History | The London Lead Company
100 Years of Social Welfare
The London Lead Company prided themselves on being a 'model' employer. They believed that a contented workforce was a stable workforce and supported their workers with education, medical care and recreational activities. Although some of the founders of the Company were Quakers, they didn't force their religion on the community. Rather, they encouraged villagers to follow their own beliefs, and gave land for a new Methodist Chapel and a Church of England.
Here is a summary of the main benefits introduced by the London Lead Company:
1800: LLCo purchased corn in bulk, ground it and sold it to miners 'At a fair price'.
1817: Welfare fund established, subscriptions paid for sickness, accident and death, benefits to widows and children. Doctor appointed.
1815-1817: "Famine Years". Company advanced one month's supply of corn at cost to avoid starvation. In 1820 Miners took on the purchase and supply of corn themselves.
1819: New school built. Children attended school and Sunday school from age 6 - Boys for 6 years, girls for 8.
1825: Construction of new 'Model Village' by LLCo. Including cottages and gardens, market hall and clock tower, ready money shop and Inn.
1833: Reading room and news room built. Maintained by LLCo - one of the first free libraries in England.
1841: LLCo helped miners set up their own Corn Association - the forerunner of the Co-Operative Association.
1848: Post Office built.
1850: Public water supply laid on.
1864: New school built at a cost of £3,000.
1865: Public baths and wash house provided.
1882: LLCo left the district. Collapse of mining and decline in population until 1896 arrival of the Vieille Montagne Company and a new era of prosperity for Nenthead.