The role of Charles Woolley Bage

In the context of the design and construction of the mill the choice of Bage as designer remains surprising, as does his continued involvement in the running of the flax-spinning business as a partner. His senior partner, John Marshall commented, ‘Mr Bage was possessed of talent and understanding but was not a man of business.’⁴⁵² Prior to his appointment he was a land surveyor in addition to trading as a wine-merchant in Shrewsbury, as evidenced by contemporary trade directories and extant copies of reports or accounts for services rendered, dating from 1774 until 1793.⁴⁵³ There is no documentary evidence of any previous practical experience in the fields of structural engineering, iron production or, prior to 1797,

involvement in textile production. Historians have consequently turned to familial influence and the network of acquaintances established during his time in Shrewsbury as possible sources of his interest in, or incidental knowledge of, iron and structural engineering in particular.⁴⁵⁴ His father, Robert, had a financial interest in the Wychnor Ironworks between 1765 and 1781, in addition to the paper manufactory that he ran from 1751 until the time of his death in 1801 and it is possible that Charles had an involvement in the ironworks.⁴⁵⁵ However the timing of his relocation to Shrewsbury has some relevance. Trinder places Bage in the town by 1776 but in 1770 two young men by the name of Bage were put to

452Marshall, J., ‘My Life,’ p. 13, cited in Rimmer, W. G., Marshalls of Leeds, Flax spinners, 1788-1886 (Cambridge, 1960), p. 62.

453 Shropshire Archives, Mostyn-Owen Collection, 3890/4/10/2/66-68, Accounts from Slater and Bage for surveying in June 1782 and 1776;

Shropshire Archives, 1779, D3651/B/5/1/9, Survey and valuation of estates...Thomas More’ ; Shropshire Archives, Ref: D3651/B/5/2/26, Bowman and Bage award in exchange of lands,Aug 1797; Bailey’s British Directory, 1784; Merchant’s and Trader’s Useful Companion for the year 1784, both Ancestry.co.uk, U.K. and U.S. Directories, 1680-1830;

454 For example, McConnell, A., ‘Bage, Charles Woolley (1751-1822)’ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,Oxford, 2008; Dick, M.M.,

‘Charles Bage and the Flax Industry,’ http://search.revolutionaryplayers.org.uk, [accessed 20 June 2012.], Pattison, A., William Hazeldine, Shropshire Ironmaster and Millwright: A reconstruction of his life, and his contribution to the development of engineeri ng, 1780-1840, unpublished M. Phil Thesis, 2011, University of Birmingham, p. 71.

122 Kelly, Gary, ‘Bage, Robert (1728?–1801)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004; online edn, May 2006

http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1028, accessed 24 July 2012 ]; Goss., J., ‘A biography of Robert Bage,’ revolutionaryplayers.org.uk, [accessed: 23 July 2012]; Pattison, A., William Hazeldine, Shropshire Ironmaster and Millwright: A reconstruction of his life, and his contribution to the development of engineering, 1780-1840, M. Phil Thesis, 2011, University of Birmingham.

132 apprenticeship, Robert to a land surveyor in Shrewsbury named Thomas Slater and Edward to John Oldershaw, a surgeon in Tamworth. Edward (1754-1812) was clearly Charles’ younger brother, as he subsequently pursued a career as an apothecary in Tamworth.⁴⁵⁶ Thomas Slater, however, is acknowledged to have been Charles Bage’s business partner in conducting land surveys as early as 1774.⁴⁵⁷ Evidence from genealogical records does not identify any Robert Bage likely to be a candidate for apprenticeship at that time within the Midlands area but that is not conclusive given that the introduction of legislation to enforce registration of births, marriages and deaths was not introduced until 1837.⁴⁵⁸ The coincidence that Charles and an unrelated apprentice named Robert Bage were both aligned to Thomas Slater seems too great.

William Hutton, the historian and great friend of his father, recorded in his memoir of Bage senior that he had three sons, one of whom had died as a young man.⁴⁵⁹ These were Charles, Edward and John, the latter dying at the age of 25 in 1783.⁴⁶⁰ It seems probable that a clerical error was made in the completion of apprentice registration and the name of the apprentice’s father was entered on the apprenticeship form, as was customary on other apprenticeship papers. At this time Charles would have been eighteen and John, at eleven, would have been a little young and it is therefore more probable that the apprentice was Charles. It would also clarify the circumstances of his move from the family home at Elford to Shrewsbury and pursuit of a career to the age of forty-four as a land surveyor. Examination of extant survey reports, maps and accounts identify a single instance where Charles Bage is recognisably a participant in conducting the survey, others being credited to ‘Mr Bage’ or ‘Slater and Bage’

456 Kelly, Gary, ‘Bage, Robert (1728?–1801)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004; online edn, May 2006

http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1028, accessed 24 July 2012 ]; ancestry.co.uk, Register of Duties paid for Apprentices Indentures, 1710-1811, Board of stamps Apprenticeship books, Series IR 1, piece 26,.

