It was created on 26 July 1887 for John Hardy Thursby, then honorary colonel of the 5th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment.
John Hargreaves (1732-1812), had entered the Burnley coal industry through marriage in 1755 and in 1797 he acquired the lease-holds for most of the mineral rights in the area.
Although they had a son, he had died young, and the property, including the Bank Hall Estate, was divided between two daughters.
The younger, also named Charlotte Anne, married General Sir James Yorke Scarlett, a hero of the Battle of Balaclava, but the couple produced no offspring.
The company, later known as Hargreaves Collieries, was by far, the largest mine owner on the Burnley Coalfield, continuing the operate until coal mining in the United Kingdom was nationalised under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946.