When Jacob Rowley’s rich and childless uncle died in 1718
and left him his entire fortune, gained from highly profitable sugar plantations
in the West Indies, he knew that he could at long last do what he had always
wanted to do and make a name for himself in the upper echelons of Society in
his local town. He had long envied the rich lords and ladies who rode past in
their carriages and glanced disdainfully, if at all, at the lesser mortals,
such as himself, who could not afford such luxuries as fine clothes and
prancing horses.
Jacob knew just how he could use his inheritance to make the
change. Many of these upper-class people were on their way to the neighbouring
town of Buxton to take the waters at the famous Spa, where the main object of
the exercise was to see and be seen and to mingle with other people of their
class. Jacob’s ambition had always been to open a spa of his own and attract
those same people to his own establishment, where he would be the provider of
the same sort of luxury and elegance that Buxton could offer and therefore be
accepted into the company of those posh carriage-owning people and become one
of their number.
Jacob’s uncle had owned a big house in the town that could
easily be converted into a spa resort. It even had a stream of sparkling water
that ran through its grounds from the hills behind the town. The source of that
water was just like that which supplied the spa at Buxton – mineral-rich
springs that bubbled up from deep underground and brought healthy benefits to
anyone who drank it, or so they believed. And – of course – there were huge
financial benefits for whoever could own it and sell it at a substantial profit.
All Jacob needed to do was build the facilities and ensure a
steady supply of spring water so that his spa would never run dry. This meant
employing a team of men to dig out a fresh channel behind the house and to bore
a tunnel through the rock so that the water would flow faster and not be contaminated
by contact with any surface deposits. Jacob knew that this would take time and
money, but he was prepared to wait as long as it took, and pay whatever was
necessary, in the knowledge that all his investments would be repaid many times
over when he was eventually able to open for business.
In the meantime, he was approached with many offers and
ideas as to how he could make good use of his newly inherited wealth. There
seemed to be dozens of schemes around that guaranteed vast fortunes for hardly
any investment. For example, he could buy shares in the South Sea Company, as
hundreds of savvy and high-born investors had done in London. Surely they had
to be on to something?
However, Jacob preferred to put his money into something
more substantial than share certificates, which is why he was prepared to
listen to appeals for loans of cash from old friends of his who were going into
new enterprises of their own. He therefore ended up putting money into a new
school, agricultural improvements, a lead mine, a pottery, and much more
besides. It pleased him to think that money that had been made from the labour
of slaves in the colonies was finally doing some good.
When all the work was complete and Jacob was ready to open
his spa he invited all the great and good of the town to come to the grand opening
of his pump room. The idea was that a lever would be pulled that allowed the
spring-fed mineral water to pour into a series of basins from which the customers
would be able to scoop it out by the cup and drink it at their leisure.
He asked his old friend William, who had been one of the people
to benefit from his generosity, to do the honours and pull the lever. As the finely-dressed
lords and ladies of the town gathered to watch the ceremony, Jacob felt a warm
glow that came from the knowledge that within a few days he would be able to hold
his head up in their company and have the respect he had sought for so long.
“I really am very grateful to you, Jacob”, William said as they
waited. “Not only have you asked me to open your new spa, but the money you lent
me has made all the difference to my new mine”.
“In what way?” Jacob asked.
“Well, one of the problems we had was what to do with the
liquid waste from the underground workings. It’s pretty unpleasant stuff, full
of nasty chemicals, and you wouldn’t want it going on to farmland or ending up
in wells or reservoirs.
“Fortunately, we came across a brand new tunnel up in the
hills. What it was there for is anyone’s guess, but your money just covered the
expense of digging a connecting tunnel to it from our lead mine. All the waste
can now go straight down it.
“Now – is this the lever you want me to pull?”
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