George Barnsby in his book, Social Conditions in the Black Country 1800–1900 (1980), has this to say about the Earls of Dudley.
“The Dudleys gave no lead to the area regarding safety in mines. In the middle of the century their mines were no lesser death traps than those of other owners, and some of the ghastliest accidents of the century occurred in the Dudley mines.…..The Earl stood above the law and this immunity was fully utilised…..But the greatest indictment of the Dudleys is that they were chiefly responsible for the great evil from which most other abuses flowed, namely the perpetuation of the butty system……Thus the Earls of Dudley, far from using their immense influence to ameliorate social and economic conditions were an active, and in some some respects a decisive influence, in perpetuating disgraceful conditions…”