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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Yorkshire (West Riding) => Topic started by: mjn on Friday 04 February 05 19:48 GMT (UK)
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In the early 1880s, my ggrandfather took his family from Batley to Grünberg, Silesia (then in Germany but now called Zielona Gora and part of Poland). As far as I know, Messrs Oldroyd and Blakeley from the Batley/Dewsbury area founded a woollen mill there and my ggrandfather was in charge of the scribbling department and machinery. Via another website, I’ve been contacted by someone whose husband’s ancestors, from Dewsbury, also worked in the woollen trade in Germany in the 1880s. We’re both curious to know more. Can anyone help, please?
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Hi mjn
I tried googling "zielona gora wollindustrie" and got a .pdf document about Schlesien /Silesia, which tells a bit about the wool industry there. It mentions the introduction of the "spinning jenny" (in english, in the german document) but doesn't mention english workers. Part of the document is in english, so I've included the URL here:
http://www.pz.nl/nemo/pdf/riesenisergebirge.pdf
That will give you background info. but it's probably not what you are really looking for.
I then tried "grünberg englische wolle" and got:
http://www.drmartinus.de/menu.php?topic=ahnen_gruenberg_wirtschaft&no=0
Die Grünberger Tuchfabriken wurden Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts von englischen Industriellen gekauft. 1884 wurde die "Englische Wollenwaren-Manufactur" gegründet, die 1914/1915 mit der "Schlesischen Tuchfabrik" vereint und so zur "Deutschen Wollwaren-Manufaktur AG".
ie: The Grünberg Cloth Factoy was was bought up by an english company, at the end of the 19th. century. The "English Wool Products Factory" was founded in 1884 and was merged with the "Silesian Cloth factory" in 1914/1915 to become the German Wool Products Factory
(the english factory names will probably be a bit different, my english gets rusty sometimes, in areas where I don't use it often)
I also found a site with a long article about William Cockerill and his family, engineers, who introduced english machines into many processes, in many areas of Europe, including the cloth trade in Grünberg.
http://www.luise-berlin.de/bms/bmstxt98/9801proe.htm
This is in german, but Google may provide a workable translation. If not, and you are interested in the Cockerills, let me know and I will do a rough translation of anything relevant.
Hope this helps
Bob
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Thanks very much, Bob. I'll have a good look at the English pages and get back to you if I need a translation of the German! I did pass 'O' level German but it's a long time ago now.
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I also have ancestors who left Batley to go and work in the textile industry in Germany. One was my great Grandfather James Hodgson Chew who took his family there around 1878. He was joined by two cousins, Edwin and Dixon. They were dyers and worked in a suburb of Berlin called Stralau. On their return to Batley they set up a firm selling chemical dyes to the textile industry. The firm Dixon Chew still exists in Batley.
I have not understood the impetus for this move to Germany. Was there a period of recession in textiles during the 1880's?
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Hi emv,
welcome to RootsChat.
That is a good question. I don't know the answer, but in the stuff I looked up for mjn, I had the impression that the british textile industry was much more advanced than the Silesian, so it was a good opportunity to make a lot of money, by introducing "modern" machinery into an older system.
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While doing some photographing of MI's in Woodkirk Churchyard I came across a headstone for a Johanna Hahn the dau of Otto and Johanna Hahn who was born in Hamburg 1899 and died in Morley 1904.
I was curious as to why a German family were in the area, could this be a reason ? They were workers in a woollen mill.
If anyone has a connection to this family and wanted the MI and a piccy of the headstone - just let me know. :)
Carol
www.wakefieldfhs.org.uk
Wakefield Family History Sharing
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It seems that some of the first British owned mills in Germany were Shoddy (recycled wool) mills, and this was because there were import duties on woollen rags. This could be avoided if the rags were made into Shoddy in Germany.
One of the first was set up initially by a group of Batley people but within a few years, in the early 1850s, my gg-grandfather had become the owner. By 1870 he bought a mill at Kopenick which had been owned by the Blakeley family, and, probably in 1869, he established a business at Niederschoenweide. According to his obituary hundreds of Batley people were employed there until he sold the business in the 1890s.
We visited Kopenick a few years ago and got some information about that mill from the Heimatsmuseum, and were then directed to the buildings!, which were still standing, although rather decrepit. I know very little about the other mills, and am not sure exactly where the first one was; possibly Johannisthal. Stralau isn't far from here or Nieserschoeneweide, so might be relevant.
The Blakeley involved in Grunberg was a relative of the Kopenick ones, and I have a contact who would be most interested in this reference if you could get in touch privately
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It seems that some of the first British owned mills in Germany were Shoddy (recycled wool) mills, and this was because there were import duties on woollen rags. This could be avoided if the rags were made into Shoddy in Germany.
