Index to papermill interests covered by (or of potential interest to) the research interests of
Bob Kirby.
These mills have formed part of the investigation of
several
family trees
(for which more detail is provided) and families at several of them
were, as one might expect, interelated. Some other nearby papermills
are listed.
| Mill
Name |
Location
(sorted alphabetically by county and place) |
| Source
of water power |
Earliest
and latest
dates of evidence
of paper production mentioned here |
| Drayton Mill | Buckinghamshire | West Drayton, | River Colne | 1696 (first leased to a paper-maker) | 1923 (ceased production) |
| East Hagbourne Mill | Buckinghamshire (formerly Oxfordshire) | East Hagbourne | --TBD-- | --TBD-- | --TBD-- |
| South Moreton Mill | Buckinghamshire (formerly Oxfordshire) | South Moreton | --TBD-- | --TBD-- | --TBD-- |
| Thorney
Mill |
Buckinghamshire. |
Thorney, Iver. | Frays River? (River Colne) |
1823 (in production) |
--TBD-- |
| Little Barrington Mill | Gloucestershire | Little Barrington, | River Windrush | 1809 (in production) | 1846 (ceased production) |
| Quenington
Papermill |
Gloucestershire |
Quenington, | River Coln |
1748 |
1876 |
| Clatterford
Mill |
Hampshire |
Clatterford, Carrisbrook, Isle of Wight | Spring fed |
1710 (converted for paper) |
1756 |
| Drayton Mill (possibly = Thorney
Mill, Iver) | Middlesex | West Drayton | Frays River (River Colne) | 1696 (first leased to a paper-maker) | 1923 (ceased production) |
| Broughton
Mill |
Oxfordshire |
Broughton | Sor Brook |
Not before 1696, but already active by 1795 |
--TBD-- |
| Port Mills |
Oxfordshire |
Burford | River Windrush |
None |
None |
| Witney Street Mill | Oxfordshire | Burford | River Windrush | None | None |
| Deddington
Mill (aka Baker's Mill, |
Oxfordshire |
Deddington | River Swere |
None |
None
|
| Adderbury
Grounds Mill (aka Deddington Papermill) |
Oxfordshire |
Deddington | River Swere |
1684 (converted for paper) |
1851 (dormant) |
| Eynsham
Mill (aka Ensham Mill) |
Oxfordshire |
Eynsham (aka Ensham) | River Evenlode |
1682 (converted for paper) |
1891 (financial collapse) |
| Hampton
Gay Mill |
Oxfordshire |
Hampton Gay | River Cherwell |
1681 (converted for paper) |
1875 |
| Hazelford
Mill |
Oxfordshire |
Hazelford (a lost village near Broughton) | Sor Brook |
--TBD-- |
--TBD-- |
| New Mills |
Oxfordshire |
Rotherfield Peppard, Henley-on-Thames | River Thames |
Abt 1786 (rebuilt as a papermill) |
1903 (in operation) |
| Henley
Papermill |
Oxfordshire |
Henley on Thames | River Thames |
--TBD-- |
--TBD-- |
| North
Newington Mill |
Oxfordshire |
North Newington | Sor Brook |
1684 (converted) |
1851 (in production) |
| Sandford-on-Thames
Papermill |
Oxfordshire
|
Sandford-on-Thames | River Isis (=River Thames) |
1826 |
1970s |
| Shiplake
Papermill |
Oxfordshire
|
Shiplake | --TBD-- |
--TBD-- |
--TBD-- |
| Hinksey
Stream Papermill |
Oxfordshire |
South Hinksey | Hinksey Stream |
1675 (started,
see Hinksey Stream for history) |
1775 (in
production) |
| Weirs
Stream Papermill |
Oxfordshire |
South Hinksey | Weirs Stream |
| South Moreton Papermill |
Oxfordshire |
South Moreton | --TBD-- |
--TBD-- |
--TBD-- |
| Upton
Mill |
Oxfordshire |
Upton | River Windrush |
1679 (in production?) |
1835 (bankruptcy) |
| Widford
Mill |
Oxfordshire |
Widford | River Windrush |
1745 (in production) |
1854 (in production) |
| Wolvercote
Papermill |
Oxfordshire
|
Wolvercote | --TBD-- |
1674 (in production) |
--TBD-- |
| Grey Mill |
Warwickshire |
Wootton Wawen | Alne |
1677 (in production) |
19th C (in production) |
The Oxfordshire papermaking expansion of 1680-85
Oxfordshire experienced a rapid expansion in its number of
papermills over the relatively short period 1674-1685, a period that
roughly coincides with the influx of Huguenot refugees from France,
amongst
whom were many papermakers. By 1681 there were said to be 100
papermills in England (Foreman, 1983, pg 71). King
Louis XIV considered these Protestants communities a threat to
his Catholic authority and in the 1680s their privileges were
steadily eroded, whilst some saw active
persecution (by the billeting unruly troops in their homes).
