Samuel Arden Singlehurst

Samuel Arden Singlehurst

Local connection- Singlehurst Mine on OK Mountain, part of Bornite Mountain Range, near Usk

Sept 1898, John Harris a mining expert from South Africa was working for S. Arden Singlehurst in the Omineca Mining area.

Singlehurst represented a wealthy New York Company.

Singlehurst hired 8 men to prospect in the Omineca area.
With the exception of Mr. Harris, they left Apr 1898 from Vancouver
They penetrated an area unknown to white man, and staked 7 quartz claims.
Harris used information from the local Natives to find rich placer claims.

Bucket and Whim from the Singlehurst Mine,
Both Photos above, Taken ca 2003, and Copyright of Ken Newman,
His father, Dave Newman, can be seen in background of right photo.

These Items are on display at the Heritage Park Museum, in Terrace
Whim was powered by a horse, going round and round, which would winch the bucket up from the shaft.

Ext Link below to a great picture on BC Archives site, shows the mine, framework over the shaft, the whim above, and mine building.

View of “OK” Mountain
Pictures courtesy McRae Collection

Mine was on “OK” Mountain, part of Bornite Mountain Range
Ptarmigan Group (mining claims)
Ptarmigan, Ptarmigan No 2, Arden, Blue Grouse, Fedora,
Emerald, La Tosca, Missouri, Tandem Frac., and Transit Claims.
Crown Granted, after a lot of money was spent, no work was done from 1902 -1914
1914, Mrs. S. A. Singlehurst of New York owned this property
She visited the property in 1913 with a mining engineer.
She wanted to reopen the mine after the GTP resumed freighting operations.
in 1901 Herbert Carmichael, Provincial Assayer wrote about the mine.

S. A. Singlehurst, mine manager of the Niagara Mining and Development Company
applied for a Canadian Mine Development Permit, June 2, 1901
and the Mine Survey was accepted Nov 21, 1901.
It appears doing an internet search
This company still operates and is Publicly listed today in the states.
I am not sure if it is the same company?
They do not own this property anymore.

Ptarmigan group shown just above the B in Bornite Range, on map above

Singlehurst arrived in Vancouver on the Steamer Queen City
May 24, 1901 describing the great find of ore.
They were building a wagon road to the nearest shipping point.

Some of the investors with Howard Gould, were Paulding Farnham, and his wife Sally.
also Thomas Starbird, and George Alexander Starke.
(see Ptarmigan Vase link below for source of this info)

Ptarmigan group located near the summit of the OK mountain at the 5,000 ft level., about 4 miles NE of Kitselas
Wagon road built ca 1902 connected the claims with Kitselas.
A shaft was sunk to 130 ft level, with crosscuts and drifts, at the 30, 60 and 100 ft levels.

This article ca May 26, 1901 shows mine owned by Howard Gould and Associates

Howard Gould
b- June 8, 1871
d- Sept 13, 1959 in NY

Below is a link to Arthur Gould Yates Bio
part way down that page is Gould Family History
All rich Railroad men.
Arthur Gould Yates

Pat Clark-
Travis P. C. Clark
b- Feb 12, 1875 in Scotland
d- 1932
immigrated in 1897
shown as an assayer in 1901 census in Yale and Cariboo
Not sure about the Travis first name though.

Value of the ore was reported to be $1,000 to $1200 per ton in May 1901 dollars!
Vein was 10 ft in width
silver $650 per ton, gold $300 plus.
Free gold could be seen in the Quartz samples
Gould spent 3 years before developing the mine.
Singlehurst went to Rossland BC looking for 8-10 experienced
quartz miners for the property.

ca 1901- Ptarmigan Group
spent over $8,000 on improvements
Ledge stripped for 1,300 feet; No. 1 shaft sunk 90 feet; drift run at 30-foot level 25
feet north and 32 feet south ; cross-cut 6 feet and drift to south 20 feet at 60-foot level ; cross-
cut 10 feet and drift on ledge 18 feet north and 25 feet south at 90-foot level ; winze 6 feet at
face of cross-cut; open cut, 14 feet deep, 7 feet long; preliminary work for No. 2 shaft, 20
feet deep and 7 feet long ; 12 open cuts, 8 to 15 feet wide and 5 to 10 feet deep ; No. 1 tunnel
driven 20 feet, and 5 by 7 feet clear on the inside. A blacksmith shop has also been built,
together with three cabins, 12 by 16 feet, and one cabin, 14 by 25 feet, while 2 miles of a trail,
4 feet wide, have been graded.

If you look at the bucket above, I bet it was made in this blacksmith shop.

