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| John Lancaster (1815-1884) | | #redirect [[John Lancaster (1815-1884)]] |
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| '''1884 Obituary <ref> [[1884 Iron and Steel Institute: Obituaries]] </ref>
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| JOHN LANCASTER, who died September 21, 1884, was born at Radcliffe, neary Bury, Lancashire, on September 19, 1815, and was one of seven sons of Mr. John Lancaster, of that place.
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| From a very early age he showed an enthusiastic liking for mechanics and mining engineering, and when about twenty years of age he and his brother bored for coal on Chat Moss.
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| In 1841 he projected and carried on the sinking of the colliery at Patricroft through the Permian formation, when coal was cut at a depth of 440 yards. This colliery was worked by his father and partner for several years, and during its whole life the deceased had its practical management. Whilst engaged with this colliery he projected the lower cannel pits at Ince-in-Makerfield, along with Mr. H. King, of Rochdale, about the year 1844. The lower cannel pits were sold in the year 1845 to. the present Ince Hall Coal and Cannel Company.
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| In the year 1845 Mr. Lancaster started the [[Kirkless Hall Colliery]], Aspull, and there laid the foundation of that great concern—the Wigan Coal and Iron Company—which has since developed into one of the largest mining companies in the kingdom.
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| In the year 1847, Mr. Lancaster became mineral agent to Lord Mostyn at [[Mostyn Colliery]], Flintshire, and continued to fill that post for several years.
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| From 1849 to 1856 he had the management of Earl Granville's ironworks and collieries, Shelton, North Staffordshire, and he erected the Shelton Bar Ironworks, in which Earl Granville is and was from the first largely interested.
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| In 1855 he took charge of sinking a new colliery at Shireoaks, near Worksop, 520 yards deep, for the Duke of Newcastle. This colliery was completed in 1858, and has been, and still is, very successfully worked by a company, which bought, it and leased the mines from the Duke. In the year 1858 Mr. Lancaster and his partners built the Kirkless Hall Ironworks. Five furnaces were built from 1856 to 1860, and they were the first erected in Lancashire, with the exception of two small charcoal furnaces at Ulverston. The Kirkless Hall Works have been extended from time to time until they now comprise ten blast furnaces.
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| In 1865 the [[Wigan Coal and Iron Co|Wigan Coal and Iron Company]] was formed, with a capital of over two millions, by an amalgamation of the collieries belonging to and worked by the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres and the collieries and ironworks carried on by Mr. Lancaster and his partners. The concerns taken over were the Haigh and Holland Collieries, the Kirkless Hall Collieries and Ironworks, the Standish and Shevington Cannel Works, the Broomfield Colliery, and the pits worked by Mr. J. Taylor under the style of the [[Standish Coal Co|Standish Coal Company]]. Mr. Lancaster was appointed the first chairman, and he continued his connection with the concern until 1870, when, owing to certain differences, he withdrew from the company. From that time until his death he was chairman of the West Cumberland Iron and Steel Company. He was also a partner in the Eldon Colliery, Durham; the projector and the chairman of the Bestwood Coal and Iron Company, near Nottingham; and a partner in the Nant-y-Glo and Blaina Collieries, South Wales.
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| Mr. Lancaster took an active interest in railway development. As chairman of the Lancashire Union Railway Company he rendered services to the coal trade of that county which were recognised in August 1865 by the presentation to him of a service of silver plate, for the purchase of which over £400 was raised by public subscription.
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| One of the most notable events in the career of the deceased gentleman was his rescue, on the 19th June 1864, of the captain and crew of the Alabama, after the fight between that well-known Confederate .cruiser and the Federal war-steamer Kearsage. On the 25th March 1866 Mr. Lancaster was returned as member of Parliament for Wigan, and sat for that constituency until 1874, when be was opposed and defeated. He was placed on the Commission of the Peace for the county of Lancaster in 1865, and shortly afterwards he was appointed Deputy-Lieutenant for Warwickshire.
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| Mr. Lancaster was an original member of the Institute, and had acted on the Council from 1870 until the time of his death. He was a tolerably regular attender at the meetings of the Institute, and occasionally took part in debate. He was also a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, a member of the Board of Management of the British Iron Trade Association, and a member of Council and past-President of the Mining Association of Great Britain.
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| He married, in 1841, Euphemia, eldest daughter of Mr. Gibson, of Johnstone, near Glasgow, who predeceased him.
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| == See Also ==
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| <what-links-here/>
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| == Sources of Information ==
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| <references/>
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| {{DEFAULTSORT: Lancaster}}
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| [[Category: Biography]]
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| [[Category: Births 1810-1819]]
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| [[Category: Deaths 1880-1889]]
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| [[Category: Institution of Mechanical Engineers]]
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| [[Category: Iron and Steel Institute]]
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