Located on the river Evenlode, just to the NW of Eynsham, Oxon., at SP438 108. (SP4310 at www.geograph.org.uk)
By 1686 Eynsham's lessee was Thomas MEALES (-1706), who with his son, again Thomas MEALES (-1723), supplied white paper for printing Bibles in Oxford. (MARKS et al, 2003, 5)
By 1718, according to Foreman, Eynsham and Wolvercote were making the best white paper in England (Foreman, 1983, 71).
In 1723, when Thomas MEALES, the son, died, the 'the site included a corn mill and two others, one called the New Mill, both well stocked with rags. There were separate moulding and drying houses.', an inventory was attached to his will and is extracted by Marks et al. (MARKS et al, 2003, 5)
In 1724 inland revenue records record that one Anne MEALES of Eynsham, Oxon, papermaker took an apprentice named Richard MEALES, the premium being £005/00/00 [Inland Revenue record IR/1/10/129]Charles LOCK gives a glimpse into the training of a paper maker. He appears to have been baptized at Eynsham on 4 July 1736. On 3 November 1764 Petty Sessions identified one Charles LOCK residing at Snodland, Kent, site of another paper mill. LOCK, it was said, was ' born at Ansham , county of Oxford; was bound apprentice to William FACHION of Woolvernett , Oxford, Papermaker, for 7 years (and served 5 years and 4 months); then was a journeyman in Worcestershire of 11 weeks; then about 3 weeks in Shropshire and three years with Thomas OVERTON, a Papermaker.' (see The Papermill Early History, and Ashbee, The Papermakers of Snodland. If Charles LOCK started his apprenticeship at 14, as was often the case, then the early termination of it would have been in about 1756, the year when a fire destroyed the Eynsham mill (see below).
On 7 Jan 1752 one Charles RAMPLIN was apprenticed to Jarvis KEY, papermaker of Ensham, Oxon, from the parish of St Aldates, Oxford.(Oxfordshire Poor Law Name Index, Par/St Aldate/c/23)In December 1755 Thomas MATTHEWS, the apprentice absconded (MARKS et al, 2003, 6)
Eynsham was one of the major paper making centres in Oxfordshire and was in full production supplying paper for Bibles printed in Oxford until 1756 when it burnt down and had to be re-built (see 'Eynsham: Economic history', A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 12: Wootton Hundred (South) including Woodstock (1990), pp. 127-42. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=10695. Date accessed: 16 April 2006.) In an 18th C paper mill there would have always been a threat of fire and the unfortunate papermaker at that point was Jervis KEY. The mill was then rebuilt as a corn and paper mill.
In June 1756 William COLLINS, an apprentice absconded some two months after the fire (MARKS et al, 2003, 6)
In July 1757 Charles PAMPLIN, the apprentice again absconded, accompanied by John COLLINS, another apprentice (MARKS et al, 2003, 6)
At the end of 1757 'to let' advertisements appeared (MARKS et al, 2003, 6)
By early 1758 the mill was for sale (MARKS et al, 2003, 6)
In 1761 the owner of the mill was Jn. BROWN (Foreman, 1983, 71).
Marks suggests that the new owners were Joseph RYDER and Anthony BOXALL but that their partnership dissolved in 1765 (MARKS et al, 2003, 6)
In 1768 Edward WEBB, son of William WEBB (wife Martha) a papermaker who had moved into the area from Sawston, Cambs., was christened in Eynsham. (Fisher, 2008)On 17 April 1769 a Bond of Indemnification re Dower mentions as its parties 1) John KEY and Francis LADSON of Eynsham, paper maker 2) Sarah KEY [probably Jarvis KEY's widow], with a consideration of 100. (Oxford Local Studies Index, SL7/1/D/8)
About 1770, William WEBB moved from Ensham to Beoley, near Redditch, Worcs. (Fisher, 2008)
On 18 May 1771 a report appeared that there had been a break-in at the mill and the theft of machinery (MARKS et al, 2003, 6)
By 1785 Eynsham Mill was in the hands of Stephen FAICHEN, probably a nephew of William FAICHEN who was paper maker of Wolvercote, Oxon.