The government paid a grant of $84,000 for the 7 mile wagon road.
It was a standard 10 ft wide, and less than 8% grade.
In 1902 a trial shipment of 5 tons of ore was shipped out
over this road to be shipped to the Eastern States.

The same syndicate owned the Ormonde Group, in the same area. They spent $500 on improvements there.

Singlehurst Mine info below, from McRae collection

This property, located on Bornite Mountain - OK Range, at the 5000’ elevation, was staked before the turn of the century.
In 1900 and 1901 there was a great deal of activity towards developing this property.

The staging point was located at the town of Kitselas below the Big Canyon.
Men and machinery were sent to Port Essington and then by Sternwheeler to Kitselas.
A wagon road was built from there to the foot of Bornite Mountain, approximately five miles.
A good pack trail continued from there to the mine site, a distance of approximately eight miles.

A large camp was established, said to have 65 men working.
There was a blacksmith shop, assay office, cookhouse, bunkhouses and horse barns.

A head frame was constructed and shaft started. Work was done by hand, drilling, mucking and timbering.
A large horse driven winch was used to hoist the mine muck in a blacksmith made shaft bucket. (see above)

The shaft was driven to 130’ with sub levels at 60 and 100’ along with drift on the levels.
Rails in the mine were of wood and the small mine carts had steel wheels. They had a hand diamond drill.

They had a ventilation system run by large hand operated bellows.
There were some shipments in 1901 and 02 but can find no records on this.
Around this time, operations ceased because of the transport system and the price of gold being $16.00 per ounce.

Samuel “Arden” Singlehurst
b- Jan 16, 1874 Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Baptized Mar 27, 1874, St. Saviour, Liverpool, Lancashire, England
d- Aug 2, 1910, Toronto, York, ON, age 36
buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto ON
residence 93 Delaware Ave
shown as a Travel Ticket Agent in Toronto, when he was married 1896

Member of the Volunteer Militia
Private- 2nd Batt, Queen's Own Rifles, 1892

Singlehurst's signature 1892

father- Charles Robert Singlehurst
b- 1845, age 36 in 1881, Walton on the Wolds, Lincolnshire, England
d- June 16, 1887, age 42
Charles, Alice and Arden in 1881 census, at 49 Moss Grove, Toxteth Park
Charles shown as a Bookkeeper

mother- Alice Victoria Singlehurst, nee Lloyd
b- ca 1856, Liverpool England
family lived at 26 Pine St. Liverpool in 1874
Father was a Merchant
Alice's father- Thomas Lloyd, mother- Sarah Lloyd

Alice was a widow in 1891 living at North Toxteth Park, Liverpool, Lancashire
with son- Arden, who was age 17, shown as a shipping clerk
sister to Alice- Margaret Lloyd, age 37, Store Keeper
brother- Roger Lloyd, age 28, Carriage Salesman
wife of Roger- Eliza Lloyd, age 30

his mother Alice remarried to John Holderness, Apr 20, 1891, Toronto, ON

Grandfather of Arden- Samuel Singlehurst,
b- 1817, West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England
d- Apr 23, 1889, Snareston, Leicester, England
1841 he is shown in Walton on the Wolds with wife- Elizabeth
Samuel shown age 20, Elizabeth age 25.
1851 They are shown with Charles in Walton on the Wolds.
Elizabeth born in Walton on the Wolds,
Samuel shown as a farmer of 158 acres, 3 labourers.
they also had a son William Edward Singlehurst., b- ca 1849
brother of Charles

then I show Samuel had a 2nd wife- Emily Hardell Singlehurst,
and she was his widow when he died

S. Arden Singlehurst, married Isabella Craig, Mar 4, 1896, Toronto, York, ON
b- Oct 6, 1871, Brantford ON
d- Apr 11, 1951 in Toronto, ON
daughter of Robert Wilson Craig
and Christina Sward Craig

they had a son John Holderness Singlehurst
b- Aug 22, 1902 in Toronto, York, ON
d- 1982, buried in Ottawa ON

1911 Isabelle was living in Toronto,
with son John H. Singlehurst,
and her sister Edith Craig, b- Apr 1881 in USA

Isabella remarried to David Samuel Graham, May 13, 1915

Named after this Singlehurst family:

Singlehurst Rd in Terrace BC,

Singlehurst Creek

Ext Links
Not my sites

Ptarmigan Vases
http://www.silversocietyofcanada.ca/sites/default/files/Kay.pdf

Singlehurst mine on OK Mountain
BC Archives, call # A00804
http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_68/a_00804.gif

©