1. Robert Bald FRSE FSA MWS was a Scottish surveyor, civil and mining engineer, and antiquarian.
22 Facts About Robert Bald
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Robert Bald was one of the earliest and most eminent mining engineers and land surveyors in Scotland, and by the late nineteenth century he was referred to as "the acknowledged father of mining engineering in Scotland".
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Robert Bald was born in Culross, Scotland, the son of Alexander Bald, a colliery agent of Alloa.
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Robert Bald's brother was Alexander Bald, poet and friend of James Hogg.
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Robert Bald combined two qualities vital for colliery direction: a deep practical knowledge with a respect for scientific enquiry.
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In 1808 Robert Bald travelled with Thomas Telford to survey the Gota Canal from Lake Malaren to the lakes of Vanern and Vattern in central Sweden.
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Robert Bald returned to the country in 1826 when he was invited by the Swedish councillor of state, Baltzar von Platen, to survey the Skanian coal fields, which he did in the company of Sven Nilsson.
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One of Robert Bald's earliest publications was A General View of the Coal Trade in Scotland, which is considered "an excellent technical account of coal mining during the Industrial Revolution", the book was reprinted in 1812 with the addition of "An Inquiry into the Conditions of Women who carry Coals under Ground in Scotland, known by the name of Bearers", in which he denounced this labour as a form of slavery.
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Robert Bald was elected a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1817 and started working in general practise as a mining engineer in Edinburgh around 1820 with John Geddes.
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Robert Bald pointed out the danger of the ignition of coal dust in a paper in Jameson's Journal, 1828.
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Robert Bald was a cousin of William Robert Bald the civil engineer and cartographer, and acted as sponsor for William's membership of the Royal Society in 1829.
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Robert Bald had enormously broad range of interests, visible in the large number of learned societies he was a member of and in the subjects on which he wrote.
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Robert Bald's efforts reached a climax in the summer of 1832 during a cholera outbreak in Alloa, Collyland and New Sauchie.
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Robert Bald issued a pamphlet ascribing the disease to God's wrathful judgement on the drunkenness of the miners, especially at the wakes taking place after the funerals for victims of the disease.
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Additionally, Robert Bald supplied wine as an alternative to the whisky he thought was so damaging, had watchmen patrol the streets looking out for drunkenness, and introduced prayer meetings Alloa, New Sauchie and Collyland collieries.
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Robert Bald took over the running of the Collyside, Woodlands and Devonside collieries according to his philanthropic principles, while a group of businessmen ran the Alloa colliery.
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Robert Bald was a firm supporter of the Earl of Shaftesbury's Mines and Collieries Bill of 1842 that prohibited the employment of women and girls in mines and sought to regulate the employment of boys and improve safety conditions in the mines.
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Robert Bald's obituary published in The Gentleman's Magazine, wrote that alongside Lord Ashley, the Earl of Shaftesbury, he did much to stop the employment of women 'bearers' in mines and to generally improve the condition of the mining community.
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Robert Bald was one of more than 2,000 people who met at the West Church in 1838 to campaign for the abolition of the system of apprenticeship in the West Indies.
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Robert Bald is reported as seconding the first resolution against the evils of apprenticeship, which was called for the abolition of a system that was but slavery under another name.
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In 1808 Robert Bald mentored Francis Benjamin Hall, civil engineer and later acted as a mentor for the teenaged James Nasmyth, engineer and inventor of the steam hammer, introducing him to noted engineers and taking him on trips to engineering sites.
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Robert Bald was a living record of good stories, and in every circle in which he moved he was the focus of cheerfulness.