Elizabeth Montagu: "A Critick, a Coal Owner, a Land Steward, a Sociable Creature"

Abstract

In the eighteenth century, the Northumberland and Durham coalfield was the largest and most technically advanced in the world, and the Montagu family played a major role in its affairs. Elizabeth Montagu was one of several female coal owners, and the Montagus' East Denton Colliery was an important coal mine on Tyneside. Using principally the records of the mining engineers, this essay charts the development of the mine under Elizabeth and Edward Montagu; in so doing it provides a detailed study of the coal industry on Tyneside at this period. Hopefully, this will aid scholars in understanding many of the Montagus' letters. The essay also evaluates Elizabeth Montagu's position in relation to the Wortley branch of the Montagu family and to other coal owners in the region; finally, it assesses the role played by women in the management of the Tyneside coal trade and determines whether Elizabeth Montagu's position was unique. In "'The Commerce of Life': Elizabeth Montagu (1718–1800)," ed. Nicole Pohl, special issue, http://muse.jhu.edu/issue/39838/print