ABSTRACT
THE chief consequence of the development of the local coalfields in the eighteenth century was an indirect one The mines had been opened in order to satisfy the demands of Cheshire saltboilers and Liverpool householders, but they soon began to deal extensively with the proprietors of important furnace industries which the coalmasters had succeeded in attracting to the district. Between 1771 and 1815 St. Helens was deeply involved in the affairs of the copper industry at the most interesting period of its history. 1
