Batley woollen workers, Germany 1880s

[Waldemar Henryk M.]

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 

[besswiz]

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!

[Carly muller]

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.

[Stephen Hepworth]

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?

[Calverley Lad]

https://vitaldb.moorlandit.com/display_results.php?sortby=fn&ad=ASC
Extracted records posted on the Calverley website. - calverley.info
 Regards Brian
Welcome Stephen

[LyndseyB]

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”.