457 For example- Staffordshire Record Office, Ref: D(W)1721/2/30- Bagot family of Blithefield- map of estates with manor of Newton, parish of Blithefield and county of Stafford. Manor the property of John Hawkes Esq, Made in 1774 by Slater and Bage, (also see fig 4/1);

Trinder, B., 'Ditherington Flax Mill, Shrewsbury- A re-evaluation,' Textile History, 23 (2) (1992), 189-223, 193; McConnell, A., ‘Bage, Charles Woolley (1751-1822)’ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,Oxford, 2008;

458 Births and Deaths Registrations Act 1836.

459 Hutton, W., ‘Memoirs of Mr Bage,’ Monthly Magazine, or, British Register, Feb 1800-June 1836, Jan1802, 12, 81, British Periodicals, p.

478.

460 International Genealogical Index, http://FamilySearch.org, [accessed 20 July 2012].

133 (see fig. 4/1). But conversely there is no identifiable alternative Bage practicing as a land surveyor within the region.

Fig. 4/1

Date Estate Conducted By

1774 John Hawkes, manor of Newton, Blithefield

Slater & Bage

1776 Survey and map Berrington township

Slater & Bage

1777 Thomas Congreve, Pentreheylin T. Slater

1779 Thos More Slater & Bage

1780 Francis Lloyd Slater & Bage

1780 Various Mr Bage

1782 Mr Congreve T. Slater

1782 Mr Laxdale (citing work also in 1776)

Slater & Bage

1788 Congreve, Pentreheylin Bishton & Bage

1788 Shrewsbury Gaol Bishton & Bage

1792 Owen & Daker- land exchange Henry Bowman &

Chas Bage

1793 Thos Eyton T. Slater

Estate maps or surveys conducted by Messrs Bage & Slater

His residence in Shrewsbury as a seventeen/ eighteen year old in 1770, therefore casts doubt on Bage’s opportunity to gain significant knowledge of the properties of iron from any involvement at Wychnor Ironworks. The period between 1770, when any potential participation in Wychnor would have ceased, and 1795/6 when the mill in Shrewsbury’s

134 Castle Foregate was under development, is considerable. Without some form of

supplementation of knowledge and participatory activity in the intervening period the

question of why he would be an obvious candidate for the role of designer of the mill remains.

William Hutton points to Robert Bage’s good character and his intellectual capabilities.⁴⁶¹ He was assiduous in his pursuit of self-improvement, learning music, French and Latin without a teacher. In attending mathematics lessons, he was in a short time teaching the master.

Hutton comments that Robert’s sons ‘inherit a large portion of their father’s talents,’ which may explain Charles’ professed ability to acquire information and his empirical pursuit of knowledge for particular purposes. It does not resolve the issue of why it did not manifest itself until he was middle-aged.⁴⁶² It may be that like many socially-minded individuals of the latter half of the eighteenth-century his interest in philosophical pursuits manifested

themselves as expressions of fashion or dilettantism. Bage’s historical reputation rests firmly upon his standing as designer of Ditherington Flax Mill despite almost all surviving

documentary material relating to potentially enlightened activity on his part, originating in the period after the construction of the mill. Primary sources that pre-date 1797 relate to business activities, including mapping and surveys of estates and accounts for the supply of wines and liquors (see Fig. 4/1).⁴⁶³ The premise that Bage developed an interest or competency in structural engineering or the utilisation of iron prior to 1796 through a circle of acquaintances runs into a familiar problem. Although geographical proximity and the consequent

opportunity for association on subjects of mutual interest may have existed, there is little discernible evidence, in this instance, of whether such exchanges arose and with what

461 Hutton, W., ‘Memoirs of Mr Bage,’ Monthly Magazine, or, British Register, Feb 1800-June 1836, Jan1802, 12, 81, British Periodicals, pp.

478-9.

462 Hutton, W., ‘Memoirs of Mr Bage,’ Monthly Magazine, or, British Register, Feb 1800-June 1836, Jan1802, 12, 81, British Periodicals, pp.

478-9.

463 The map of the manor of Newton, Blithefield dated 1774 is the earliest reference to Bage working as a land surveyor in conjunction or partnership with Thomas Slater of Shrewsbury, Staffordshire Record Office, Ref: D(W)1721/2/30; Fig. 4/1 identifies surveys conducted by Bage and others.

135 outcome. Bage and Telford were, however, both engaged on working on the site of the new Shrewsbury Gaol in 1787-8, Bage in a number of roles primarily associated with surveys of the site and securing of properties being compulsorily acquired to make way for the new building.⁴⁶⁴ Telford was employed as surveyor for the building of the Gaol and scope existed for knowledge transfer on construction issues, although there is no evidence of Bage putting any such acquired knowledge to use in a practical sense over the course of the following eight years. Trinder has pointed to the group of intellectually active people functioning in a variety of enterprises and social roles that provided opportunity for discourse and mutual intellectual stimulation in the final quarter of the eighteenth-century. The intellectual consequences of any such loose agglomeration are important to this thesis and are developed in a following chapter but there is no extant evidence that puts Bage in such an associational relationship with members of this group.⁴⁶⁵