Craighall Colliery - Cheque Coal Bill 10 March 1804
Explanation of payments made to colliers and 'oncost payments'

Output by Individual Colliers | Oncost Accounts

Explanation of the Craighall Colliery Accounts

The weekly accounts consisted of two separate parts. First the payments to colliers for the coal produced, then all the other expenses (known as 'Oncost') incurred in running the colliery.

Output of Coal by Individual Colliers :

This is an example of the details listed for each collier. Their daily output of great coal is shown for each day, and the total for the week also includes the seam and wood coal they produced.

A summary of the weekly coal sales was also recorded on this page.

See full details of the output of coal by individual colliers

Oncost Payments

All payments made in running the coalworks except those to colliers for coal produced, are called oncost. These payments have been recorded in detail on the opposite page from the one showing the output by colliers and summary of coal sales.

Part of the page showing oncost payments
for the No7 Pit

See full transcript of oncost accounts

During the week ending 10 March 1804, money received from coal sales, payment of debts and house rents by colliers amounted to £168 2s 5d while expenses were £152 12s 2d giving a profit of £18 7s 3d.

Why did I choose 10 March 1804?
The reason is simply that most pages were written with a very fine nib and are very difficult to see on a photocopy. This week was written by a different individual using a thicker nib and darker ink so is one of the easiest to transcribe.

The series of Craighall Colliery Account Books covering 1798 to 1814 are part of the Hope of Craighall collection (GD.377) at the National Archives of Scotland.
GD377/362 Craighall collieries accounts 1798-1803
GD377/363 Craighall collieries accounts 1803-1807
GD377/364 Craighall collieries accounts 1807-1812
GD377/365 Craighall collieries accounts 1812-1814

Return to Top | Output by Individual Colliers | Oncost Accounts