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Rosewell
The Lothian Coal Co. owned two pits outside Newtongrange,
Polton Pit at Bonnyrigg and Whitehall Pit at Rosewell. Polton
Pit was small and, though the Coal Co. built a number of
miner's houses in Bonnyrigg. it had no influence in the
running of the burgh. Rosewell was different, the village
being wholly owned by the Coal Company. Mr. Hood had first
leased Whitehill Pit from Mr. Wardlaw Ramsay of Whitehill
in 1856. Four years later, on the initiative of Mr. Hood,
Rosewell Co-op was founded, the first in Midlothian.
Rosewell got its bowling green in 1901 at the expense of
the Lothian Coal Co. and with some money from the Rosewell
Co-op, Rosewell Tavern, the first public house in the village,
opened in 1909 and was run by the Co-op. It was never a
Gothenburg but the Coal Co. stipulated that a certain proportion
of the profits should be spent for the benefit of the community.
Until the 1890s, Rosewell was bigger than Newtongrange
but, from 1898, Newtongrange far outstripped Rosewell in
size. Although Mungo Mackay was general manager for all
five pits, the day-to-day authority in Roswell lay with
the Whitehill manager, Mr. Hamilton. Like Mr. Mackay, he
exercised great control over 'his' village and he was feared
by the villagers.
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