On the 20th. June 1868, the secretary of the BMI, Mr. Batten,  wrote to Mr. W.F.Fowler in London, the following…

“Only one vol. of Briton came by mail before last March, please send Volunteers Services Gazette, no news of the long promised case of books; I ordered many months ago Pole’s Treatise on Cornish Pumping Engines, please get it if possible and send next mail.”

Then on 15th. August 1868 he wrote again to Mr. “W.F.Fowler.. acknowledging receipt of invoice and forwarding second Exchange for 50 pounds. Pole’s Cornish Engine requested no matter the cost .”

Why was the BMI so keen to obtain Pole’s Treatise on Cornish Pumping Engines. No matter what the cost?

During the 1860-70’s, there was vast interest in mining the deep underground old river beds that had deposited gold amongst the gravel deposits. The big problem was that these old river beds contained millions of gallons of water that had to be removed before the gold could be extracted. Huge pumping engines were used in Cornwall, and it was found that they were also efficient in our Victorian deep leads.

These letters were written two years before the founding of the Ballarat School of Mines, so the Ballarat Mechanics’ Institute was the place to go for engineers, mechanics and mine managers to find the latest information. 

Pole’s Treatise on Cornish Pumping Engines was the publication that explained how they worked, how to build them, and also contained engineering drawings of the construction.

Some of the local mines that had erected these engines include the Berry Number 1 and the Hepburn Consuls near the Clunes- Smeaton road, the Ballarat  mine near the top end of Gregory street, the Great Western mine in the paddock behind McCains factory, and the Band of Hope in Sebastopol.

Hickmans, later Walkers Union Foundry manufactured some of theses engines in Ballarat, notably the Berry Number 1 engine, a model of this engine can be seen in the Creswick Town Hall museum.

Further information can be found here…

Who was Mr. Fowler?  Take a quick visit here..  

Model of Berry No.1 Cornish Pumping engine in Creswick museum.

Postscript… BMI Heritage Book Collection includes the original edition of ‘A Treatise On Cornish Pumping Engines, by William Pole 1844′ 236 pages, record 3855-class. 620… Restored 2005, repaired, pages and drawings reinforced, shelved in glass case, reading room.

Illustrated. with fold out plans.. Part I: Historical notice of the application of the steam engine to the purpose of draining the mines of Cornwall and of its progressive improvement in that district.

Part II: Description of the Cornish pumping engine and of its various peculiarities, as contrasted with the ordinary Boulton and Watt single-acting engine.

Listing of mining engineering titles in the BMI Heritage Collection. Here.