Book Launch – Charles P. Dixon, John Curr: the man who revolutionised mining, 2025

IEEC are always pleased to share new research and support publications sharing the results of original research into topics related to our core early engines theme. This post shares details of Charles P. Dixon’s work on noted mining engineer and entrepreneur John Curr, published in August 2025, the result of almost four years of investigation and preparation.

Charles P. Dixon, John Curr: the man who revolutionised mining, London: Heritage Hunter, August 2025, 9781905315888, 272 pages. £25.00

• Available from www.heritagehunter.co.uk, www.thegreatbritishbookshop.co.uk, and www.amazon.co.uk or can ordered via Waterstone’s & other leading booksellers.

About the book

In the latter half of the 18th century, the Industrial Revolution was accelerating and demand for coal soaring. However, as tonnages increased and mines became deeper the need for new technologies and inventive practices to meet demand and reduce costs became apparent. Many engineers played their part, but John Curr (1756-1823), a man of humble origin and with little formal education, emerged as one of the most prominent mining engineers of his time. His ingenuity and breadth of engineering skill led to the installation of rails both below and above ground, the development of the four-wheeled corf, and other inventions that placed the Sheffield collieries among the most technically advanced in the country – and hence the world.

Charles Dixon’s biography of John Curr is a remarkable contribution to our developing understanding of the industrial and mechanical processes that lay behind the industrial revolution. It is based on a great deal of original research and an impressive understanding of Curr’s interests, his family life and circumstances. The author, a layman in engineering terms, has endeavoured, without compromising technical details, to answer his own and other laymen’s questions about the application of engineering to mining during the era covered by Curr’s career.

Illustrated in colour throughout, with 81 figures in the main text, including detailed maps, archival photographs, and plates reproduced from John Curr’s seminal work of 1797, “The Coal Viewer and Engine Builder’s Practical Companion”, Charles Dixon’s book takes the reader through the engineering, financial, and social challenges that John Curr faced in his search for ways to make the collieries for which he was responsible both profitable and efficient.

Contents

Front matter

• Acknowledgements vi
• Preface vii

• 1. Introduction 1
• 2. Family 5
• 3. Education 11
• 4. Character 23
• 5. Wealth 25
• 6. Belle Vue House 27
• 7. Worship 33
• 8. Early Career 41
• 9. After dismissal 109
• 10. Children 143

Appendices, endnotes and index

• Appendices (12) 171
• Glossary 201
• Bibliography 209
• Curr Family 228
• Working relationships 229
• Endnotes 231
• Index 255

Page sample

Responses to the book

Professor Henry Woodhuysen, recently Rector of Lincoln College, University of Oxford notes in his preface:

“John Curr: The Man who Revolutionised Mining, tells an extraordinary series of stories about working lives two hundred and more years ago. It is, in all senses, a well-made and well-illustrated book that will add greatly to our understanding of the industries that made the country wealthy.”

John Hunter, retired mining geologist, mining historian and IEEC contributor notes:

“The technical innovations introduced by John Curr for improving the efficiency of coal mines during the late eighteenth century were repeatedly acknowledged by mining engineers in the nineteenth century. Charles Dixon has completed a thorough investigation into the life and achievements of his illustrious ancestor. This book will become the standard biographical reference work on John Curr, as well as being a valuable addition to the written record of Sheffield’s industrial and mining history.”

About the author

This is Charles Dixon’s first book. His interest in family history was sparked by a trove of documents found at his mother’s house after her death in 2016. A retired second-hand book dealer, he hails from a family of prominent engineers. The world-famous family firm, Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Co. Ltd., of Darlington, was established and managed by three generations of Dixons for nigh on a century.

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