Re History of owners of paper mill from 1700 - 1796

[Greta 1]

Sorry, hope this isn't too boring as I notice that most of the posts are referring to events in present day.

My interest however is regarding an ancestor who owned the Weston Rhyn paper Mill atached to Mill house in the 1780s - 90s. also owned Oak Cottage which was close by.

I am hoping to learn about the inhabitants of the people in the neighbouring houses, One of my ancestors Tamar Duckett lived in Mill house in the 1790s and later in Oak cottage (1851 census. However her father EDWARD GREEN bought the mill at some period in I think 1790s prior to that I believe he leased it from ?? I would love to get a mental picture of the atmosphere of the place, inhabitants and general daily life of the area at that time. Also hoping to find exactly when EDWARD GREEN moved to Shropshire from Northumberland in order to take over the mill.

Are there any local historians out there who might point me in the right direction as to which documents to search? Edward died in September 1797 and curiously his buriel is not recorded in the register of St martins but I do have a copy of his will and he appeared to own numerous properties and mills in the area, porkington, Daywell etc. My searches sadly have also been confusing as there appears to have been another EDWARD GREEN living in Ifton Rhyn at the same period, dying in 1793, but I don't know if there is any connection.

I appreciate that this is a tall order but any advice would be gratefully received.

Thank you

Greta.

[leebarnfield 30]

Hi,

A couple of forums members have been discussing this topic and we have a couple of local experts who aren't members. So although there aren't any responses we are on the case.

I also have a local history book on the way which may shed some light on the paper mills.

[Maggie 65]

Hi, I've got 'History of the Parishes of St Martin's & Weston Rhyn' by Neville Hurdsman in front of me now. p111 for History of the paper mills. There is a photo of the remains of the Weston Rhyn Mill and photo of a millwheel lying in undergrowth there and 3rd photo of The Wern Mill. It says as caption 'Weston Rhyn paper mill was the principal paper milling centre in the Wern, situated on the river Morlas near the 'paper mill' bridge (now a culvert) on the Weston Rhyn- Oswestry road. This was the home of the Duckett family for 100 years. Paper was produced here after 1710, the last being the coarse blue paper used for sugar bags'. The Wern Mill the last surviving mill building in the area. located on the Selattyn road. It milled mainly corn but may also have been a paper mill run by the Duckett family'.

Then on p 113 he mentions Tamar Duckett, in a section talking about the paper mill workers. (There are paper millers buried in Selattyn and in Selattyn Parish registers, not just St Martins, he has done a lot of work tracing them).

(Weston Rhyn) 'mill house may have been rebuilt by a Mr Green who was the paper miller here from around 1760 until his death in 1797; his widow Eleanor died in 1802. Their daughter Tamar inherited the business. She had married Thomas Duckett of Ruyton IX Towns in 1795. After her parents death she probably added a new porch to the house in which are set 2 bricks one on each side of the door, recording her initials and those of her husband.' founding the Duckett milling dynasty on the Morlas Brook. ... 'between 1795 and 1808 the Ducketts had 10 children, 5 sons and 5 daughters' (4 died shortly after birth). Thomas Duckett died 1811 at 51. then run by Tamar with the help of her son Thomas. The family took over most of the other mills in the area, running them as paper or mix of corn and paper mills and also owned farm land.

The mills would have used rags, which were sorted often by children, and women and children were also employed in cutting rags. The main hazard was dust. Hours were long and night shifts were worked. There is a lot more about these conditions in Neville's book.

No more info. about Mr Green, Maybe Eleanor Green is in the Selattyn Parish records?

The local studies department in Oswestry Library has a lot of records, and there are P/T experts who hold sessions there. It might be worth contacting them.

[Greta 1]

Hi Maggie,

Thank you SO much for your info and taking the time to reply. I did know about the Mill house but wasn't aware that my Ancestor may have built it, also I didn't realise that he had been there as early as 1760, this is important to my research.

Would Neville Hurdsmans book be available from the library circuit? I would like to go through it all before I buy it also I am interested in the names of the many workers at the Mill. Incidently Eleanor Green's buriel was in the St Martins register which is Why I find it so strange that Edward wasn't entered.thank you again for your helpful info.

kind regards

Greta.

[leebarnfield 30]

I bought a copy of the book which arrived today. Amazon show it listed but doesn't ever seem to have it in stock. I got mine through Abebooks www.abebooks.co.uk although I paid rather more than the £13.99 shown on the back cover.

[leebarnfield 30]

Also, I have an idea when flicking through the book that I might take all the photos in the book again, so there will be a modern day version. I can always get out and take any pictures that you want for your research.

[Maggie 65]

Thanks Greta.

Neville's Book is still for sale around here, Its isbn number is 1-84494-004-7 if you need to order it from a Library. Booka Bookshop in Oswestry have it. http://www.bookabookshop.co.uk/ He doesn't reference his information much, and is now too frail to ask him these sorts of questions directly. He does mention an enquiry into the employment of children in paper mills in north wales in 1843. I've done a quick search on National Library of Wales website but cannot find anything via their online stuff but there is this: http://www.genuki.or...per.html��which is a research paper based on NLW items and talks about Welsh Mills (the 'Chirk' Mills mentioned are those in Weston Rhyn).

Edited December 11, 2012 by Maggie