Please note -
I have only placed my copyright mark on the documents to acknowledged myself as photographer.
The next 2 documents are the same one but is shown in the original colour
Below are 2 articles that relate to the documents and the original links are posted below them.
Wrexham mining artifacts make their way back home
Published date: 13 May
2011 |
Published by: Staff reporter
PRECIOUS artifacts dating back to the 1700s of Wrexham’s mining
history have been brought back home.
Margaret Jones, membership secretary of North Wales Miners’ Association Trust, was exploring her passion for local history online when she was able to get in touch with Peggy Jacobsen, the grand-daughter of Ben Kaye, the last owner of Gwersyllt and Westminster Colliery and founder of Gwersyllt Working Mens Club.
Peggy had submitted a request on the Welsh Coal Mines website forum asking for advice after a chance discovery in the garage of her family home in Dorset of a collection of historic documents relating to the old colliery, which closed in the 1920s.
Margaret, 64, then jumped at the chance of bringing the precious documents back home to Wrexham to share with fellow enthusiasts and the public.
She said: “A few days later a rather large cardboard box arrived in the post, full of documents dating from the 1790s to the 1900s. They’re really very interesting and, according to an expert from the Welsh National Library in Aberystwyth, they are in excellent condition.
“To be able to actually get your hands on artifacts which are more than 200 years old is wonderful.
“I’ve got a real love of local and family history and this is one of the best discoveries we’ve made.”
The collection ranges from photographs of the old site to mortgage deeds complete with the original company seals.
Margaret added: “They’re all written in old English and are really beautiful to look at. I even enjoyed spending a bit of time translating one of them into modern English and it was a fascinating read.”
Margaret, of Caia Park, and Peggy, who originally lived in Gwersyllt before the mine closed, have now built up a firm friendship and will be meeting for the first time this weekend when Peggy will be travelling to the ara, with her mother Jennifer Duckworth, to see the documents go on display for the first time.
The exhibition will take place at Gwersyllt Resource Centre, Second Avenue, tomorrow, between 10am and 1pm and all are welcome.
As part of a long-term aim to create the first North Wales miners’ museum, the Trust hopes the extra publicity will inspire the community to contribute to a fund to pay for the documents to be digitally copied for future generations to enjoy.
Margaret added: “It’s absolutely amazing that we’re able to bring our history back home for the younger generations to see.”
Margaret Jones, membership secretary of North Wales Miners’ Association Trust, was exploring her passion for local history online when she was able to get in touch with Peggy Jacobsen, the grand-daughter of Ben Kaye, the last owner of Gwersyllt and Westminster Colliery and founder of Gwersyllt Working Mens Club.
Peggy had submitted a request on the Welsh Coal Mines website forum asking for advice after a chance discovery in the garage of her family home in Dorset of a collection of historic documents relating to the old colliery, which closed in the 1920s.
Margaret, 64, then jumped at the chance of bringing the precious documents back home to Wrexham to share with fellow enthusiasts and the public.
She said: “A few days later a rather large cardboard box arrived in the post, full of documents dating from the 1790s to the 1900s. They’re really very interesting and, according to an expert from the Welsh National Library in Aberystwyth, they are in excellent condition.
“To be able to actually get your hands on artifacts which are more than 200 years old is wonderful.
“I’ve got a real love of local and family history and this is one of the best discoveries we’ve made.”
The collection ranges from photographs of the old site to mortgage deeds complete with the original company seals.
Margaret added: “They’re all written in old English and are really beautiful to look at. I even enjoyed spending a bit of time translating one of them into modern English and it was a fascinating read.”
Margaret, of Caia Park, and Peggy, who originally lived in Gwersyllt before the mine closed, have now built up a firm friendship and will be meeting for the first time this weekend when Peggy will be travelling to the ara, with her mother Jennifer Duckworth, to see the documents go on display for the first time.
The exhibition will take place at Gwersyllt Resource Centre, Second Avenue, tomorrow, between 10am and 1pm and all are welcome.
As part of a long-term aim to create the first North Wales miners’ museum, the Trust hopes the extra publicity will inspire the community to contribute to a fund to pay for the documents to be digitally copied for future generations to enjoy.
Margaret added: “It’s absolutely amazing that we’re able to bring our history back home for the younger generations to see.”
The link below is for the page of the article above
Secret Gwersyllt mine documents discovered
Some of the documents about the
colliery date back to the 1790sA chance meeting on the web has
helped unearth documents providing insight into one of Wrexham's best-known old
mines.
The Gwersyllt and Westminster Colliery closed in 1925, but new items charting
its history have gone on show.Peggy Jacobsen, granddaughter of the colliery's last owner, Ben Kay, made the discovery.
The North Wales Miners Association Trust now hopes to put the documents on permanent display.
The hoard includes legal papers dating from 1790, wedding certificates, pictures of Peggy's grandfather and his staff and an old helmet believed to have used in the Gresford mine - the scene of an explosion which killed 266 men in 1934.
Mrs Jacobsen posted a message on the Welsh Coal Mines online forum seeking a use for the documents after finding them in a box that once belonged to her mother in her garage.
Her message was spotted just days later by Margaret Jones, membership secretary for North Wales Miners Association Trust, who suggested they should be archived for students of history.
Mrs Jacobsen said: "That box had lived with us in South Africa for 40 odd years and prior to that lived in my grandmother's loft for 40 odd years and nobody knew they existed.
"I found them tucked away with a collection of old LPs."
The centuries-old documents were then sent to Ms Jones and have been given to the trust on long-term loan.
It is hoped they will be passed to the National Library of Wales.
The trust eventually aims to have a North Wales Mining Museum and believes the documents would offer a valuable contribution to the collection.
On Saturday they went on display in Gwersyllt for the day and Mrs Jacobsen's family travelled from their home in Dorset.
It is hoped the hoard can be
exhibited permanently in Wrexham
What is clear is that they provide a fascinating insight into the life of Ben Kay and his wife Anne who Mrs Jacobsen and her mother Jennifer never met.
Mrs Jacobsen said: "My granddad was a bit of an inventor".
"Apparently he was brilliant and he died very young, he was only 52 - I would have loved to have met this man
Peggy Jacobsen (right), and her mother Jennifer Duckworth decided to lend the papers to the trust
The link below is also where the above artical was found.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-13408819
For info on
North Wales Miners Trust
( NWMAT )
North Wales Miners Trust
( NWMAT )
http://www.northwalesminers.com/
There has also been a facebook page added
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