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The Spotborough Reading Group

The Spotborough Reading Group in Yorkshire review Black Diamonds by Catherine Bailey

The group met with great enthusiasm to discuss Catherine Bailey's book, Black Diamonds. This is local territory for the Sprotbrough group as Wentworth is only 12 miles away and the early Fitzwilliams were lords of Emley and Sprotbrough before their Wentworth days. Unfortunately several members were missing as they were unable to make the extra meeting we needed to meet the deadline.

There has always been an air of mystery about the hall – would this book solve the mystery of the battles over inheritance? Was the 97h Earl the rightful owner of the hall? Should Toby or Tom have been the 10th Earl? Tales had circulated locally for years concerning the Fitzwilliam family and their efforts to conceal their history.

Written in a fast, entertaining style the book mixes the social history of mines and mining, the political scene throughout the 20th century, with the history of the Wentworth family making a fascinating read.

It highlights the contrast between the vast opulence of the Fitzwilliam family with the poverty and hardship of the miners on whom most of their wealth was based. But this is no easy comparison. The miners preferred to work in the Fitzwilliam mines as they were safer than the nearby Cadeby and Denaby mines which were owned by mining companies and had an appalling record of safety and concern for the welfare of their workers. The description of the miners being evicted from their homes during the bag muck strike was not new to our reading group but is a graphic reminder of how local politics has been formed.

The Fitzwilliam family had a more paternalistic attitude to their workers and their families, providing some support during times of hardship, notably during the General strike. The Wentworth miners supported the Fitzwilliam family in their efforts to prevent the destruction of the house and gardens by opencast mining in 1946. The link between the Fitzwilliam family, the Cavendish family from Chatsworth and the Kennedys was news to everyone although we all knew that Kick Kennedy was buried at Chatsworth. How well this liaison had been covered up.

The group felt that this was a fascinating book, weaving together the history of the Fitzwilliam family with a social history of the early 20th century and the place that the miners and coal, black diamonds, had in this history.