Why be a Freeminer ? (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Saturday, March 07, 2015, 20:06 (3560 days ago) @ shepway

Hi Bonnie,
the main advantage of being a Freeminer is to gain the ancient and legal right "to mine for coal anywhere in that location "without tax or hindrance".
ie what iron ore, coal, ochre etc you can extract is yours to keep or sell for personal gain.

I'm NO expert or miner, but this is my interpretation of why a man would want or need to become a Freeminer. I'm more than happy to be corrected by anyone "in the know", thanks.

Since Norman times the Forest was owned and strictly-guarded by the Crown to provide good hunting grounds for Royalty and their privileged Barons, guests, etc. With the coming of foreign trade and eventually Empire so the Forest became an essential supply of quality timber to build the Country's war and merchant ships. This timber had to be carefully managed as hardwoods such as oak take many decades to grow to the required size.
At the same time iron-mining hence working increased in the Forest, the mines needed wood for headgear and props, many furnaces were wood-fired and consumed huge amounts of timber, as did the associated charcoal-making; those people also needed to clear forestry land to build their cabin homes, so further increasing demand for wood while reducing the area to grow it. This all led to friction between the Crown's keepers, protecting the timber, making it difficult for normal people to settle within the area without Crown permission, who severely penalised anyone caught encroaching or taking the timber. Hence a Freeminer was a privileged and probably envied person in the area on a social level as well as purely from a livelihood standpoint. Since these times (late 1600s), the Freeminers were effectively a commune to assist each other, agree & regulate working practices and relations with the Crown, and so forth. They even all paid dues into a central fund, to help any of them unable to work thro' injurys at work.

As the Industrial Revolution really took-off, so the area's coal and iron-ore deposits became more important, it was high quality coal ideal for the increasing numbers of (iron)steam engines in factories around the UK. This demand further increased with railway fever and steam-driven ships. If your ancestors were Freeminers in the early 1800s they were well-set to succeed.
In more recent times in reality the advantages of Registering as a Freeminer were reduced, as most of the "good" plots to sink a pit had already been found and exploited by another Freeminer, if not worked-out altogether. By the 20th Century it may have largely been a source of personal pride, tradition, altho it maybe was also akin to becoming a member of the local "Trade Union" ? By this time most of the minerals and ores that were still left to be extracted were deep = costly to extract, beyond the scope of the old style Freeminer without "foreign" or Crown backing.

These will also help with your understanding, http://www.minersadvice.co.uk/free_miners_forest_of_dean.htm
http://www.forest-of-dean.net/fodmembers/index.php?id=8362
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeminer
http://www.forest-of-dean.net/joomla/the-forest-of-dean/about-the-forest

This book is essential reading wrt the dealings and rights of the Freeminers.
http://www.forest-of-dean.net/ebooks/gutenberg/24505/24505-h.htm

especially, the section from page 45
"on the 18th of March (1663), the earliest session of a local but very significant court, that of “the Mine Law,” whose date and proceedings have been preserved. It was held at Clearwell before Sir Baynham Throgmorton, deputy constable of St. Briavel’s Castle, and a jury of forty-eight free miners, and shows that the Forest Miners of that day were a body of men engaged in carrying on their works according to rule, so as to avoid disputes or unequal dealing."
etc