Dorothea Quarry Records

Records of the Dorothea Quarry Co. Ltd., 1792-1970, including minutes, 1850-1970; directors' reports and related records, 1849-1970; directors' working papers, 1878-1969; financial records, 1857-1970; records relating to slate sales, 1835-1970; production records, 1858-1969; records relating to wages and working conditions, 1857-1969; slate shipment records, 1849-1969; legal papers, 1902-1955; correspondence, 1842-1970; quarry notices, 1892-1957; plans, 1882-1949; Penbryn Quarry records, 1881-1939; associated business records, 1964-1969; records of associated quarries, 1932-1934; records of the North Wales Slate Quarries Association, 1943-1969; records relating to other quarries, 1854-1942; miscellaneous papers, 1892-1965; photographs, 1878-1950; periodicals, 1895-1969; personal papers of John Williams of Plas Yn Blaenau, Glanbeuno and Ty Coch, 1793-1897; papers relating to the John William's Trust, 1848-1933; A. Wynne Williams of Bodwyn papers, 1901-1947; J. A. A. Williams papers, 1887-1899; papers relating to the estate of Leah Simon, 1864-1949; papers relating to the estate of Owen Henry Evans and David Owen, 1899-1915; papers relating to the estate of Ivor Hedd Glynne Williams, 1876-1919; R. Norman Davies papers, 1827-1915; papers relating to Bala Theological College, 1897-1915; papers relating to the Pant Du estate, 1895-1935; papers relating to the Royal United Kingdom Beneficent Association, 1951-1961; miscellaneous personal papers, 1792-1927; and records of Moriah Calvinistic Methodist Chapel, Caernarfon, 1867-1939.

Dorothea Quarry was opened in 1820 and was located in the parish of Llandwrog, close to Talysarn, Caernarfonshire. The quarry was owned by John Williams of Plas Yn Blaenau, Llanrwst, Denbighshire. In 1848 John Jones of Talysarn (1796-1857), a Calvinistic Methodist minister, with some of his associates, bought the quarry from Williams. Unfortunately the slate industry went into decline during this period, and the quarrymen's wages were cut. Jones's eldest son, John Lloyd Jones (1826-1893) from Plas y Bryn, Bontnewydd, became one of the chief managers of Dorothea and Penyrorsedd Quarries. By 1879 Hugh Hughes and Nathaniel Jones were two of the owners of the quarry. The Dorothea Slate Quarry Co. Ltd operated during the late 19th and 20th centuries and had offices in Caernarfon; it was a member of North Wales Slate Quarries Association. During this time, the company leased land on the Pant Du estate, Llandwrog. Following the steady decline in the slate industry in Wales, the Dorothea Slate Quarry Co. Ltd entered liquidation in 1970, and the quarry was closed in 1971.

Arranged into the following: Company papers: Minutes, Shareholders' papers, Directors' Reports and working papers; Financial records; Slate sales; Production; Wages and working conditions; Slate shipments; Legal papers; Correspondence; Quarry notices; Plans; Penybryn Quarry records; Other concerns of Dorothea Quarries; Associated Slate Quarries and the North Wales Slate Quarries Association; Records re other quarries; Other concerns; Miscellaneous; Periodicals; Private papers found with the Dorothea Papers; Files of the Dorothea Quarry Company re the Cornish Beam Pumping Engine; Balance sheets of Dorothea Quarry (duplicates) and some accountants' originals; Financial records: Additional deposit; Slate sales; Wages and working conditions; Company papers; and Additional deposits.

No restrictions

Compiled by Richard Burman for the ANW project. The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: Caernarfon Record Office, Dorothea Quarry records, catalogue; Slatesite, (http://www.llechicymru.info/index.english.htm) viewed 15 July 2004; Richards, Alun John, Slate Quarrying in Wales (Llanrwst, 1995); Dictionary of Welsh Biography down to 1940 (London, 1959).

Hard copies of the catalogue are available in Caernarfon Record Office, the National Library of Wales and the National Register of Archives. The catalogue is available online.

Usual copyright regulations apply.

All records deposited at Caernarfon Record Office have been retained.

Several other groups of papers became included in the company records, presumably derived from the owners and bodies with which they were associated.

Accruals are not expected

Further material relating to Moriah Chapel, Caernarfon, is Caernarfon Record Office, XD/9. For Dorothea Quarry photographs see Caernarfon Record Office, Photograph - XS1128: Dorothea Quarry Photographs.