Charles Dawson's 'Natural Gas in Sussex' (1898-1902)
Cost of conservation £220
Original binding devised by Dawson himself. The leather has dried out and weakened, and the spine has fallen off. Once the spine goes, the boards follow. These have been stuck back on with plastic film but the temporary nature of this 'repair' is apparent as it has started to peel away, lifting the gold tooling and parts of the leather from the original spine.
This volume contains three pamphlets which have been personally collated by the Sussex solicitor Charles Dawson (1864-1916) and sent to the Society’s Library in 1902. In fact it was the second copy of the volume as a letter from Dawson which is pasted into the front complains that the first appeared to have been lost. The label 'Not to be circulated' i.e. made reference only, was added on the insistence of the author.
Charles Dawson in 1906. (GSL/POR/49/17-01)
Dawson, who is better known today as the likely culprit behind the Piltdown Man fraud, was involved in the two short-lived companies set up to exploit the discovery of natural gas in the East Sussex town of Heathfield in the mid-1890s. Both would fold, at least one under accusations of fraudulent activity.
The main article in the volume is a reprint of Charles Dawson's paper "On the discovery of natural gas in East Sussex" (1898) which was published in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society. Dawson has added a couple of illustrations which are not in the original journal along with two other articles on the subject of natural gas.
Natural gas in Heathfield
In 1895 natural gas was accidentally discovered in Heathfield after an artesian bore was sunk in a stable yard beside the New Heathfield Hotel near the railway station. The foreman overseeing the works noticed that the water appeared to be ‘boiling’ and, using the light from a candle, attempted to have a closer look. The resulting flame ‘burnt to about the height of a man’. A year later, when the railway company was looking for better quality water for their engine tank another artesian bore was sunk at a depth of 73 feet. A strong smell of gas pervaded the area which was just put down to ‘foul air’. When the well was sunk to 312 feet the ‘smell and rush of gas’ was so pronounced that someone lit it and the flame rose to over 16 feet in height. The flame was only extinguished with great difficulty. The bore was eventually sunk to 377 feet then abandoned when no useful amount of water was obtained. The well was capped but attention turned to the possibilities of exploiting the supply of natural gas.
'Heathfield Railway Station lighted with natural gas', one of the illustrations pasted into the volume by Dawson.
Despite ambitions that it could be utilised to power most of central and southern England, in reality the gas supply was only able to light the area directly around the railway station. The pressure soon dwindled and a coal gas generating plant was installed instead.
The compilation of the volume is likely connected to the Natural Gas Fields of England Ltd, the first company with which Dawson was associated. It was launched to great fanfare in 1902 but folded two years later in 1904. Surprisingly a second company, the South of England Natural Gas and Petroleum Company, was instituted in 1909 but would again fold following accusations of purposely disguising the dwindling gas supply to fool investors.
Conservation
The inside contents of the volume are in good condition, only the exterior needs attention. Replacing the leather spine and corners and reattaching the boards will cost £220.
If you would like to sponsor the conservation of this item, please contact the Library team at library@geolsoc.org.uk.