Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Buddle, John
BUDDLE, JOHN (1773–1843), mining engineer, was born in 1773 at Kyo, near Tanfield in Durham, where his father, who had formerly been a miner, was the village schoolmaster. Although entirely self-educated, the elder Buddle was noted for his proficiency in mathematics and the theory of coal-mining, being an occasional contributor on these subjects to ‘The Ladies' and Gentlemen's Diary;’ and when, in 1781, the famous colliery at Wallsend was projected, the Kyo schoolmaster was chosen for the post of colliery manager and ‘viewer.’ From his eighth year accordingly Buddle was brought up under his father's zealous tuition, in familiar contact with the processes above and below ground of coal-mining. Profiting readily by his opportunities, he had already in several ways proved his practical ingenuity, when in 1806 the death of his father threw the full responsibility of the Wallsend colliery upon his shoulders, from which time he made very rapid headway in his profession. In 1809 he introduced an improved method of coal-working, by which nearly all the contents of a coal-seam could be exhausted, instead of leaving, as hitherto, a large proportion to act as support to the roof of the mine. As part of this scheme he conceived the ingenious idea of dividing the mine into separately ventilated districts by intermittent barriers of coal, hoping by this means to localise the effects of explosion and other mining dangers. In later practice these and other details of his method have been largely dispensed with, but upon the general principles he thus established depend very much the improved methods now in vogue. In 1813 a disastrous explosion at Felling colliery led to the formation of a society at Sunderland for the investigation of mine accidents, and in response to an appeal addressed by the society to eminent mining engineers and scientific men, Buddle drew up an important paper describing the method of ventilation adopted by him and stating the problem of satisfactorily lighting underground workings. The indirect result of this paper was the evolution of the safety-lamp through more or less cumbrous forms, until it reached the comparative perfection of the lamps designed respectively by George Stephenson, Dr. Clanny, and Sir Humphry Davy. Buddle himself assisted actively in the experiments in connection with the Davy lamp, and upon its completion introduced it successfully at the collieries under his charge, which, with the growth of his professional reputation, had greatly increased in number. In 1815 an accident at one of these collieries, Heaton Main, through the sudden influx of water from some old workings, led him to consider the need of preserving a more systematic record of mine-workings, and several years later he embodied these views in a paper contributed to the ‘Transactions’ of the Natural History Society of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, proposing that the society should be made ‘a place of deposit for the mining records of the district.’ Buddle has thus the distinction of having prepared the way for the establishment of the Mining Record Office in its present completeness. Outside the range of his own profession he showed remarkable intellectual activity; besides his connection with the society mentioned above, of which he was one of the chief promoters, he actively interested himself in founding schools in the colliery villages with which he was connected. Of undertakings other than those specially belonging to his profession, the most important was the building of Seaham harbour for the Marquis of Londonderry, who had conceived the idea of transferring thither the trade from the port of Sunderland. As a colliery manager and mining engineer Buddle attained by degrees to an almost autocratic eminence, as his popular sobriquet, ‘the King of the Coal Trade,’ testifies, and it says much for the genuineness of his character that at the height of his social prosperity he still remained on terms of affectionate intimacy with the mining folk about him, using the native vernacular with a force and humorous unction that have made some of his sayings almost proverbial in the district. Although over eight hundred lives are said to have been lost in the mines under his charge, he showed a tender regard and sympathy for the suffering which greatly strengthened the esteem in which his workpeople held him. Directly and indirectly, indeed, no one has done more than he to increase the safety of the miner at his dangerous work, and he was the first to propound the necessity of the miners' permanent relief fund, which now forms so important a part in the economy of coal-mining. In the wider aspects of his profession Buddle showed a scientific interest that had valuable results; his geological investigations have a more than merely practical value, and his paper entitled ‘A Synopsis of the Newcastle Coalfield,’ read, as finally completed, before the British Association on its visit to Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1838, proves the originality and comprehensiveness of his scientific knowledge. In religion Buddle was a unitarian. He never married. He died 10 Oct. 1843 at Wallsend, and was buried at Benwell six days later in characteristic north-country fashion, the funeral having a vanguard of sixty gentlemen on horseback, while seventy carriages and a vast multitude of miners afoot followed the hearse. In spite of his generosity and his noted hospitality he left a considerable fortune.
[Memoir published in the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle in a series of biographical papers entitled ‘Northern Worthies.’ See also Latimer's Local Records of Northumberland, &c., under the date of Buddle's death. For his various contributions upon mining and other subjects, the Transactions of the societies mentioned above and also of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle-upon-Tyne may be consulted; and in the Life and Works of Sir Humphry Davy will be found proof of Buddle's connection with the invention of the safety-lamp.]