Colliery viewer

A colliery viewer or coal viewer was the manager of a coal mine or colliery. The term was mostly used in the late eighteenth to nineteenth centuries, in the UK. In modern use, the viewer would be the senior and responsible mining engineer at a site.

The role began as a person to represent the owner of the land, often an aristocrat, who had leased the rights to mine there to another who would 'work' the mine. Land at this time was rarely sold, the aristocratic estates were intent on preserving themselves intact, and so mining rights would usually be in terms of a long-term lease. As both of these gentlemen were affluent, if not titled, they would not be familiar with mining themselves and would not generally wish to become so. As mines grew larger and more complex into the nineteenth century, the role of the viewer shifted to representing the safe technical management of the mine, on behalf of the owner. Later, as mine safety laws were passed, the viewer had a duty to represent the interests of the miners as well.

The viewer was usually employed by the owner, but in some cases was also the owner, or part-owner, themselves. The New Hartley Pit, of the Hartley Colliery disaster, was owned by the Carr brothers, where one brother acted as viewer.

An experienced viewer, known for their good judgement, was recognised as a skilled profession and in the North East they often became an independent contractor or consultant who would advise a number of mines on particular issues, such as sinking a new shaft, or making a new investment. This represented the shift from the viewer as manager or agent, to the development of the modern mining engineer. Even at the time, the distinction between managers, or 'agents', for the day-to-day operation of collieries, and consultant viewers, who advised on the development of new aspects, was never a clear one.

The viewer would be responsible for deciding major expenditures, such as the purchase of a pumping engine or construction of a tramroad or railway. These new technical innovations were described in advisory guide books such as John Curr's The Coal Viewer and Engine Builder's Practical Companion (1797).

The overman is a deputy to the viewer and involved more directly with the daily work of the pit. When a colliery has a number of pits under a viewer, there is an overman to each pit. The overman has responsibilities for daily and hands-on tasks, such as inspecting the pit's safety each day and recording the work performed for piece work systems.

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