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Cornish Mexican Cultural Society |
The Cornish Miner in Mexico
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Background Great Treck of the Transport Party 1825 Pachuca and Real del Monte's Cornish Heritage Today Archivo Histórico y Museo de Minería, A.C Mexican Visitors and Twinning
NEW BOOK - British Immigrants in the Mining Districts of Real del Monte and Pachuca 1824-1947 - An approach to Daily Life
Mexico is the greatest silver-producing nation the world has known. By the end of the eighteenth century the country had been the world's largest producer of silver for almost three centuries. Mexican silver production had resulted in great wealth flowing into European economies through Spain. Many of the mines were of great wealth as the German engineer and traveller Alexandra Humbolt recorded following his journey through 'New Spain'. He recorded that the Veta Madre at Mina Valenciana had a breadth of 22 feet from surface to a depth of 557 feet where it divided into three branches, the width of the entire mass was from 164 to 196 feet, where all three joined at a depth of 984 feet the vein contained immense riches over 81 feet. He goes on to record that Mina Valenciana had for forty years never yielded less than 2 to 3 million Francs of annual profit.
That Mexican engineers were well accomplished in the art of mining is illustrated by Humbolt's description of the octagonal Tiro General of Mina Valenciana. With a circumference of 87 feet and an intended depth of 1,685 feet this he declared was one of the greatest and boldest undertakings to be found in the history of mines - the mine itself was 1,640 feet (274 fathoms) deep when he visited it in 1799. (the Tiro General is still in use today as a main haulage shaft, the author has had the great honour of descending the shaft and visiting the spectacular Colonial mine workings ) However the mines of the country were affected by the same problem as those of Cornwall, water. Great and expensive efforts had been made to keep mines unwatered but as the mines grew deeper so the problem both of drainage and removal of ore from them increased. New mining methods and a means of removing water were needed.
During the Mexican War of Independence mining was neglected as the struggle for independence grew. The result was that by the end of the war mining had ceased in most of the mining districts. The newly independent country recognised the need, not only to attract capital to rebuild its shattered industry, but also for new technology. By 1826 there were no less than ten foreign mining companies in Mexico, seven British, two United States and one German. The British companies had interests in Real del Monte, Jalisco, Michoacán, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, Zacatacas and again in Hidalgo. Before the end of the century British operations had spread to Taxco, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Sinaloa and Sonora. Whilst Cornish miners were involved in all these operations and others within Mexico they existed in greatest numbers, for the longest continual period and had the greatest influence upon the district of Pachuca and Real del Monte.
By the early nineteenth century English capitalists and financiers were looking overseas to invest their wealth and to export the new technologies which had been developed within the country. Stories of the great wealth of the silver mines of Mexico were legend in Europe. Humbolt's treatise had been published in 1811 containing graphic descriptions of the immense size of the lodes and the wealth that had flowed from them. Using extracts from Humbolt's works John Taylor, a mining engineer of considerable standing, sought to interest London financiers in forming a company to reopen the mines of Real del Monte. Following discussions with representatives of Romero de Terreros, the mine's owner, the British Real del Monte Company was formed in London in 1824 with the purpose of amalgamating and working the mines owned by him. The first group of officers and technicians left England for Real del Monte on 25th March 1824 where they arrived on 11th June.
One of the group described his arrival at the Real or 'where it once existed, and where it will ere long raise its head again .... I say once existed because it now has the air of a village sacked by a horde of Cossacks ..... the roofs are falling in, the walls crumbling down, and, in short the whole village converted into a mass of ruins .... The cause of this decay is obvious enough, the district has no resources when the mines are not worked'.
The Great Trek of the Transport Party. 28th May 1825 - 1st May 1826
The new company organised a Transport Party to move the machinery and equipment needed to work the mines from Cornwall to Real del Monte whilst the first party surveyed the mines, negotiated for mules and men to both assist the Transport Party when it arrived and to make roads where there were mule tracks, the traditional form of transport in Mexico, and to improve the roads that existed. The leader of the road repair party was to become one of the many who lost their lives through yellow fever. There was 1,500 tons of equipment including 9 steam engines with their large boilers, 5 for pumping, 2 for crushing ore and 2 for use in powering saw mills; various pumps; large cast iron pipes to connect the pumps to be placed at the bottom of the mines with the surface; iron works, tools and implements the largest pieces and engines were from Perran Foundry Company of Perran and Harvey's Foundry of Hayle.