One of the first was set up initially by a group of Batley people but within a few years, in the early 1850s, my gg-grandfather had become the owner. By 1870 he bought a mill at Kopenick which had been owned by the Blakeley family, and, probably in 1869, he established a business at Niederschoenweide. According to his obituary hundreds of Batley people were employed there until he sold the business in the 1890s.
We visited Kopenick a few years ago and got some information about that mill from the Heimatsmuseum, and were then directed to the buildings!, which were still standing, although rather decrepit. I know very little about the other mills, and am not sure exactly where the first one was; possibly Johannisthal. Stralau isn't far from here or Nieserschoeneweide, so might be relevant.
The Blakeley involved in Grunberg was a relative of the Kopenick ones, and I have a contact who would be most interested in this reference if you could get in touch privately
I am descended from the Grunberg Blakeleys', George Blakeley (1837-1891) younger brother of Benjamin (1829-1900) is my ggg grandfather. My uncle has done quite a bit of research into the family history. please let me know if your contact wants to get in touch.
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I have found out that my relatives Thomas Barker and his family left Batley to work in Germany, some time after 1881, with his wife and children. Two children were later born in Germany (William and Edwin). My Great grandfather, was the head Woollen dyer at Carlinghow Mill, Batley, before he left for Germany.
Did all the workers from Batley, who left in the 1880's, go to the same area/Mill in Germany?
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Hello,
What was the name of the mill in Batley? Was it by any chance Blackburn's Mill? If so, I would very much appreciate contact with someone knowledgable about it's history.
Lyndsey
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I know this is now an old discussion but I am a new member - my great grandfather also worked at the english wollen manufaktur plant as an overseer. If you are interested there is good old footage of this facotry (in its german ownership phase) on You Tube - just search on zielona gora.
The attached photograph was taken in zielona gora - or grunwald.
My great granfather was born in Birstall - pretty close to Batley? He returned to England and set up his own company and registered a patent for a weaving loom component
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Many thanks, picots, for the YouTube link - very interesting. What was your Ggrandfather's name? My Ggrandparents were William and Sarah Goodall who took their family to Grunberg in the early 1880s. One of their daughters, Achsah, was my grandmother. Sarah Goodall died there and I have a photo of her grave. I don't think the cemetery exists now - I believe it was destroyed during either World War 1 or 2.
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a Very old topic i know but you never know
Its all very interesting and new to me about the German Mills, I assume it was Mark Oldroyd who was a very prominent mill owner in Dewsbury.
Sprinkwell Mill is one of Dewsbury's landmark buildings and used to be owned by one of the best known and most public spirited men in Dewsbury's history, Sir Mark Oldroyd, who employed 2, 500 workers and had the biggest textile manufacturing base in the country. The mill was founded by Sir Mark's father in 1818 and was converted to 100 high class apartments in 2004 by entrepreneur Richard Binks, head of Binks Vertical.
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I found a link to somoones site that maybe the oldroyd and Blakely link but i cant be certain, maybe you should contact the person who owns this site?
http://vivientomlinson.com/batley/p164.htm
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Google earth is also useful for orientating you in your ancestors footprints - I knew ggrandfathers address in zielonia gora and I can see the actual street on google earth - there is also a cemetary still I don't know if it is new or old - I got the impression that the town did not suffer too much damage in WW2 but I may be wrong. It was sad to find out that during WW2 Jewish prisoners worked and died in the woolen mill
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It seems that some of the first British owned mills in Germany were Shoddy (recycled wool) mills, and this was because there were import duties on woollen rags. This could be avoided if the rags were made into Shoddy in Germany.
One of the first was set up initially by a group of Batley people but within a few years, in the early 1850s, my gg-grandfather had become the owner. By 1870 he bought a mill at Kopenick which had been owned by the Blakeley family, and, probably in 1869, he established a business at Niederschoenweide. According to his obituary hundreds of Batley people were employed there until he sold the business in the 1890s.
We visited Kopenick a few years ago and got some information about that mill from the Heimatsmuseum, and were then directed to the buildings!, which were still standing, although rather decrepit. I know very little about the other mills, and am not sure exactly where the first one was; possibly Johannisthal. Stralau isn't far from here or Nieserschoeneweide, so might be relevant.
The Blakeley involved in Grunberg was a relative of the Kopenick ones, and I have a contact who would be most interested in this reference if you could get in touch privately
I am descended from the Grunberg Blakeleys', George Blakeley (1837-1891) younger brother of Benjamin (1829-1900) is my ggg grandfather. My uncle has done quite a bit of research into the family history. please let me know if your contact wants to get in touch.