In 1791 the Universal British Directory entry for Eynsham listed 'Faichen Stephen, (F.) Paper-maker'
By 1798, Stephen FAICHEN was in partnership with J. SWANN. The new partnership submitted specimens and tenders to the Clarendon Press for a Royal Wove paper (possibly to print bank notes). (Colin Robinson, "Re: Wolvercote Mill," posting in Oxfordshire list at Roots Web, Fri, 18 Dec 1998. online http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com, accessed 14/Apr/2008).
In his Will dated 6 Dec 1803 (probate 16 Feb 1804), Stephen FAICHEN of Wolvercot, Oxford, gent. left his messuages or tenement mills and premises at Ensham in tenure of John NOAUN to his executors to farm the rents for the benefit of his wife. After her death they were to be divised among the children of his brother William FAICHEN except for Stephen. Nephew Stephen FAICHEN to recieve freehold estate at Wolvercot "in which he now lives"(ORO, Blake/I/iv/1).
In 1804 John SWAN of Wolvercote purchased the mill for the use of James SWAN, his brother (Oxford Records Office, Local Studies Catalogue, SL138/1/, Introduction).
In 1805 the SWANNs supplyied paper to the Clarendon Press (MARKS et al, 2003, 6)
James succeded John SWAN in the business from 1807 (Oxford Records Office, Local Studies Catalogue, SL138/1/, Introduction).
Before 1811, J.C. Loudon Material, a tarred paper, was used to roof the mill (MARKS et al, 2003, 6).
Under James SWAN a Fourdrinier machine was installed at Eynsham (Oxford Records Office, Local Studies Catalogue, SL138/1/, Introduction). James, a friend of William COBBET, supplied paper for the Political Register (MARKS et al, 2003, 6).
From 1837 Henry SWAN ran the business (Oxford Records Office, Local Studies Catalogue, SL138/1/, Introduction).
In 1846 James SWANN died (MARKS et al, 2003, 6).
Between 7 Nov 1848 and 9 Dec the same year a series of letters were exchanged between, Tatum, Upton, Johnson & Co, Thomas HALLAM and members of the SWANN family, concerning a sale at Sandford and Eynsham Mills as a result of the Bankruptcy of Henry SWANN (Oxford Records Office, Local Studies Catalogue, SL138/1/C/01-12).
The 1854 Post Office Directory (pg 715) gives SWANN & BLAKE as Paper Manufacturers at Ensham Mills, Witney.
In 1856 John SWANN and his partner Thomas ROUTLEDGE employed pioneering techniques to produce paper from esparto grass (MARKS et al, 2003, 6)
In 1862 John SWANN left Eynsham (MARKS et al, 2003, 6).
Between 1862 and 1871 ROUTLEDGE & Co continued to use raw fibres for paper production (MARKS et al, 2003, 6).
In 1872 the WAKEFIELD family held the mill (MARKS et al, 2003, 6).
1889 saw the formation of the Eynsham Paper Company, Marks offers an extract from their prospectus which shows there was a share capital of £25,000 and that the company took over from R & S.C. WAKEFIELD. Mr S.C. Wakefield was to continue to act as Managing Director for at least 10 years(MARKS et al, 2003, 6-7).
On the 13 Nov 1891 Wakefield
disappeared and on Dec 26 the mill collapsed with a deficit of £12,000
(MARKS et al, 2003, 7). An entry in a local farmer's diary for Dec 14th
noted that 'Mr Wakefield, Eynsham: absconded with
lots of money and his governess – left behind wife and four children!' (MARKS et al, 2003, 7).
In 1687 an appeal to parliament to approve BRISCOE's charter was opposed by William SUTTON of Byfleet amongst others (including the Ancient Papermakers). SUTTON was bought off and, the other opposition being overcome, the bill became law.[Carr, pg cviii-cix]
HAGAR's enterprise was financed with borrowed money and was presumably undermined by the Company of White Paper Makers initative. In 1690 George HAGAR raised a petition to the House of Commons in which he stated that he had been producing white paper for the past three years at several mills in Surrey[Jenkins, pg 173]. In that year a petetion (presumably the same one) claimed that, even prior to 'the French interest' taking hold, English manufacturers were producing white paper for both writing and printing [Gwynn, pg 98].
By 1691 HAGAR was an undischarged bankrupt and the Company of White Paper-makers took legal proceedings in the House of Lords to become owners of his patent. [Jenkins, pg 173]