News No 34, Spring 1999
BAPH Visit to Stationers' Hall, 23rd February 1999
The Hon. Archivist of The Worshipful Company of Stationers & Newspaper
Manufacturers, Robin Myers, kindly spared time to introduce members to the
Stationers' Hall archives on 23rd February, 1999. The range of material and
the detail therein was fascinating, but the relative paucity of information on
paper makers disappointing. The difficulty of extracting information relevant
to papermaking without an index would be extremely time consuming. We were
fortunate to be able to tour the Hall on this occasion and we are grateful to
Robin Myers allowing us that privilege.
BAPH in
Paper Europe
The use of Goatskin Cream 160 gsm for the cover of BAPH's publication on Surrey
Watermarks (reprint), and Blue White Goatskin 120 gsm for the inside pages, is
commended in an article on long life paper in the December 1998 issue of
Paper Europe.
The Clerical Hat
Inclusion in the last issue of a watermark on a record of 1810 depicting a
clerical hat provoked unexpected interest.
In the view of a member:
"It is clearly a conventional Roman Catholic clerical hat with its squared off
crown and two symmetrically placed tassels on the band. Below this it is odd".
Rank should be denoted by colour, and by the number and positioning of of
tassels and 'blobs'. "Assuming the paper is [also] Georgian, then the bishop
would surely have ordered a round-crowned Church of England hat with ordered
tassels. The English convention was, and still is, that Bishops use there own
arms impaled with those of their diocese."
Do we have a joker at work?, or a paper maker called Bishop or Cardinal
remembering his ancestry better than his heraldry?.
An expert on heraldry
tells us there was no system of ensigning the arms of Anglican clergy with
hats until quite recently - perhaps thirty years ago; bishops always use the
mitre. A conventional Roman Catholic hat is usually shown much lower and
wider, and not always flat-topped. The watermark is more like a 17th century
Puritan's headpiece. (For anyone interested I have details of several relevant
sources. Editor)
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County Archivist, Dr John Alban, of Norfolk County Record Office
suspects "... the date 1810 to refer to a time when a copy was made [of the
record] from what is probably a much earlier watermark." He notes that the
legend accompanying the drawing reads:
Paper Mark not in Sir John Fenn's Letters From a Record in the Bishop of
Paterboro's Office Sept 1810. Not in Fenn.
On the dorse:
Curious paper Marks from Peterboro - 1810.
Dr Alban kindly sent a modern tracing of a similar watermark (see illustration)
that appears in several gatherings in the Elsing manor court book, 1638-60.
Dimension of hat brim at widest point: Peterborough 5.3cms, Elsing 5.5cms;
dimension from top of crown to bottom of lowest tassel: Peterborough 5.9cms,
Elsing 5.8cms. Also found here (Elsing), a repeated watermark in the form of
an ornate ewer.
Peter Bower
identifies the crux of the matter. "
The use of this mark in the Bishop of Peterborough's office is mere coincidence.
Paper with this mark was not reserved for ecclesiastical use. Versions of
this mark are found in common use in England in printed books, maps, letters
and other documents, 1649-1690s, when much of the white paper in use in England
was of French origin."
INFORMATION SOUGHT
The objectives of the BAPH include acting as a forum for exchange of
information and ideas as well as disseminating material relevant to paper
history. To fulfill these objectives, requests for information will be
published in the NEWS on the understanding that enquirers will share the
results. Please inform the editor of the NEWS of any information so acquired
for publication.
Allan Prior is currently researching all aspects of the contribution to paper
manufacture and technical developments centred on
DARTFORD
in Kent. A particular interest is the
LONDON PAPER MILL
closed in April 1968. Situated approximately 200 metresnorth of Dartford
Railway Station on land now developed as part of the Glaxo-Wellcome chemical
plant, this mill has been variously recorded as
PHEONIX, RIVERSIDE
and, from 1889, The London Paper Company. In 1909 the mill was acquired by
Albert E Reed & Co., that replaced paper production machines to increase
output. Several machines remained at the closure, of which the highest was no.
6 machine. The final complement of production, engineering and other personnel
was 400; the last General Manager, Andrew Braid.
Has anyone information about the mill, particularly site layouts, production
rates, personnel duties and photographs - contact
us.
Documents depicting an extensive family history, believed to be 16th or 17th
century, give few dates but contain a watermark that may enable a closer dating
of the paper. On some pages the initials G.C. are within the
watermark (see illustration).
Please contact us if you can help identify the watermark. | 
News 34, Spring 1999
