Ancestors of Roger George BLINKO
Bardon Hill Quarry
Bardon Hill Quarry is situated near Coalville in Leicestershire (see map) and was the scene of dramatic industrialisation in the late 19th century and it was probably the work that it generated that caused my relatives Henry George Blincoe(Blinko) and his wife Amelia (formerly Edwards) and other Blincoe's to move from rural Long Crendon, Bucks to Bardon Hill in the late 1890's. The first workers from Buckinghamshire to move to work in the Quarry probably moved in the late 1870's , they all came from village of Chilton (close by to Long Crendon) and amongst them was Amelia's uncle William Edwards, perhaps this was the person who influenced the later group to migrate to Leicestershire. The granite was formed over millions of years, it was being quarried in 1622 and a small quarry is shown on the map of 1835. Large scale working started in 1857 and the quarry is described as "great" by 1877. By 1890 it had been "much enlarged" and was working at three levels and it still is producing granite more than 125 years later after the first mining.
The man responsible for the quarry was Breedon Everard who worked the little quarry at Billa Barra and lived in Bardon Hall . He had a summer house (see map) on the summit of Bardon Hill. He went on to form Ellis and Everard, a Leicestershire supplier of builders' materials. By 1881 son William Everard was running the Quarry and the census records for the Everard family indicate a number of servants a Governor, Cook and five others living with the family at Bardon Hall.
For more details on the Bardon Hill workers and families go to 1881Workers and families, 1891Workers and families, 1901Workers and families,
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The Crusher Building, Bardon Quarry (see map
for location )
The rock leaving on rail after being broken into different grades in the building shown (photo courtesy of Aggregate Industries Coalville) |
The Company Cottages
In the 1870's the area was a thriving coal mining district and there was full employment and so when the Quarry needed to expand it was hard to get workers. One solution was to attract workers with accommodation so workers cottages were built in the quarry grounds.
In 1859 the quarry merchants Messrs Ellis and Everard leased 10 cottages from Jacob Hood the landowner for 40 pounds a year.
In 1873 James Ellis, Henry Ellis and Breedon Everard obtained
a new lease on the quarry and in 1876 leased 40 newly built stone
cottages and a school house from Sophia Herrick widower of
William Herrick.
Later on more
cottages were built into a New Row (see map
) to accommodate the growing
workforce needed for the expanding granite quarrying business.
In early 1890's the Blincoe's were housed in company cottages that were built in what was then called the New Row but later became The Crescent Bardon Hill . My grandfather George Henry Blinko was born No 38 The Crescent in 1894 and in 1901 Census brother Frederick Blinko and his family are recorded at No 36 The Crescent and cousins William Blincoe and Amelia Kate Blincoe and their families were living in Bardon too. While my own ancestors moved back from Leicestershire to Bucks, Frederick Blinko's family stayed in the area and today descendants of him all live in the Coalville area.
The Crescent while sounding quite refined did not have in the 1890's what we would consider to-day basic essentials, there was no plumbing! no gas or electricity and each cottage had out back across a road the ash based sewerage pit where the occupants did their business and disposed of refuge. Luckily in those day no plastic packaging etc to really clog things up. The Ash pits were emptied by council workers on a weekly basis, in a two stage process firstly shovel onto the road and then into a cart , no rubber boots, so leather boots well covered in Dubbin to protect them. One cant help wonder how they survived in the summer what with the inevitable residue on the road and the children playing etc.
As the quarry grew rapidly there were eventually about 100 cottages and this formed a small village. Before the turn of the century, a reading room was built in the centre of these cottages serving as a meeting place for social events place and also the school, later a separate school was built. The old pub the Birch Tree on the main road became the local.
The quarry is still in operation to-day although my local contact Janet Draycott tells me the cottages on The Crescent were long ago torn down more than likely to allow for expansion of the quarry.
Working Conditions
The working conditions were extremely hard and hazardous, In the late 19th century children were employed to hold the chisels that were struck with 40lb hammers by two men in tandem as they broke up granite rocks into sizes that could be transported to the crushing mill. Drilling the rock to create the holes for the blasting of a rock face was all done by hammer and chisel and the tools would have to be re-tempered and sharpened on site in a portable forge as blast hole making was a slow tool destroying process, the explosives had their own hazards and so the work was full of risks.
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Tommy Argent , Head Shotfirer walked to Bardon Hill from Leicester every week and stayed in lodging house. when he was given the tenancy at 3 shillings 8pence a week, at No 38 the Crescent (Harry Blinko born at No 37) his wages were 17shillings and 4pence a week (photo courtesy of Aggregate Industries Coalville) |
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Early 20th century
Edwardian workers pictured with their tools showing the methodology for
breaking down of the blasted granite from the quarry rock face. The
40lb hammers were used along with chisels to break into smaller pieces
for the crushing mill shown above. |
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This photo taken about 1890
shows the Victorian dress of the workers . I wonder if Henry George
Blinko is in this photograph? |
Go to the Quarry Workers of 1881
Aknowledgements: I have to thank Aggregate Industries and RWD Fenn
the groups historian for some of the material used in my research,
Thanks also to Janet Draycott a Leicestershire local who kindly sent me
the Bardon Quarry information and photographs in massive e-mails!
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