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8. The Beauchamp Family The original name of the Beauchamp family was Beachim, a name which occurs in the report of the Inspector of Mines for 1856, when Malago Vale and Northside collieries at Bedminster were owned by Z Beachim (Hunt, however, claimed that the owner was Stuckey’s Bank), although there is no evidence that this was a member of the same family.(Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines to Her Majesty’s Secretary of State, to December 1856 (1856: HMSO: London), p. 189; Robert Hunt (1857: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans: London) Mineral Statistics of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for the Year 1856, p. 189) According to Down and Warrington, the family’s first known involvement in the coal industry was at Vobster, where William Beachim was manager in 1866. (C G Down & A J Warrington (nd: David & Charles: Newton Abbot) The History of the Somerset Coalfield, p. 212) In about 1868 or 1869 he set up in business as a coal merchant and wagon factor and repairer in partnership with Theophilus Gullick under the trading names Radstock Coal Company, Radstock Wagon Company and Radstock Coal and Wagon Company. (The Judgement pronounced by Mr Justice Fry in the action Braham v Beachim on the subject of “The Radstock Colliery Proprietors,” 12th February 1878 (nd: Evison & Bridge: London) pp. 7 & 8) No more is known about Gullick, although Wright’s Directory of Bristol lists a Theophilus Gullick of Heathfield, Bath as a stockbroker, with offices at Alliance Chambers, Corn Street, from 1894 to 1902. (J Wright & Co’s Bristol and Clifton Directory 1894 (nd: J Wright & Co: Bristol) p. 287; John Wright & Co’s Bristol Directory 1902 (nd: John Wright & Co: Bristol) p. 404) By 1872 the partnership also included Walter Beachim, but once again nothing more is known of him. (Morris & Co’s Commercial Directory and Gazetteer of Somersetshire with Bristol (1872: Morris & Co: Nottingham) p. 130) William Beachim and his partners bought coal from various parts of the country and sold it through depots in the south and west of England. The exact extent of their activities is unclear, although by 1875 or 1876 they had established a branch office as far away as Guildford. Locally, their main sources of coal were the Clandown, Old Welton and Welton Hill pits, and they acquired some form of interest in Old Welton in 1876. (The Judgement pronounced by Mr Justice Fry in the action Braham v Beachim on the subject of “The Radstock Colliery Proprietors,” 12th February 1878 (nd: Evison & Bridge: London) pp. 9 & 10; C G Down & A J Warrington (nd: David & Charles: Newton Abbot) The History of the Somerset Coalfield, p. 147) It was around this time that they began to trade as The Radstock Colliery Proprietors, provoking a court action by Countess Waldegrave who objected on the grounds that it implied that they owned collieries at Radstock when they did not. The Countess gained a partial victory and Beachim and Gullick were ordered to cease trading under that name unless and until they acquired a colliery within the parish of Radstock. The most curious and, so far, unexplained factor about the case was that it was brought by the Countess and her brothers, Charles and Ward Braham, and the third defendant, alongside Beachim and Gullick, was her husband, Baron Carlingford. (C G Down & A J Warrington (nd: David & Charles: Newton Abbot) The History of the Somerset Coalfield, p. 212; The Judgement pronounced by Mr Justice Fry in the action Braham v Beachim on the subject of “The Radstock Colliery Proprietors,” 12th February 1878 (nd: Evison & Bridge: London) pp. 3 & 25; Osbert Wyndham Hewett (1956: John Murray: London) Strawberry Fair: A Biography of Frances, Countess Waldegrave, 1821-1879, p. 