First Annual General Report upon the Mineral Industry of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for the year 1894

Abstract

EVER since the year 1853 the position of the mineral industries of this country has been regularly recorded in an official volume, issued annually under the title of “Mineral Statistics of the United Kingdom.” A series of these annuals, extending over nearly thirty years, was prepared under the direction of the late Mr. Robert Hunt, and issued from the Mining Record Office in Jermyn Street. For several years, however, two sets of returns were published concurrently—one set by Mr. Hunt, whose figures were obtained by the voluntary aid of mine-owners, and another set by the Inspectors of Mines, whose statistics were based upon statutory returns, and, consequently, came to be regarded as more trustworthy. To avoid the inconvenience of such duplication, the work of the Mining Record Office was taken over, in 1882, by the Home Office; and thenceforth there issued annually from this department a statistical volume as well as the ordinary Reports of the several Inspectors of Mines. These two publications have hitherto been the only official sources of information on mining published in this country. But something more was evidently wanted—something rather in the shape of a general year-book of mines and minerals. The publication of a comprehensive report of this character was suggested by the Royal Commission on Mining Royalties, and the suggestion was endorsed by the Departmental Committee on Mining and Mineral Statistics. At the request of the Home Secretary, Prof. Le Neve Foster undertook the preparation of such a report; and, considering the initial difficulties incidental to an undertaking of this kind, he is to be heartily congratulated on the work which he has produced.

First Annual General Report upon the Mineral Industry of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for the year 1894.

By C. Le Neve Foster Pp. 144. Seventeen plates. (London: Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1895.)