engineering

John Brass (colliery manager)

John Brass (colliery manager) is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand John Brass (colliery manager) rather than just read about it. In short: John Brass was a manager and later director of Houghton Main Colliery Co Ltd. According to the Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory he was "one of the most prominent figures in the South Yorkshire coal mining industry".

Key takeaways

John Brass (colliery manager) belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect John Brass (colliery manager) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of John Brass (colliery manager) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

John Brass was a manager and later director of Houghton Main Colliery Co Ltd. According to the Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory he was "one of the most prominent figures in the South Yorkshire coal mining industry". He held significant posts in the mining, gas and coke industries both in South Yorkshire and nationally. Between 1934 and 1937 he was one of the assessors in the Gresford disaster inquiry and, along with the other assessor, published dissenting reports to the main inquiry.

Background Brass' father Thomas Francis Brass OBE, JP, MA(Durham) was born in 1858, the son of a blacksmith in Sherburn Hill, County Durham. TF Brass rose from colliery clerk through colliery cashier, to become a Surface Manager and eventually the Under Manager for Kimblesworth Colliery. By 1921 he was the agent (responsible for the general laying out and supervision of the workings) for Charlaw & Sacriston Collieries Co Ltd. In 1903 he was one of the team of rescuers who entered the flooded Sacriston pit. For this he was awarded the silver medal of the Royal Humane Society. TF Brass retired in 1934 and died in 1937.

Early life Brass was born 1879 in Wingate, County Durham. He was the eldest son of Thomas Francis Brass, the agent for Charlaw & Sacriston Collieries Co Ltd. Brass attended the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1894 he started work at Charlaw & Sacriston Collieries in County Durham. In 1902 he gained his Manager's certificate (number 2,098) and in 1903 became the manager or Primrose Colliery. In that year he was one of the rescuers who entered Sacriston Colliery along with his father. For this action he was awarded The Royal Humane Society's silver medal.<Royal Humane Society citation><Messrs. Spinks medal sale 19 November 2015> The Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory for 1940 credits him with the medal, but the issues for 1933, 1945 and 1950 do not. The Mines Inspectors Report for 1903 states that: "six of the explorers; those selected being Mr. W. Walker, Inspector of Mines, Mr. W. C. Blackett, the Agent of the Colliery, Mr. S. Tate, the Agent for Messrs. Walter Scott, Ltd., Mr. T. F. Brass, Assistant Manager, and H. Blackburn and J. Hall, two Deputy-Overmen." By 1909 he was a member of the Institute of Mining Engineers.

First World War During the First World War he was Acting Major, 13th York and Lancaster Service Battalion. Later in the war Brass was appointed Divisional Commander of Special Police for the Staincross Division of Yorkshire and became a Military Representative on Tribunals.

Colliery Manager In 1923 Brass was Director and General Manager of Houghton Main Colliery Co Ltd. Between 1923 and 1925 he was the President of the Midland Institute of Mining Engineers during which time he also became a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. In 1929 Brass was a member of the committee which examined the issues surrounding the replacement of rail mounted tubs with conveyor belts. In 1935 he was awarded the Medal of the Institution of Mining Engineers "in recognition of distinguished services to the mining profession and industry over a period of many years". He was also awarded the Peake Gold Medal by the Midland Institute of Mining Engineers.

Gresford inquiry

On Saturday 22 September 1934 at 2:08 a.m. a violent explosion ripped through the Dennis section of Gresford Colliery. An inquiry into the Gresford disaster was ordered on 11 October 1934 and sat intermittently from 25 October 1934 to 13 December 1936. The report was laid before Parliament and debated on 23 February 1937. The inquiry sat with a commissioner and two assessors, one of whom was Brass. The outcome was unusual for all three men arrived at different conclusions with the assessors' reports being presented as appendices to the main report. The official finding, as presented by the commissioner Sir Henry Walker, viewed with suspicion shot firing activities. The other assessor, Mr Joseph Jones, was concerned about a possible firedamp build up on one of the faces which was ignited by an accident with a safety lamp or from a spark from a mechanised coalcutter. Brass however was concerned about the telephones which were not of an approved type. He surmised that the explosion could have been caused by a gas build on one of the main access tunnels which was ignited by the telephone being called.

Notes

References

Bibliography anon (1947), The colliery year book and coal trades directory 1947., London: Louis Cassier Co. – via Durham Mining Museum Baker, Chris (2018), York & Lancaster Regiment – The Long, Long Trail, retrieved 5 October 2018 DMM (30 September 2018), "John Brass", Durham Mining Museum, retrieved 4 October 2018 DMM (30 November 2016), "Thomas Francis Brass", Durham Mining Museum, retrieved 4 October 2018 Mine Inspectors Report (1903), "Awards for Gallantry", Durham Mining Museum, retrieved 4 October 2018 Hansard (23 February 1937), House of Commons Debates, vol. 320, columns 1849-1966: House of Commons, retrieved 27 September 2018{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location (link) The Science & Art of Mining (27 July 1929), "Underground Conveying", Durham Mining Museum, retrieved 6 October 2018 The Science & Art of Mining (23 November 1935), "Institution Medal Award", Durham Mining Museum, retrieved 6 October 2018 Walker, Sir Henry, CBE LlD (Commissioner); Brass, John, MInstCE MIMinE (Assessor); Jones, Joseph, CBE JP (Assessor) (January 1937), Reports on the causes of and circumstances attending the explosion which occurred at Gresford Colliery, Denbigh on 22nd September, 1934, retrieved 21 September 2018 – via Durham Mining Museum{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John Brass (colliery manager)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John Brass (colliery manager) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to John Brass (colliery manager) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about John Brass (colliery manager) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of John Brass (colliery manager)

In research: John Brass (colliery manager) appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses John Brass (colliery manager) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: John Brass (colliery manager) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1879 births, 1961 deaths, British mining engineers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John Brass (colliery manager) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study John Brass (colliery manager) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what John Brass (colliery manager) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain John Brass (colliery manager) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is John Brass (colliery manager) in simple terms?

Why does John Brass (colliery manager) matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study John Brass (colliery manager)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on John Brass (colliery manager).