5) In Down and Warrington’s words, in 1876, William Beachim “adopted his family title and publicly changed his name to William Beachim Beauchamp,” although what exactly the family title may have been is not stated. (C G Down & A J Warrington (nd: David & Charles: Newton Abbot) The History of the Somerset Coalfield, p. 212) He seems to have been using the new form of his name before this, however, since he is listed as Wm B Beauchamp in an 1875 directory. (E R Kelly (ed) (1875: Kelly & Co: London) The Post Office Directory of Somerset and Bristol, p. 650) There is no indication why he felt the need to change his name, but it is interesting to note that, in 1852, Caroline Waldegrave, daughter of the second Baron Radstock and great-granddaughter of the third Earl Waldegrave, had married Sir Thomas Proctor Beauchamp. (L G Pine (ed) (1953: Burke’s Peerage: London) Burke’s Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, pp. 1736-1737) By 1875 Walter Beachim was no longer listed as a partner in the Radstock Coal and Wagon Co, and by 1889 Theophilus Gullick seems to have departed as well. By now Beauchamp was a colliery proprietor (although not in Radstock), since he and Gullick had acquired Old Welton Colliery in 1878 and Farrington Colliery in 1880, whilst Beauchamp also became the sole owner of Welton Hill Colliery in 1889. (E R Kelly (ed) (1875: Kelly & Co: London) The Post Office Directory of Somerset and Bristol, p. 650; Kelly’s Directory of Somersetshire and Gloucestershire, with the City of Bristol (1889: Kelly & Co: London) p. 52; C G Down & A J Warrington (nd: David & Charles: Newton Abbot) The History of the Somerset Coalfield, pp. 133, 147 & 159; List of Mines Worked in the Year 1889 (1890: HMSO: London) p. 162) Beauchamp’s business interests also extended into the field of quarrying, and he had acquired Hallatrow Pennant Stone Quarries by 1883 and the Mendip Mountain Granite Quarries by 1889. A somewhat extravagant and, to the modern reader, misleading advertisement for the latter appeared in Kelly’s Directory in 1889, and it is difficult to know whether to regard this as an indication of Beauchamp’s approach to matters of business or merely as an enthusiastic version of the of the advertising style of the time. (C G Down & A J Warrington (nd: David & Charles: Newton Abbot) The History of the Somerset Coalfield, p. 212; Kelly’s Directory of Somersetshire with the City of Bristol, 1889 (nd: Kelly & Co: London), advertisement p. 31) On William Beauchamp’s death in 1894, his business interests passed to his sons, Frank and Louis. A partnership deed dated 31 December 1904 shows that they were operating three businesses: Farrington Collieries Company, Norton Hill Collieries Company and Radstock Coal and Wagon Company. The latter is described as coal and coke factors, merchants and shippers and wagon builders and repairers, with premises at Radstock, Box and Salisbury. [Somerset Record Office: National Coal Board records, DD/NCB/79] They had acquired the disused Norton Hill colliery at Midsomer Norton at some time around 1896 and, following the sinking of a new shaft, they were able to build it up into the largest colliery in Somerset. (C G Down & A J Warrington (nd: David & Charles: Newton Abbot) The History of the Somerset Coalfield, pp. 216-219) The expansion of the family’s colliery interests continued, as Braysdown, Moorewood and Camerton were acquired in the years up to 1911. In 1914 that expansion took Frank Beauchamp into the Bristol district when he bought Hanham, Kingswood and Parkfield following the collapse of Bedminster, Easton, Kingswood and Parkfield Collieries Ltd. (Coal Industry Commission. Volume II. Reports and Minutes of Evidence on the Second Stage of the Inquiry, Cmd 360 (1919: HMSO: London) p. 896) In May 1915 he joined the army (having previously served in the Territorial Army) and, after eighteen months in Britain he was sent to the USA in what was described as “an advisory capacity” to the War Department in Washington. Following his return to England he was created a baronet in 1918 and awarded the CBE in 1919. (Who Was Who 1941-1950 (1952: A & C Black: London) p. 78; A Winton Thorpe (ed) (1921: The Burke Publishing Co: London) Burke’s Handbook to the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, p. 55) On 26 September 1925 a new company, Somerset Collieries Ltd, was formed to take over all Sir Frank’s mining interests in Somerset (except Norton Hill), which then consisted of five collieries: Braysdown, Camerton, Clandown, Dunkerton and Priston. (Mines: Year 1925. List of Mines in Great Britain and the Isle of Man (1926: HMSO: London) p. 316) In December 1925 a sixth was added when the Earl Waldegrave granted him a license to work his collieries at Radstock in return for a fixed yearly sum of £10,000. [Somerset Record Office: National Coal Board records, DD/NCB/79 C/1449] The company issued 49,998 £1 ordinary shares, fully paid, and there were also debentures of £100,000. The directors were Sir Frank and his son Ian, the former holding 46,998 shares. [Bristol University Library: Somerset Miners' Association papers, DM443, papers re Somerset Wages Ascertainment] Louis Beauchamp, meanwhile, kept control of his own mining interests. On 25 September 1925, New Rock Colliery Company Ltd was registered, with Louis and his son Guy as the directors. There were 15,192 £1 ordinary shares, fully paid, 15,092 of which were held by Louis. [Bristol University Library: Somerset Miners' Association papers, DM443, papers re Somerset Wages Ascertainment] His other company was the Moorewood Colliery Company Ltd, which came into existence in about 1909 and was initially partly owned by Frank Beauchamp, although by 1924 Louis was the sole owner. No other details are known and the company was presumably wound up following the closure of Moorewood colliery in 1932. (C G Down & A J Warrington (nd: David & Charles: Newton Abbot) The History of the Somerset Coalfield, pp. 248-249) Meanwhile, Ralph, Dudley, Ross and Gilbert Beauchamp, the sons of William Beauchamp’s third son Walter, who were already the owners of the Mells Quarry Company, ventured into coal mining at Charmborough Colliery. Work began on sinking in 1932 and the first coal was produced the following year, but the mine was never successful and was closed by the NCB in 1947. (C G Down & A J Warrington (nd: David & Charles: Newton Abbot) The History of the Somerset Coalfield, pp. 215 & 251) In 1935 Somerset Collieries Ltd was renamed Radstock Collieries Ltd and in December of that year a new public company named Somerset Collieries Ltd was registered, with Frank, Louis and Ian Beauchamp and L D Williams as Directors. (The Stock Exchange Official Year-Book 1938 (nd: Thomas Skinner & Co: London) p. 2919) The new company acquired the businesses of Radstock Collieries Ltd, Norton Hill Collieries Company, Radstock Coal Company, Radstock Wagon Company and Radstock Gas Company, and as a result its assets amounted to 210 acres of land on the surface(140 acres freehold and 70 acres leasehold), 6,100 acres of coal (1,350 acres freehold and 4,750 acres leasehold), and 190 freehold houses, the value of which was estimated at £596,562. [Bristol Record Office: Somerset Collieries Ltd, prospectus for the issue of £300,000 4% First Mortgage Debenture Stock, 1935, 9492/14(e)] One of the company’s first actions was to issue £300,000
4% debenture stock, the prospectus for which, taken with various Somerset
Miners’ Association papers provides the most detailed financial information
This data does little to enlighten the situation since it is so incomplete.
