Thanks to May Brace transcribing The Freeminers Register I have discovered that my Grandfather was a Freeminer. I knew that he had been employed at a mine from the age of 9 years, but not that he ended up working his own Gale/s.

Does anyone know how I could find out what they were called, or where they were please?

You may find this website of interest: www.lightmoor.co.uk/forestcoal/Coalopen.html

Mike

Thanks Mike. I will take a 'shufty'!

Chris,

See As you like it, Richard Morse of Awre.

In addition to James W. Morse, keep an eye out for cousins Richard and Henry Clarke, but a bit earlier than your James. (Richard b. 1820, nephew of Ann Morse.)

Sandra

Welldone & wellspotted MrsB !,

I spent an hour yesterday trying to find him, thought I'd be "clever" by looking up his PRs to find he seemed to be in the Ruspidge area then went thro all the Ruspidge/Cinderford area pits with no luck. I wondered if he was an ironminer ( eg Shakemantle or Buckshaft) hence not included on the Lightmoor Coal site ?. Thatsaid, they were too big to be owned by James, I guess, think they were Crawshay's ?

Pray tell, PLEASE say you also applied science or did you just get lucky with the first in the A-Z ?!

Either way, again, well done.

Hi, Jefff.

Thanks.

Actually, it was a combination of things. I started by looking at the map, but knew all roads to the Clarke/Morse clan lead to Awre/Blakeney/Viney Hill . . .

So, I started looking at the Gales in an widening circle with Blakeney Hill at it's centre. After I'd looked, unsuccessfully, at the ones I thought most likely, I resorted to poking through some alphabetically.

Richard and his older brother Thomas also lived for a time in Yorkley, so that's worth a shufty as well, I suppose, as he was mining then.

I found another Morse, but then couldn't find the note I made of the location. I don't have the time I would like to dedicate to the project but will keep trying.

S.

Hey, Chris.

For a James Morse, 1841 Uncertainty

S.

Expanded:

1841 Uncertainty, James Morse, Freeminer
1841 Speedwell, High Delf -- Richard Morse of Awre
1841 Pillowell Engine -- George Morse of Yorkley
1844 Pluckpenny -- Richard Morse
1894 Quidchurch -- William Virgo
1899 Diamond -- Edmund Morse of Yorkley
1906 Eastern United -- James Reilly Brown and others
1922 Elton's Delight -- Mystery and Elton's Delight JW Morse
1841 Engine Ditch -- granted to John Morse of Yorkley

I've also mentioned James Reilly Brown and William Virgo because of family connections.

A few more, and the last for the night:

1841 Independent/Grove Engine -- Philip, John and Richard Morse, Yorkley
1841 Independent/Level -- Thomas and John Morse
1841 James Folly -- John Morse

Oh to have a woman's wisdom....

Via the search engine's I've belatedly discovered a mine called Morse's Level, which rather predates James but is in-line with your suggestions of Yorkley area, is this the one you found earlier ?.
Not sure if this Morse (George M. freeminer c1830s) is relevant to the original post but thought it worth a mention ?
http://www.lightmoor.co.uk/forestcoal/CoalMorses.html

Seems like it's been worked quite recently, an interesting article
http://www.minersadvice.co.uk/free_miners_forest_of_dean.htm

Also in the Dean, the Phoenix / Hopewell pits at Cannop, as featured on tv etc
http://www.minersadvice.co.uk/phoenix_hopewell.htm
http://way-mark.co.uk/foresthaven/hopewell/welcome.htm#

Not forgetting the Monument Pit in Bixlade area, also still being worked
http://www.minersadvice.co.uk/monument_pit.htm

Hello S

Thankyou - this looks like my man!

1922 Elton's Delight -- Mystery and Elton's Delight JW Morse

I must admit I was going blind trying to look through that lot so very glad of the assistance!

Chris

Excellent find indeed !, but still leaves a slight puzzle (I think - but very happy to be proven wrong!) as to where these pits were ?.
The Lightmoor site clearly states that in 1843 the Elton's Delight gale is within the Upper Bilson area of Lower Cinderford, just "70 yards from the Tormentor pit". So this indeed ties-in nicely with James Morse's PRs which suggest he lived in the Cinderford St John's Parish. Tormentor pit is shown on the Lightmoor site's 1894 Map, sadly Elton's Delight and Mystery are not (I think but happy to be proven wrong), but then only the bigger collieries are shown. The Lightmoor site doesn't clearly state a location for Mystery, indeed it's not even mentioned until 1922; I wonder if this is just another later name for the Elton's Delight pit, or an extension of it, ?. Or maybe it's part of the nearby Paragon pit which is regularly mentioned in the same references as Elton's Delight ?. I cannot find any other references whatsoever to Elton's Delight / Mystery within the usual FoD pit location websites or on the old OS maps ??

Paragon pit was not far east from Tormentor, it gave it's name to Parragate in Cinderford where I was born; as kids we played just below our house on Bilson Green & playing field which still bore the mine's scars, c1990 this was built-on to form Cedardean. The 1:2500 scale maps on the great Old Maps site clearly show these changes thro' the years, just search these co-ordinates 365222 / 214500.
However the older maps show several other "old shafts" nearby, any of which might have been Mystery ?
http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html

Interestingly the oldest Map on the site, 1878-1881, shows the Tormentor pit as Tarmeadow - both names seem quite plausible, but as Tormentor was used in the 1841 reference(Lightmoor site) it's likely that Tarmeadow is just an example of the map's surveyor misinterpreting a Vurrist dialect, "oh them bloomin vurrinners !" ;-)

Anyhow, given your better knowledge of James Morse's life and your reading of the Lightmoor site references I'd love to know your feelings as to where his pits were, please ?. Meanwhile thanks again for another interesting query.

Hi Jeff

Thankyou for your interest. I am just off to Cornwall for a week so I will have to get back to you when I return. The Morse family lived in Buckshaft, so is that a clue?