A Torrent of Silver: Richard Trevithick, Cornish Miners and Steam Engines in Peru 1815-1828

This thesis marks the beginning of an in-depth investigation into the lost years of Cornish inventor and engineer Richard Trevithick in Latin America generally but more specifically to understand better the first generation of Cornish miners and steam engines in Peru from 1815 to 1828. The aims of this thesis are to approach Trevithick and other Cornishmen like Richard Hodge in the wider context of Peruvian mining history, in the late colonial and early Republican periods. It draws heavily from previously unconsidered Spanish language archival sources now dispersed between Peru, Spain and the USA. First, the aim is to reassess Trevithick’s contribution to mining in Peru, with reference to the 1822 report he produced on the mines of Cerro de Pasco. In the report he proposed his own company to rehabilitate the steam engines, finish the adit of Quiulacocha, and begin work on the deepest adit, Rumiallana, which would not be finished until 1907. Second, to consider the contributions of other Cornishmen to Peruvian mining and why Cerro de Pasco never became a desirable location for Cornish emigrants, despite it being their first destination in Latin America from 1815 onwards. This wider theme continues well into the nineteenth century and beyond Trevithick himself. It was Hodge, not Trevithick who oversaw the steam engines at work at Cerro de Pasco between 1819 and 1821 and the record silver registration at Pasco in 1820. Two other Cornishmen, Richard Spry and William Bevan, had briefly implemented European smelting methods to the silver mines of Peru before 1820. These efforts predate the same achievement made by Charles Lambert in Chile by over a decade. Their achievements in this period and their long-term success with either steam engines or modern metallurgical processes were both curtailed by the wars of independence (1821-1824). Thus, this small group of Cornishmen are defined as an anomalous group of individuals rather than a tightknit community of miners, unlike subsequent waves of emigration to places like Mexico and Chile.<p></p>

Author dc:creator

• Joel Griffett (21046103)

• Peru
• Cornish miners
• Cornish in Latin America
• Richard Trevithick
• South American silver mines

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved
• Open Access after 2027-12-08

Identifier

10779/exe.32616132.v1

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:figshare.com:article/32616132