Page:VCH Cornwall 1.djvu/677

 INDUSTRIES done at Perran Foundry was a gudgeon for the beam of the 85-inch pumping engine for Tresa- vean mine. At this time, about the year 1828 or 1830, the firm began to make heavy castings. The foundry gradually grew in size and im- portance. A notable development occurred when the machinery for the Haarlem Lake Drainage and the East London Waterworks was made, about the year 1842. A Mr. Bow- man of London was then the manager, having succeeded Mr. Benjamin Sampson. The boiler-building works originally located at Devoran were removed to Modling, near Pon- sanooth, about the year 1860. The company made their own gas and supplied private houses at the wharf. They were fortunate in having a good supply of water, which in dry summers was supplemented by steam-power. The greatest number of persons employed at any time was about 400. When, in the year 1870, nine years previously, the extensive mines in the parish of Gwennap, which drew nearly the whole of their machinery supplies from Perran and sent thither all their breakages, and other mines were closed, it was generally felt that a serious blow had befallen these works. On such a gigantic scale were the Clifford Amalgamated Mines carried on, with nearly a score of large engines at work, and with an enormous quantity of pitwork, that, with the other Gwennap mines, they were well-nigh suffi- cient to keep a moderate sized foundry running. In the death of Mr. William Shilson on 28 March, 1875, the company lost a far-seeing and able financier. Whilst sharing with the Hayle Foundry the misfortune of a decaying home market and keen competition in this and foreign countries, and other untoward circumstances, the perhaps inevitable close was precipitated by the death of Sir F. M. Williams on 3 September, 1878; and the failure in the same year of the well-known banking firm of Tweedy, Williams & Co. sealed the fate of Perran Foundry, which ceased working in March, 1879. When the foundry was closed the Tuckingmill Foundry Company took over the lease and carried on the business in a small way, under Mr. James Edwards' management ; but not suc- ceeding, after two years they disposed of the lease to Messrs. W. H. & T. P. Edwards, who, under the name of Edwards Brothers, adapted the premises to their requirements, and do an ex- tensive milling and corn business, and employ a great many men. The works are now known as Perran Mills. The St. Blazey Foundry was built by Mr. William West in the year 1848. Mr. West had a long and distinguished career as a mining engineer of nearly half a century 1831 to 1879. As an engineer Mr. West was much sought after, and carried out some of the most important works in the county and else- where. His most noteworthy achievements were the erection of a steam capstan at South Hue Mine about the year 1835, the first of its kind ever put up, and the erection, with Mr. William Petherick, of the famous Austen's engine at Fowey Consols, which later played a most important part in the history of the Cornish engine. The demands made upon Mr. West were very numerous. It is stated that he could not get his orders carried out with sufficient dis- patch and to his satisfaction. He therefore decided, in the year named, to start a foundry of his own. The manufactures included mining machinery of all kinds, machinery for smelting works, water- works, and railways. Although not of a mag- nitude comparable with the Hayle and Perran foundries, and employing not more than about sixty persons, many important undertakings for home and foreign mines were successfully carried out. Several Cornish mines, particularly in the middle and eastern parts of the county, were supplied with pumping and other engines, pit- work, and general machinery. Mines in other parts of the country placed orders for important engines with Mr. West, notably the Rhymney Iron Company, in 1865, who were supplied with a 7O-inch pumping engine and pitwork. Orders for engines of very large size beyond 60 or 70 inch cylinders were passed on to the larger foundries at Hayle and Perran. Some important contracts outside the ordinary scope of founders were successfully carried out, including the construction of the Newquay and Cornwall Junction Railway, begun in 1865, and in 1867 the Bodmin and Camborne Water- works respectively were supplied with the necessary pumping plant. In conjunction with Mr. Darlington, Mr. West patented, in 1867, a method of working mines by a combination of steam-power and hydraulic apparatus. Many years earlier Mr. West invented the well-known valve for pumps, known as Harvey and West's double-beat valve, patented 12 June, 1839. Mr. West died on 16 June, 1879, in his 78th year. The business was carried on by his sons William and Charles West, who were in partnership with their father under the name of William West & Sons. The death of the head of the firm, followed so quickly by that of one of the sons, was a great blow to the business. The circumstances named as exemplary of the decline of the Hayle and Perran foundries are equally applicable to this foundry, which was closed in December, 1891. It is worthy of remark that Mr. West amassed a considerable fortune by his mining in- vestments and his engineering business. His adventurous courage in resuscitating single-handed Phoenix Mine, which he worked with great vigour, will be long remembered. Employment was given to a large number of persons, and in other ways the enterprise was a great benefit to the neighbourhood. 573