Suetonius Grant Heatly
Suetonius Grant Heatly (sometimes spelled as Heatley; 1751–1793) was a judge employed by the British East India Company and, with John Sumner, established what is considered to be the first coal mine in India.[1]
Heatly was born in
Grant and his colleague, Sumner, saw potential in the extraction of coal in India and attempted to capitalise on that and their relationship with the East India Company, which they envisaged as being a significant purchaser. Their project involved several mine workings, the precise location of which has been debated. It was beset by problems, including those related to extraction, logistics and disease, and eventually petered out. Sumner had left before its demise, and others had become involved.
Heatly, who never married but may have formed a relationship with a native Indian woman, died in 1793.
Early life
Heatly was born in Newport, Rhode Island in 1751. He was the oldest son of a merchant, Andrew Heatly, and his wife, Mary (née Grant), both of whom were of Scots descent. His younger siblings included a brother, Patrick, and a sister, Temperance.[a] Another sister, Mary, was the mother of the historian, cartographer and administrator of Rajasthan, James Tod.[1]
The Heatly family was loyal to the British crown, and those of the family living in America at the time of the American Revolution against British control chose to leave. Temperance subsequently returned after being married.[1]
East India Company
Heatly joined the East India Company as a "writer" in 1766, and later worked as a merchant.
He became a magistrate for the province of Dana[1] and at the time of his death was the chief judge of appeals for Decca.[7]
Although Heatly worked for the Company, one of his contemporaries – William Green – suggested that he could be used as a conduit for letters which might subvert the aims of the Company. A 1784 letter sent by Green to
My letters will doubtless pass by way of London, unless I have an opportunity of addressing you directly from India. The jealousy of the English East India Company has been excited .... If you chuse to hazard writing me in India, you must write covertly to me. Direct your letters under cover to Suetonius Heatly, Esqr. Calcutta, Bengal and send them to be forwarded to me, to the care of Mr. Wilkinson, London; never failing to address me as your Supercargo, because if the letters are intercepted no mischief can ensue. The late Revolution has embittered the minds and spirits of many, and made them attentive to all our motions.[8]
Coal mining
Kautilya recorded mining activities in India around 400
... it is an historical fact, that Mr Heatly, at that time being politically employed by Government, captured the Rajah, and probably obtained a knowledge of the existence of coal through some attendant circumstances ...[11]
On 11 August 1774 they put forward a proposal for commercial extraction in a part of what now forms the Raniganj Coalfield.[4][12]
Heatly and Sumner proposed to establish six mines in an area which they defined as
within the space included by the river Adji to the north, the border of Burdwan to the east, the river Damooda to the south, and a circular line to the west, described from the town of Aytura in Pachete, at the distance of ten miles from Aytura, between the one river and the other.[13][b]
They wrote to Warren Hastings, the Governor-General, requesting
That an exclusive right be granted to us for eighteen years of working coal mines and selling coal in Bengal and its dependencies, so long as we can engage to furnish as much pit-coal as ever the Government may bespeak of us for their consumption at the market price of the time, when wanted.[13]
The proposal discussed the possibility of exports[14] and included the stipulation that they would retain the rights to any other minerals and metals discovered in the area on payment of a 20% royalty to the Company, a figure which also applied to the coal. They made an exception for any iron that might be found, suggesting that the Company should determine the nature of any rights if and when it occurred.[5][13] It was also suggested that European workers would be employed.[14] An agreement was reached by October 1774, by which time a third person, called Redfearne (sometimes, Redferne), had joined in business with Heatly and Sumner.[15]
Homfray believes that the first of the mines to be worked was at the village of Hattoreah Aytoorah, being a place where the coal seam came to the surface.
Sumner had returned to England after the tests, and European miners brought in by Heatly were ravaged by disease.
Death
Heatly died in Bengal in 1793.
A subsequent obituary of his brother, Patrick, recorded that Heatly had been "well known ... for talent and amiability".[25]
In 1884 and 1885, long after his death, notices appeared in
References
Notes
- ^ Patrick Heatly (1753, Rhode Island – 1834, London) was also an employee of the East India Company, working first in India and then as a member of its "secret Council" in England. Temperance married a captain of the Royal Navy, William Green, possibly while also in India, and eventually settled in Utica, New York, USA.[1]
- ^ These are old transliterations. The Damooda is the Damodar River, the Adji is probably the Ajay River, and Aytura is probably the place today known as Ethora. The men referred also to Bheerbhoom, which may be today's Birbhum district.