To transport the equipment 150 heavy-duty military wagons were purchased from the British government. The wagons were government surplus following the end of the Peninsular War. In 1825, some months later than planned, the machinery was loaded onto four ships, the Melpomme, the General Phipps and the Harriet which sailed for Veracruz and the Courier which headed for Tampico. The Melpomme arrived off Veracruz on 28th May 1825 and the other two ships in June but they found that the castle of San Juan de Ulúa was still held by the Spanish so they anchored near the island of Sacrificios and landed their machinery on the open beach and surf at Mocambo. One of the group, John Buchan, kept a diary of the journey.
The Transport Party's progress is best told in Buchan's own words. ... 'we had the very difficult task of landing our machinery on the open beach and then transporting it through the jungles to our first depot at Sta. Fé .......Whilst doing this the sickly season commenced and the yellow fever made sad ravages amongst both English and Mexicans. We fought hard against all these difficulties and by the end of August all our machinery was landed and the greater part moved inland to Sta. Fé. ........ Everything was now abandoned and we retreated to the higher and more healthy position of Jalapa ..... This fearful campaign had cost us the lives of just one third of our officers, one half our English workmen, and of those who escaped nearly all had been at death's door.
The number of Mexican's who perished we had no means of judging, but I should estimate them at not less than one or two hundred' 'We hired the Hacienda of San Lucas Martin, about 3 miles from Xalapa, and made that our next headquarters, for nursing the sick, recovering our mules, and repairing the wagons and harness preparatory to our next campaign after the rainy season. ..... On the 13th February (1825) .... we took to the road on our second transport campaign. .... our second depot, the Hacienda of Encero, situated at the foot of the great ascent to Xalapa, but being some 4,491 feet above sea ..... and therefore considered to be quite out of the region of the yellow fever. We immediately commenced with 50 wagons, 550 mules and 120 men, to remove all our heavy machinery (some 350 tons) from our old station to Sta. Fé. This required four journeys with our whole force over very bad roads, but by the end of March, to our great joy, this heavy task was successfully completed.'
A reporter from the Oriente de Jalapa wrote a letter on behalf of members of the Transport Party that was published in the paper on 25th September 1825. The convoy had reached Jalapa after passing through the mosquito-infested rain forest extending inland from the coastal plain. Heavy and continual rain had turned the road into almost impassable swamps. The letter reported that the convoy had left Santa Fé on the 31st August and reached El Encero on 6th September after spending two entire days on the bad road at Manantial where several mules were lost. The third depot selected for the convoy was the Hacienda de Guatemape, near the town of Perote, 7,400 feet above sea level. To reach the hacienda the convoy had to cross some very steep mountains rising to 8,500 feet above sea level. Buchan's diary continues ' These difficulties were, however, quite new and varied to our late work.........At the beginning of April we commenced this ascent from Encero, with a convoy of 53 wagons, having each 2 drivers and some 9 to 12 mules. In all with spares (there were) some 550 mules and 120 men and carrying 100 tons of machinery ...... including two powerful steam engines for pumping, with their large boilers, and columns of iron pumps for reaching the bottom of the mines ...... a small engine for working saw mill lathes &c. Also a large pair of shears with necessary tackles for unloading and reloading the heavy iron machinery from the wagons when these got upset or got fixed in the sand or bogs of the road, or to pull our load up the very steep portions of the road, which were too steep for the mule draft.
After great labour and many accidents we conquered this great ascent, and our convoy reached Guatemape on 8th April, after three days rest, proceeded on our last stage to deposit this valuable cargo at the silver mines of Real del Monte. In this portion of our journey we did not anticipate any very great difficulties ...... But ''as man proposes and God disposes'' the rains commenced unusually early this year, and were ushered in by a tremendous storm on our second days journey ...... torrents of water tore up deep gullies which required much labour to render them passable, while the plains became vast lakes where our heavy wagons frequently sank to their very axles. .... many of the wagons stuck so deep in the mud that they had to be unladen to extricate them, and this often occurred two or three times a day with the same wagon. Many got upset and some washed a considerable distance in crossing flooded water courses, as may be supposed, our progress was very slow.'
