lamp, spout

Object

Accession Number
2001.009
Alternate Name
oilwick cap lamp; miner's lamp
Description
A soldered tin miners' oil-wick lamp, the cylindrical body with a conical top and a hinged lid (3cm dia), the long double-walled tapering spout (9.2cmL) soldered onto one complete side of the body at its base, the tip of the spout higher than the top of the hinged lid, a fish-hook shaped metal handle (7cmL) soldered to the opposite side of the body of the spout, a separate round piece of metal with ridged border soldered to the base of the body, the complete assemblage creating a sealed chamber to contain liquid fish oil or whale oil or paraffin-based solid fuel.
Narrative
Oil-wick cap lamps were common-place in the coal fields of Vancouver Island from the mid-19th to early 20th Centuries. Craigdarroch's builder Robert Dunsmuir and his Uncle Boyd Gilmour started work as coal miners at Ft. Rupert for the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 1851 and continued that work in Nanaimo after moving there in 1853. They would have used lamps like this one.

Gilmour soon returned to Scotland, but Robert stayed on, quicky becoming an independant contractor in the HBC's Nanaimo mine, and eventually the owner of his own mines and British Columbia's first millionaire. His son, Hon. James Dunsmuir, sold the family's collieries in 1910.

It is highly probable that Robert Dunsmuir owned such a lamp right up to the time of his death. Even after attaining great wealth, he would have gone into the pits from time to time inspect the works. After his death, Joan Dunsmuir may have kept such a lamp as a reminder of him.

Oil-wick lamps on Vancouver Island often used whale oil, fish oil, or paraffin wax for fuel. This model has a double-walled spout, which means that it could also utilize the paraffin-based solid fuel. The hook handle was used to hang the lamp from a miner's hat.

Vancouver Island coal mines were very dangerous because of the concentration of methane gas. Deadly explosions occured and many men lost there lives or suffered catastrophic injuries. For further information on these dangers and on the types of lamps used by coal miners during the Dunsmuir period, see: 
http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/mining-lights-and-hats

The late Peter Scott, donor of this lamp, felt that this lamp should be a reminder that the source of the Dunsmuirs' great financial wealth, including the money needed to build Craigdarroch Castle, came from the men who laboured deep in the earth.  
History of Use
Documentation related to The Castle Society's acquisition of this lamp indicates that it is believed to have been used in the Vancouver Coal Company's Number One mine in Nanaimo. The lamp passed through two Nanaimo owners until about 1984 when it was acquired by the late Peter Scott of Victoria, who donated it to Craigdarroch in 2001.
 
Date
circa 1880
Dimensions
9.4 x 4 cm
4 cm
Material
Metal, tin
Manufacturer
Hardsocg Mfg. Co.
Technique
Galvanized
Inscription
"Hardsocg Mfg. Co. Ottumwa IA"
Country of Origin
United States of America

Related person/business/organization
Hardsocg Mfg. Co. (manufacturer)