| Description | The papers of Hart, Moss, Copley & Co. contain accounts records for their wide range of clients, which include a number of coal mining companies, manufacturing companies, entertainment & leisure companies, small businesses, and individuals. Some of the more notable clients include the Wath on Dearne Main Colliery Co. Ltd (185-B/13, 1875-1957), Baker & Bessemer Ltd (185-B/17, 1892-1953), Bentley's Old Brewery, Rotherham, Ltd (185-B/22, 1949-1956), Dinnington Palace Ltd (185-B/34, 1913-1926), Hodgson & Hepworth Ltd (185-B/44, 1928-1950), Marsh Brothers & Co. Ltd (185-B/53, 1909-1953), and the Sheffield Chemical Co. Ltd (185-B/70, 1935-1959).
Records of small business clients cover a range of enterprises, amongst which are bakers, builders, butchers, grocers, tobacconists, dealers of wines & spirits, motorcycles, radio & television, drapers, milliners, millers, tailors, and landlords/owners of public houses & hotels. A number of these records also contain details of items of stock purchased by the business, and their value.
Accounts records for individuals generally relate to the administration of their estate after death, and the management of charitable trust funds. Amongst these are accounts relating to former Mayor of Rotherham; Edward Hickmott (185-B/85/11, 1841-1933) , well-known agriculturalist; Walter Gude Harris (185-B/85/9, 1933-1936), the Mrs Mary Chrimes Trust (185-B/85/4,) , Thomas Wilson's Charity, and the Stoddart Samaritan Fund.
The bulk of the material is in the form of audit and taxation papers, which generally include annual statements of trading accounts, profit & loss accounts, balance sheets, and details of tax computations. For some of the larger companies however, there are also cash books and private ledgers that indicate daily/weekly/monthly transactions for various accounts, and, in some cases, minutes of meetings, which cover both the finances and general management of the company. The subject of Coal Industry Nationalisation is also covered in some of the files of accounts for coal mining companies.
Records that are not of a financial nature may also be found within the papers, and these include: Prospectus of Mining Proposals of the Rampton & Leverton Coal Mining Syndicate (185-B/7, c.1922), Minutes of Meetings of the Rotherham & District Rescue Station Board, which contain diagrams of mines rescue apparatus (185-B/9/1, May 1912-Jul 1945), Papers relating to the Management of Almshouses in Helpston, Northamptonshire (185-B/85/3, 1908-1940), and Deeds relating to Edward Hickmott's property at Bramley, Rotherham, (185-B/85/11/5, May 1841-Nov 1877). |