The first engines arrived at Real del Monte on 1st May 1826. 'After a few days delay at Guajolote to rest our mules and to make alterations in the very steep road ascent from this farm, we made our grand entry into Real del Monte on the first of May' 'It was a lovely day and crowds of Mexicans from near and far had assembled to welcome the first entry of a steam engine into any of the mining districts of Mexico. Bells were ringing, bands playing and everyone in holiday attire. Truly it was a day of rejoicing and triumph to the Transport Party who, after so many difficulties from climate, mountains and floods, had at last succeeded in transporting it from the Gulf of Mexico to Real del Monte at an elevation of 9,000 feet above the sea.' And so started the rebuilding and modernisation of the district's mining industry. By the 1830's the Cornish community at Real del Monte and Pachuca had increased and now included the Cornish wives and children of many of the miners. As time went on many of the miners made the district their new home, marrying into local families.
A rare surviving document, a pass issued in 1827 to Walter Gilbert of Camborne.
Walter was a Cornish Miner working in Mexico.
Drawings for an Amalgamation Barrel from the Perran Foundry Drawing Books
Produced by the Foundry in 1856 for a Mr. Todd and destined for use in Mexico
Barrel Amalgamation was an improvement upon the Patio Amalgamation Process. It was at Pachuca in 1555 that Bartolomé de Medina invented the Patio Process for the recovery of silver and gold from low grade ores, a process that revolutionised the New World's mining industry and had far reaching effects upon the economy of Europe.
The Patio Process remained in use until the early 1900's and was the first chemical process developed for the recovery of a metal from ores.
The Panteón Ingles or 'Cornish Cemetary'
overlooking Real del Monte, circa 1900
A Pachuca Mining Company share certificate
issued to Mary Michell of St. Day, Cornwall in 1889
One of the many documents held in the Archives at Pachuca
Courtesy Archivo Histórico y Museo de Minería, A.C, Pachuca
Pachuca and Real del Monte's Cornish Heritage Today
Today the Pachuca - Real del Monte District retains much from its period of association with Cornwall. Both the built heritage such as: at the town of Real del Monte where pitched roofs of corrugated iron are not uncommon giving an almost 'English appearance', Four Cornish Engine Houses, which once housed the great Cornish Pump Engines, survive at Mina Acosta, Mina San Pedro, Mina Delores and Mina Corteza; at Pachuca the facade of the English Company Office still stands proudly; the residence of Francis Rule of Camborne, the last Cornish Manager of Real del Monte, still bears his initials in its stained glass window, he gifted the building to the State of Hidalgo on his retirement.
The town clock of Pachuca chimes to the tune of London's Big Ben, the mechanism was made in England by that famous clock's makers and was a gift to the town of Francis Rule; the Methodist Church built by the Cornish miners shows how they took their religion wherever they went; and the Cornish Cemetery contains the graves of many Cornishmen and women who were never to return to their native land.
The social heritage of this district of Mexico also reflects the period of Cornish influence: 'Pastes' are a local delicacy, Pachuca and Real del Monte daily producing as many as Cornwall but mostly with decidedly Mexican fillings; tennis is said to have first been played in Mexico at Pachuca by the Cornish managers; the archives of the Real del Monte Company, now cared for by Archivo Histórico y Museo de Minera AC., contain very detailed records of the Cornish employees especially of the period between 1824 and 1849; the Cornish married into Mexican families as can be traced in the Cemetery with the result that today Cornish surnames are not uncommon, an example is the custodian of the Cornish Cemetery Señor Umberto Skewes who speaks little English and who's grandfather came to the Real from Cornwall. At least one Cornish person still lives at Pachuca, an elderly lady called Richards who left Cornwall for Mexico when still a young girl.