I too am descended from the Blakeleys, like you, so would be interested in sharing information with you about them.
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The Great Grandfather of my wife James Beerensson also worked at the factory in Grunberg, we have in our family history that he had a very senior position, does anyone know anything?
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It seems that some of the first British owned mills in Germany were Shoddy (recycled wool) mills, and this was because there were import duties on woollen rags. This could be avoided if the rags were made into Shoddy in Germany.
One of the first was set up initially by a group of Batley people but within a few years, in the early 1850s, my gg-grandfather had become the owner. By 1870 he bought a mill at Kopenick which had been owned by the Blakeley family, and, probably in 1869, he established a business at Niederschoenweide. According to his obituary hundreds of Batley people were employed there until he sold the business in the 1890s.
We visited Kopenick a few years ago and got some information about that mill from the Heimatsmuseum, and were then directed to the buildings!, which were still standing, although rather decrepit. I know very little about the other mills, and am not sure exactly where the first one was; possibly Johannisthal. Stralau isn't far from here or Nieserschoeneweide, so might be relevant.
The Blakeley involved in Grunberg was a relative of the Kopenick ones, and I have a contact who would be most interested in this reference if you could get in touch privately
I am descended from the Grunberg Blakeleys', George Blakeley (1837-1891) younger brother of Benjamin (1829-1900) is my ggg grandfather. My uncle has done quite a bit of research into the family history. please let me know if your contact wants to get in touch.
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Hi. I've found link to this chat on FB. I lived in this city Zielona Gora (earl. Gruenberg) for a long time. If anybody needs some informations about buildings, cemetaries, usefull links or smth else, feel free to ask me :)
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Hi, i know this is from a while ago. but my great great grandfather was also james hodgson chew-his daughter,my great grandmother,eliza ann chew,was born in germany in 1877-i have her birth certificate-in german! my mum told me that people went to germany to see the techniques they were using to dye cloth. i didn't realise that he and his brothers had formed a company on their return-i thought he was a mill owner not a dyer. wonderful to learn this part of my familys history. would love to attach copy of birth cert,but my scanner isnt great and the cert is very delicate-over 100 yrs old!
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I am also interested in the mills. My grandmother and her siblings grew up, and some were born in Zielora Gora. Her father was a loom tuner from Huddersfield. His name was John Dyson, and he spent more than twenty years in what I believe was Germany at that time. He was interned in a camp at the race course in Berlin during World War One, but was released because of his age, he then returned to Huddersfield. My grandmother loved Zielora Gora, spoke fluent German, hated her return to Huddersfield. I guess she had grown up in Zielora Gora, and had no connection to Huddersfield. As a young adult she got employment as a governess to a family travelling to Australia. As a young child, she tried to teach me German, and spoke it as the opportunity arose. My grandmother youngest sister, Ivy, was born in Zielora Gora, she joined her sister in Australia. My grandmother spent her life travelling between Australia and the UK, but never returned to Germany, I guess, two wars put an end to that.
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This seems to be a very old post but, if anybody is still out there, my family called Whitfield emigrated from the Idle and Calerly area of Yorkshire in the late 1870s.
They went to work in the woollen industry in Grunberg as it was then called.
My GG grandfather was called Israel Whitfield and his wife who died there in 1884 was called Marria.
I would love to know more about their lives there. Are there any censuses or factory records?
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https://vitaldb.moorlandit.com/display_results.php?sortby=fn&ad=ASC
Extracted records posted on the Calverley website. - calverley.info
Regards Brian
Welcome Stephen :)
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Another late addition to this thread.
It has been very interesting to read these posts as my 2 x Great Grandfather John Edward Richardson spent time in Germany/Austria before going to America where he did well enough for himself to warrant a mention in the book ‘Progressive Men of Northern Ohio’:
“John Edward Richardson, Ravenna. Manufacturer. Born Liverpool, Eng., Aug. 5, 1863. Educated in the common schools of England. Apprenticed to Chemical & Dye Works at Yorkshire for three years. Then went to Germany as superintendent of Dye Works at Vienna, Austria, three years. Supt. of factory at Tourcoing, France, one year. Came to United States and located at Providence, R. I., for five years. Then to West Troy, N. Y. Came to Ravenna 1898. Director Seneca Chain Works, Kent Vice president Ravenna Worsted Mills Co. Ravenna Gear Works. Supt. of Dyeing, Cleveland Worsted Mills Co.”
Although born in Liverpool, by the time of the 1881 census he and his family were living in Denison St, Batley & he is described as a Woollen Cloth Cutter. I have no idea how his career progressed from such a lowly start or even what lead him into that industry given that his father was described in that same census as a “Grocer & Provision Dealer”.