Norfolk Mills - Lyng watermill

Lyng Mill
River Wensum

Mill house and mill bridge September 1967

We breakfasted, supped & slept again at home - Mr Du Quesne called on me this morning about 12. o'clock and about 12. I took a ride with him to Ling and there we dined & spent the afternoon at Mr Baldwins with him & his Wife & youngest Daughter and Mr Priest of Reepham - Mrs Baldwin seems to be rather of a gloomy Complexion - with a Beard - Before Dinner we went into Mr Baldwins Boat & went up the River a little way to take up some Hooks that were laid for Jacks, but never a Fish - Having done that Mr Du Quesne, Mr Priest & self went and saw the Paper Mills close to Mr Baldwins - Mr Du Quesne & myself bought a Ream of writing Paper 20 Quires belonging to the same I had one half and he the other 10 Quires apiece - I paid for mine - 0: 5: 0 The Master Mr Amerton went with us and shewed us the whole Machinery which is indeed very curious We had for Dinner at Mr Baldwins some fricasseed Rabit ............
Parson Woodforde's diary - 12th February 1778

The Partnership of HAMERTON and ANSTED expired on the tenth Day of October last, they therefore take this Opportunity of resuming their joint Thanks to their Friends for the Favours conferred on them, and beg Leave to inform them, that the Trade of the above Mills will in future be carried on for their separate Accounts by John HAMERTON, at Lyng, and John ANSTED and Son, at Taverham, where the Favours of their Friends will be very thankfully received. -- Any Person who has any Demand on the said Partnership Account are desired to send in their Bills, that they may be discharged. They have by them a regular Assortment of every Kind of Paper (that is to say) Writing and Printing Imperial, Writing and Printing Royal, Writing and Printing Medium, Writing and Printing Demy, Writing and Printing Post, Writing and Printing Copy, Writing and Printing Fools-cap, Writing and Printing Pot, Crowns of every Sort, and every Sort of Packing Paper for the Manufactory, particularly of Atlas, large and small; Elephant, large and small; Royal, large and small; Demy, large and small; Brown and Hand Elephant, Brown and Hand Royal, Shop Paper, Bonnet Paper that will fence Water, and every Article whatsoever in the Paper Trade. The best Price is also continued for fine Rags, and every kind of Paper Stuff.

N.B. To be Lett, and entered upon immediately, or at Lady-day next, a handsome well built House, Brick and Tile, situated in Lyng aforesaid, with Garden and Orchard, well-planted with all Sorts of Fruit Trees; also a four-stalled Stable and six Acres of rich Pasture Land thereunto belonging, and Right of Commonage on two very extensive Commons. Lyng is a small pleasant village and in a very good Neighbourhood, five Miles from East Dereham; four from Reepham, and eleven from the City of Norwich. The said House is very convenient for a small Gentleman's Family, or for a Gentleman who is fond of sporting, being an exceeding good Country for Game of all Kinds. - A Pack of Hounds are kept within two Miles of the Said House. -- For Rent and further Particulars enquire of John HAMERTON, at Lyng Paper Mills.
Norfolk Chronicle - 1st February 1783

Shorter notes that John Hamerton the paper-maker at Lyng took an apprentice named John Carter in 1764. Hamerton is known also at Taverham from 1758, and he was in partnership with John Anstead there, and at Lyng, from around 1770. By 1778 Lyng mill was described as 'a paper mill in which is carried a considerable manufacture and in which a great number of hands are employed throughout the year'. In the same year Parson Woodforde visited the mill and bought one half of a quire of writing paper for five shillings. He was shown the machinery by Hamerton and thought it 'indeed very curious'.

Unfortunately within eight months the mill had been burnt to the ground, the Norwich Mercury of 3rd October reported that a fire on the previous Sunday, had within a few hours destroyed the mills, the adjoining offices and all the stock contained in them. Throughout the eighteenth century paper-mills were particularly prone to fire, largely due to the combustible nature of the rotting rags. By 1781 the mills were nearly rebuilt and in 1783 the partnership between Hamerton and Anstead expired and the former once again took over the sole control of the business at Lyng. An advertisement in the Norfolk Chronicle for 1st February 1783 lists the whole range of types and sizes of paper available from the mills.