The Mexican national game of football was first played in Mexico by Cornish miners at Pachuca in 1900, a fact that is celebrated each year. The first soccer club in the country, the Pachuca Athletic Club, was also founded in that year. A little known and scarcely believed fact in a country so devoted to 'futbol', the national sport. The first team consisted of Charles Dawe, John Dawe, James Bennetts, John Bennetts, William Blamey, Richard Sobey, William Bragg, William Thomas, Percy Bunt, Lionel Bunt, Albert Pangelly and William Pengelly. A decidedly 'Cornish' team. The Pachuca club encouraged the formation of teams in Mexico City and Orizaba, the first championship was played in 1902 and 'El Pachuca' won the 1904-05 tournament. The District of Pachuca - Real del Monte contains a rich heritage of which the period of Cornish influence is only part. The mines of the District are conservatively estimated to have produced 1.2 billion Troy ounces of silver and 6.2 million ounces of gold. 6 percent of the silver mined throughout the world during the last five centuries and continues in production today.
Archivo Histórico y Museo de Minería, A.C
Mina No. 110, 42000 Pachuca, Hidalgo, México
Directora Belem Oviedo Gámez
Tel: (771) 7150 976 & 7151 833 Email: ahmm@prodigy.net.mx
AHMM has developed the Mina Acosta site at Real del Monte into Mexico's first true mining heritage site complete with underground tour. AHMM's Museum in Pachuca is Mexico's leading mining museum, a must for visitors to the area.
In October 2004 AHMM added a third museum with the opening of its latest project, a new Cultural Centre in the former Miner's Hospital at Real del Monte. The work to develop this site was assisted by a grant from the Mexican National Fund for Culture and Arts. The Cultural Centre houses AHMM's Museum of Medicine and is a fitting addition to this historic and picturesque mining town.
As noted above the Archives of the Museum at Pachuca are a very important part of Cornwall's mining and social heritage. In addition to the records of Cornish people the Archive contains very detailed information of the Mexican employees of the Real del Monte Company and are an important Mexican social record.
British Immigrants in the Mining Districts of Real del Monte and Pachuca 1824-1947 - An approach to Daily Life
by Rosario Villaobos Velazquez
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The first book researched and written in Mexico describing the long relationship of the Cornish Miners and their families with Real del Monte and Pachuca written from a Mexican perspective. |
Published by the Archivo Historico y Museo de Mineria A.C., Pachuca, Hidalgo State, Mexico. Supported by the British Council Distributed in the UK by Poldark Mine, Wendron. Price: £20.00 + £1.50 p&p UK mainland only |
Mexican Visitors and Twinning TRIAL PAGE
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The Agreement to work towards forming closer links between the City of Pachuca and the town of Real del Monte, Hidalgo State, Mexico and the District of Kerrier, Towns of Redruth and Camborne and the Parishes of Carn Brea and Illogan |
The Agreement was signed by: Snr. Jorge Romero, (Minister of Culture for the State of Hidalgo, Mexico) on behalf of the State of Hidalgo, City of Pachuca and Town of Real del Monte; Mrs. Wendy Lawrence (Chairman Kerrier District Council); Mr. Len Pascoe (Mayor of Redruth); Tony Bunce (Chairman Camborne Town Council); Mrs. Diane Cousins (Chairman Carn Bea Parish Council); Mr. Graham Ford (Chairman Illogan Parish Council). |
The Minister of Tourism for the State of Hidalgo, Mexico, with his wife with David Jenkin of Redruth , underground at Poldark Mine.
(David spent most of his working life in South America)
Richard Williams, Poldark's MD, with Santiago Oñate Laborade, the Mexican Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Elizabeth Yanes, The Minister of Tourism, State of Guanajuato, Mexico and the Mexican Cultural Attache at Land's End. Richard has worked as an advisor to the State Government of Guanajato and the World Heritage Site Committee of the city of Guanajuato as well as on other projects in Mexico, the Caribbean, Portugal and Cornwall.
For the latest news on Mexico and the Cornish connection go to
The Cornish Mexican Cultural Society's website
Page last updated 4th August 2007
