Rosewell
The Lothian Coal Co. owned two pits outside Newtongrange, Polton Pit at Bonnyrigg and Whitehill 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 Rosewell lay with the Whitehill manager, Mr. Hamilton. Like Mr. Mackay, he exercised great control over 'his' village and he was feared by the villagers.