- ^ Other mines among the six opened were at "Chinacoory" (Chinakuri) and Damoully.[16] Hunter speculates that the other three workings were further westwards.[5]
- ballast in ships.[20]
- ^ William Wilson Hunter, in summarising the accounts of others writing before him, states that "Coal was known to exist in the District as early as 1774, and was actually worked in 1777."[10] However, in his table listing various workings in the coalfield he shows an entry for a source worked at "Damulia" (Damoully), using the quarry method, with the opening date stated as "1774?"
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g Manners & Williamson (1920), pp. 180–181.
- ^ a b c Christie's (2006)
- ^ a b Heatly (1842), p. 823.
- ^ a b c d Thacker & Bahadur (1940), p. 479.
- ^ a b c Hunter (1876), pp. 122-123.
- ^ East India Company (1789), p. 15.
- ^ Holmes (1837), p. 59.
- ^ Ford (1915), p. 237.
- ^ a b Dutt et al (2004)
- ^ a b Hunter (1876), p. 109.
- ^ a b Homfray (1842), p. 734.
- ^ a b c Minenvis (2005), p. 61.
- ^ a b c Heatly (1842), p. 814.
- ^ a b Heatly (1842), p. 815.
- ^ Heatly (1842), p. 818.
- ^ Homfray (1842), p. 739.
- ^ Heatly (1842), p. 819.
- ^ Heatly (1842), pp. 819–820.
- ^ Heatly (1842), p. 821.
- ^ Heatly (1842), p. 824.
- ^ Heatly (1842), p. 822.
- ^ Gee (1940), p. 313.
- ^ Christie's Visions of India.
- ^ Artfact
- ^ Gentleman's Magazine (1834), p. 543.
- ^ London Gazette (1884), pp. 251–252
- ^ London Gazette (1885), pp. 3431–3432
Bibliography
- "Christie's: Arts of India: Lot 16". Artfact. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
- Barraclough, L. J. (1956). "Early Development of Coal Mining". In Mining, Geological, and Metallurgical Institute of India (ed.). Progress of the Mineral Industry of India, 1906–1955. pp. 141–146.
- "Visions of India". London: Christie's. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
- "Sale 7304 Lot 14". London: Christie's. 13 July 2006. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
- Deb, Mihir; Tiwari, Garima; Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala (2004). "Artisanal and small-scale mining in India: Selected studies and an overview of the issues". International Journal of Mining, Reclamation and Environment. 10 (10).
- East India Company (1789). Copies of the several testimonials transmitted from Bengal by the governor general and council, relative to Warren Hastings, esq., late governor general of Bengal. London: Printed for John Stockdale. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
- Ford, Worthington Chauncey, ed. (1915). "Commerce of Rhode Island 1726–1800: Vol. II, 1775–1800". Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 7th. 10. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society: 237. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
- Gee, E. R. (10 August 1940). "History of Coal-Mining in India" (PDF). Indian National Science Academy. 6 (3). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
- Heatly, S. G. Tollemache (1842). "Contributions towards a History of the development of the Mineral Resources of India". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 11, Part 2. Asiatic Society of Bengal. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
- Homfray, J. (1842). "A Description of the Coal Field of the Damoodah Valley". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 11, Part 2. Asiatic Society of Bengal. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
- Holmes, Abiel (1798). The Life of Ezra Stiles. Thomas & Andrews. p. 336. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
- Humphreys, H. D. G. (1956). "The Early History of Coal Mining in Bengal". In Mining, Geological, and Metallurgical Institute of India (ed.). Progress of the Mineral Industry of India, 1906–1955. pp. 147–159.
- Hunter, William Wilson (1876). A Statistical Account of Bengal. Vol. 4. London: Trubner & Co. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
- Manners, Victoria; Williamson, G. C. (1920). John Zoffany, R.A. his life and works : 1735–1810. London: John Lane, The Bodley Head. pp. 180–181. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
- Thacker, D. D.; Bahadur, Rao (22 August 1940). "The Present Status of the Coal Industry" (PDF). Indian National Science Academy. 6 (3). Retrieved 2011-10-25.
- "No. 25308". The London Gazette. 15 January 1884. pp. 250–252.
- "No. 25493". The London Gazette. 24 July 1885. pp. 3431–3432.
- "Some Important Facts about the History of Coal Mining in India" (PDF). Minenvis (46). Dhanbad: Centre of Mining Environment, Indian School of Mines. September 2005. ISSN 0972-4648. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
- "Patrick Heatly, Esq". The Gentleman's Magazine. 157. F. Jefferies. November 1834. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
Further reading
- Humphreys, H. D. G. (1956). "The Early History of Coal Mining in Bengal". In Mining, Geological, and Metallurgical Institute of India (ed.). Progress of the Mineral Industry of India, 1906–1955. pp. 141–159. Retrieved 2011-10-25.