It is therefore difficult to know what to make of it, apart from stating
the obvious fact that Somerset Collieries was highly profitable The share capital of Somerset Collieries amounted to £375,000, consisting of 375,000 fully-paid £1 shares. The principal shareholders were:-
Thus, despite the fact that the company was now a public one, it remained very much a family business. This was also the first indication of the involvement in the business of Sir Frank’s eldest son, Douglas, although by 1946 he had also become a director. (The Stock Exchange Official Year-Book 1946 (nd: Thomas Skinner & Co: London) p. 2919) The Bristol business had not been included in this amalgamation and the pits there were run by a separate company, East Bristol Collieries Ltd, the directors of which were Sir Frank and Ian Beauchamp. (The Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory 1935 (nd: The Louis Cassier Co: London) p. 134) The businesses may well have been kept separate in anticipation of future problems, since the Bristol collieries had been in trouble for some years. On 3 January 1936, Charles Gill wrote to Fred Swift that
The next day Swift replied that he had spoken to Sir Frank and that
The public fund referred to is also mentioned by Fred Moss, who claims that it was set up by the Lord Mayor. (Fred Moss (1986: Bristol Broadsides: Bristol) City Pit, p. 68) The precise details of this are uncertain, since it is not mentioned in the minutes of the City Council or in the index of documents held by the Bristol Record Office, but it seems remarkable that a company should be subsidised by public subscription in this way, particularly in view of the funds which must have been available from the family’s other businesses. Sir Frank had, in fact threatened to close the pits in 1925 when faced with the threat of a strike but on this occasion he was not bluffing and Kingswood closed in February 1936, followed by Parkfield in August. (Bristol University Library, Somerset Miners’ Association papers, DM443, letter from Charles Gill to Fred Swift, 24 July 1925; Mines: Year 1936. List of Mines in Great Britain and the Isle of Man (1937: HMSO: London) p. 262) As Fred Swift observed, “Sir Frank can always be ugly, but I know that he or no one else will carry on in business if the balance is always on the wrong side.” [Bristol University Library: Somerset Miners' Association papers, DM443, copy letter from Fred Swift to T Chivers, 4 January 1935 (should be 1936?)] Threats of pit closures seem to have been a normal negotiating ploy for Sir Frank: in 1927 he had forced the withdrawal of a demand for a revision of the minimum pay rates by threatening to close Braysdown, Clandown, Dunkerton and Priston, whilst similar tactics were employed at Camerton in 1935. [Bristol University Library: Somerset Miners' Association papers, DM443, minutes of Council meetings 25 August 1927, 9 September 1927 & 28 September 1927; letter from T Chivers to Fred Swift 3 January 1936] If this gives some indication of the nature of Sir Frank’s character, more can be obtained by examining his other activities. Besides his military career and the awards mentioned above, he was a magistrate, a conservative member of Somerset County Council from 1907 to 1946 and a Parliamentary candidate in 1910. (Who Was Who 1941-1950 (1952: A & C Black: London) p. 78) It is, of course, impossible to gain a complete picture of the man from these few details, and perhaps the most that can be said is that he was clearly a pillar of the establishment and a somewhat authoritarian figure. Whatever authority Sir Frank Beauchamp may have had seems to have deserted him towards the end of his life. According to Down and Warrington he was ousted from Somerset Collieries Ltd at the end of 1946, and when he objected to the golden handshake of £3,000 paid to him, he was told that it was more than he was actually entitled to. (C G Down & A J Warrington (nd: David & Charles: Newton Abbot) The History of the Somerset Coalfield, p. 215) Although the composition of the board of the company at this stage is unknown, it is tempting to suggest that the appointment of Douglas Beauchamp as a director had some bearing on the decision, and it seems likely that he and his brother may have turned on their father. The role of Louis Beauchamp in this is unknown, but he died in 1947, followed in 1950 by Sir Frank, whose estate amounted to £248,648. (The Times, 19 June 1950, p. 8 & 1 October 1952, p. 8) After nationalisation Douglas and Ian Beauchamp were employed by the National Coal Board and became respectively estates manager and marketing manager of the Somerset and Bristol Group. (Colliery Guardian Guide to the Coalfields 1956 (nd: The Colliery Guardian Company: London) Despite this, however, the Beauchamp family’s control of the industry had now passed, and the signs of their former influence began to disappear: Norton Hill, the last of the former Beauchamp pits closed in 1966, Sir Frank’s former home, Woodborough House, once used as offices by the NCB, had been demolished by the early 1970s, and when Sir Douglas Beauchamp died without an heir in 1983 the baronetcy died with him. (C G Down & A J Warrington (nd: David & Charles: Newton Abbot) The History of the Somerset Coalfield, p. 215; Who Was Who 1981-1990 (1991: A & C Black: London) p. 51) NEXT
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