament in 1832.
- North Skelton Mine plaques These were cast to mark the opening of North Skelton pit in 1872, the deepest ironstone mine in Cleveland. They show its owners, John Vaughan and Henry Bolckow, who founded the ironworks Bolckow, Vaughan & Co Ltd in Middlesbrough.
- John Vaughan medal This was cast in 1884 to commemorate the unveiling of a statue of Vaughan, who had been mayor of Middlesbrough in 1855. The medals were given to his company’s workforce.
- Pease & Partners clay bricks Pease & Partners owned coal and ironstone mines, railway companies and brickworks. Henry Pease also founded the seaside resort of Saltburn-by-the-Sea, which was built with Pease bricks.
- Retirement gift clock Mr J Cole was given this clock when he retired from Dorman Long & Co in 1954. The company, based in Middlesbrough, was one of the largest steel producers in Britain.
- Dorman Long & Co Schedule of Properties Arthur Dorman and Albert De Lande Long founded the Dorman Long & Co steel company in 1875. By 1914, the company employed around 20,000 people.