When, in 1685, Louis revoking of the Edict of Nantes, all French
Protestant pastors were exiled. Whilst their laiety were
forbidden to follow them, many did. The paper makers amongst those who
fled in anticipation of persecution or as refugees, brought
with them the secrets of making a better quality white paper,
kickstarting an expansion in English papermaking. The Huguenots tended
to settle in
discrete areas such as
Spitalfields,
London
and Bristol, Somerset. The grant of a Charter from James II.
in 1686 to " The
Governor
and Company of the White Paper Makers of England." marked something of
a milestone . At that time the company had only five mills in
the
country and fifteen members, many of whom were refugees (Portal, 1902,
24).
Oxfordshire connections with other paper
making areas
There is evidence of connections between the paper makers
of west Oxfordshire and those of Kent (particularly the Maidstone area) and Surrey.
Medway area of Kent
Charles LOCK appears to have been baptized
at
Eynsham on 4 July 1736. He served 5 and a bit years of a seven year
paper making apprenticeship at Woolvernett (Wolvercot Paper
Mill?). He then became a journeyman until he finally settled in
Snodland Kent, on the Medway just north of Maidstone (Ashbee,
Papermakers of Snodland)
On the 1851 Census a papermaker called Thomas BARKER was
lodging with
Robert HOLLIDAY at the Corn Mill in Witney. Thomas was born abt 1813 in
Maidstone Kent.
Harris (1976) mentions a reference to HATTON as paper maker at Widford
in 1803 that he found amongst the private papers of BALSTON, of
Springfield Mill, Maidstone
I have also come across a report of an unnamed (and unverified) family
of paper makers who were reported to have migrated (via London) from
Bampton, Oxon., to St
Mary Cray (about 10 miles E of Maidstone) in Kent.
Cobham area of Surrey
One Daniel WEST of
Cobham, Surrey, papermaker married Mary PALMER of
Burford in Burford, Oxon., (14 Jun 1749). At around the same
time
Thomas
HATTON first appeared in that area (1748).
Fennemore and paper making links
The
rather unusual name Fennemore occurs in north Oxfordshire, and references
to it on the 1881 census provide an interesting insight into the
potential links between paper making areas.
Edward FENNEMORE,
aged 74 and born in Berkshire, paper maker, is recorded at London Road, Wycombe, along with
his daughter Mary Anne FENNEMORE, aged 34, who is employed at Paper
Mill, and born in Iver, Bucks.
John FENNEMORE, aged 32, paper maker,
is also recorded at London Road, Wycombe. He was born in Iver, Bucks,
but married Sarah A, who was born in Wycombe, Bucks.
Henry
FENNEMORE, aged 55, paper maker, was born in Chillworth [sic
Chilworth], Surrey (site of another paper mill) and moved to Thorney
Bucks, where his wife Sarah was born. They are living at Thorney
Cottage, Iver, Bucks.
James
FENEMORE, aged 49, miller, was born in Hampton Gay, Oxfordshire (site
of another paper mill), but was then in Upton Cum Chalvey, Bucks.
Bibliography
- ASHBEE, Andrew, The Papermakers of Snodland
c.1740-1854, Kent Archaeological Society, URL: http://www.kentarchaeology.ac/authors/003.pdf
accessed 16 Mar 2006.
- FOREMAN, Wilfred, Oxfordshire Mills, Phillimore &
Co. Ltd, 1983
- HARRIS, F. J. T., 'Paper and Board Mills' in Transactions
of
the
Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 1976, Vol.
94,
124-135
- Huguenot History, The Huguenot Society of Great Britain
& Ireland, 2004 URL:http://www.huguenotsociety.org.uk, accessed
20 Aug 2008
- PORTAL,
William W., Some account of the settlement of refugees [L'eglise
Wallone] at Southampton, and of the chapel of St. Julian, attached to
the hospital of God's house [Maison Dieu] in which they worshipped,
also notes on the papermaking industry as practised by the Southampton
refugees, Winchester: Jacob and Johnson, 1902