Technological Innovation and Adaption: Tyndrum Lead Mine and the German Managers, 1838 to 1865

Abstract

In 1838 the second Marquis of Breadalbane, having failed to lease the mineral rights at Tyndrum lead mine on the Campbell family estate in the southern Scottish highlands, made a decision to work the mine himself. When he began his operation, the mine was nearing exhaustion and what little productivity remained was hindered by increasingly complex mineralisation. The Marquis, however, was convinced that the mine could still produce great wealth; he looked to Germany for expertise and employed a succession of German mining engineers to manage his ailing operation. The survival of their monthly progress reports and other documentation offers a unique perspective on the Scottish lead mining industry and the adaptive strategies, in terms of technological innovation and mining practices, that the Germans employed to prolong the venture's economic survival.