Paper Mills

[Marigold77]

Does any local historian know of the existence of any paper mills situated in the West midlands area in the 18C which were on or in the vicinity of the River Tame?. any help much appreciated

[Kiltpin]

Surely, you are looking for a paper maker, rather than a paper mill in the 18th century (1700 - 1799)?

Paper was originally made from boiled cloth, long before it was made from boiled wood pulp. It could have been made in small batches in a cottage industry, possibly by one man working alone . Whereas a paper mill was a very industrialised process, involving large and very heavy machinery. And being a continuous process required a great many people to perform. A paper maker was very much a cottage industry, whereas a paper mill employed a great many people.

Regards

Chas

[Rena]

I was surprised to read this article, which shows the earliest paper mil was founded in the 1480s.

A paper mill at Cannock Chase in Staffordshire set up in the 17th century could be the paper mill you are trying to find?

http://frogmoremill.com/explore-2/history/history-of-paper/paper-reaches-britain/

and here's the British Association of Paper Historians website with similar information:-

http://baph.org.uk/ukpaperhistory.html

[Rena]

 I see from an online paper that the archived Howard Family documents show a couple of "Green(e)" surnames.  One of whom rented a piece of land.    I've seen that one had connections to the village of Stannington, Northumberland.  From another online archealogical paper that there's evidence of a post medieval mill at Stannington.  I know nothing about papermaking except you need timber, or flax/reeds, and water but I did see on another website that in another part of the country that a flax mill became a paper mill.  Which indicates to me that any old mill will do to compress material into paper.

Here's the Howard document, that family owned land everywhere...scrolling down there's plenty of references to "Greenrigg" but keep on going and you'll eventually come across the two "Green"(s) No mention of the name "Edward" but he must have come from a moneyed family to either get free apprenticeship from a family member, or a bought/paid for apprenticeship.
http://endure.dur.ac.uk:8080/fedora/get/UkDhU:EADCatalogue.0155/PDF

.. and here's the webpage that mentions an old mill at Stannington

http://www.rootschat.com/links/01k18/

[Guyana]

There have been paper mills  in Tamworth on the Tame for a considerable length of time, the last one being Alders Mill, (right on the river) which closed not many years ago. There was also  Fisher's Mill at Kettlebrook (within 1/4 mile of the river) within the last 70 or so years. (My in-laws worked there) As for the 18thC, the Tamworth Herald would no doubt be able to help you more. Try them on line, (their historian is John Harper.)