John Hamerton died in 1800 and his successor, Thomas Hamerton, was declared bankrupt only four years later; the mill then passed to John Abbot Dusautoy from Romsey, Hampshire. Dusautoy is of particular interest because soon after moving to Lyng he published a book. The paper-maker's ready reckoner; or, calculations to shew the prime cost of any ream of paper was printed at Romsey in 1805 'for, and sold by the author at Lyng paper-mills. . .' This work was not produced for the general public but compiled from the experience of the author to assist other paper-makers 'to save time and prevent others selling at random, often at or even under Prime cost to their own evident injury and that of the trade in general'.

The author's experience did not come cheaply for he charged five guineas for a small octavo pamphlet of thirty four pages, a price which would seem excessively high even today. However the copy of this work in the Colman & Rye Libraries in Norwich bears witness to the undoubted usefulness of the publication, for in places it is covered with an owner's calculations, and has also been well thumbed. (This copy is signed by the author and may perhaps have been used by him?). From the tables it is apparent what considerations needed to be taken into account when pricing different grades of paper.

One of the most important elements in the calculation of the price of finished paper was the wastage, the difference between the weight of rags and the weight of paper that was produced. Rags were bought by weight and priced according to their quality, the finished paper being sold according to the weight per ream. It was therefore essential to take into account the wastage when calculating the cost of rags that had been used to make a given weight of paper. This could vary between one pound in four and one pound in eight depending on the quality of the rag used. Rag which wasted at one-in-four was valued between ll/2d and 51/4d per pound, one-in-six at between 31/4d and 7d, one-in-seven and one-in-eight at between 5l/4d and 9d. One ream of finished paper might weigh anything between five pounds and twenty three pounds depending on its quality.

Dusautoy lists also the following expenses for the paper-maker but does not specify how much each contributed, giving only one table for their determination. These are rent, taxes, insurance, repairs, wages, interest, fuel, candles, stable expenses, travelling, utensils (moulds, felts, planes, boards and levers) bad debts, oil, lard, soap, flannel, packing paper, various kinds of stationery and finally the duty.
The last table is one to calculate the wages of the journeymen paper-makers on either a fixed weekly wage or by piece work. This tables assumes a six day week and that the wages would vary from between twelve and thirty shillings for that work. On piece-work payment would vary between ll/4d and 3d for each 'post' of paper produced (that is for a pile of sheets of paper, interleaved with felts, ready for pressing and drying, the number of sheets varying with the size of the paper). The range of payment would be caused by the fact that there were three different jobs involved; the vatman who made the sheet, the coucher who removed it from the mould, and the layer who pressed and drained the water. The vatman would be paid more than his colleagues as his job required considerably more skill. The table also shows that a team of men working on piece-work would have to produce twenty posts each day to earn as much as men on a fixed rate (taking the average figures from each scale). Possibly this was therefore the quantity of work produced by a team of men at Lyng in one day? (It would have taken the average journeyman five weeks before he had earned the five guineas which Mr. Dusautoy asked for his book.)

It is not clear how long Dusautoy remained at Lyng, it is possible that he was in partnership with James Rump (later of Swanton_Morley mill) as the watermark 'Dusautoy and Rump 1807' is fairly common. The mill is next noticed in 1829 when Robert Hudson the paper-maker appeared before the Court of Exchequer in Norwich on 28th October; he was found guilty of producing paper at Lyng not bearing an Excise mark and therefore attempting to avoid duty. In 1832 the mill was destroyed during machine-breaking riots, but was later rebuilt and owned by the firm of Robberds and Money until the mid 1860s.
David Stoker

Thomas Skipper was on Monday last brought before Saml. Bignold, Esq. on the charge of stealing a brass cock or syphon, weighing 160 lbs. the property of Messrs. Robberds and Day, paper manufacturers, at Taverham in this county, in whose employ the prisoner has lately been at Lyng. He was apprehended in London, by Sergeant Peck, A., of the Norwich Police force, and was by Mr. Bignold remanded for further examination.
Norfolk Chronicle - Saturday 29th June 1839

Thomas Skipper, aged 28, was convicted of having, in the month of Oct. last, stolen from a cottage at Taverham, one metal cock and plug, the property of Henry Robberds and Star??ing Day. - The prisoner was found guilty and was sentenced to 7 years' transportation.
Norfolk Chronicle - Saturday 6th July 1839

Thomas (my g-g-g-grandfather) was captured following an advertisement in the Police Gazette on 1st April 1839 and sent to the Prison Hulk York at Gosport where he served four of his seven years.

Clare Daley - 20th January 2008