Title
National Paper Museum Trust Archive
Reference
YA2006.60
Production date
01-01-1381 - 31-12-1998
Creator
- The National Paper Museum TrustBiographyBiography
The National Paper Museum was established by the British Paper and Board Makers' Association. It was opened on 24 April, 1963 at The Vegetable Parchment Mills, St. Mary Cray, Kent. Remy Barcham Green was one of the founding members of the Musuem, and a large proportion of the archive material had been collected by his company J. Barcham Green Ltd. before the Museum was established.
The Mill at St. Mary Cray closed down in 1967 and the Museum exhibits had to be put into storage at Cray Vally Mills, Kent until alternative premises could be found. The NPM Trust then approached the University of Manchester, having heard that it was involved in setting up the Manchester Museum of Science and Technology. The museum agreed to house the NPM material and the exhibits were transferred in 1968. Dr Richard Hills, director of the The Manchester Museum of Science and Technology, sat on the NPM board of trustees and worked with them to continue collecting material for exhibition and research. The Trust continued in existence until 2006. Its loaned collections were donated to the Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester.
- British Paper and Board Industry FederationBiographyBiography
The British Paper and Board Industry Federation, established in 1974, was the trade association for paper and board manufacturers throughout the UK. The first president was Peter Gardner, Assistant Managing Director of Wiggins Teape Paper Ltd.
The Federation is known to have been active in the 1970s and 1980s. By 1992, the Federation could claim to represent 90 percent of all British paper and board businesses. The Federation's role included lobbying the government on behalf of its members, for instance by voicing concerns about competition from businesses overseas.
- Paper Makers' Association of Great Britain & IrelandBiographyBiography
The Paper Makers' Association of Great Britain and Ireland was incorporated in 1904. Under the company number 79795, it was dissolved before 1916, but succeeded under a new company number and is known to have been operational until 1939. The Association published pamphlets and bibliographies relating to paper-making and related subjects.
- Barcham Green & Co LtdBiographyBiography
J. Barcham Green & Co. Ltd operated Hayle Mill in Maidstone, Kent, from c1808 to 1987. The mill produced handmade papers.
- Wiggins Teape & Co. LtdBiographyBiography
Paper maker formed in 1761 as Edward and Jones, in Aldgate, London. It became a public company in 1919, and bought the Aberdeenshire papermakers Alexander Pirie and Sons in 1922. By 1932, the group owned 28 subsidiary companies. It was bought by the British American Tobacco (BAT) Industries Group in 1970, become a wholly owned subsidiary, but left BAT in 1990 along with another subisdiary company, Appleton. Wiggins Teape and Appleton merged to become Wiggins Teape Appleton, which later merged with French paper company Arjomari to become Arjo Wiggins Appleton.
- Vale Board Mills LtdBiographyBiography
Vale Board Mills was established in Denny, Falkirk in 1945 from the amalgamation of The Vale Paper Co and Denny Denny Paper Works. By May 1956 the company's mills were part of Associated Paper Industries. Vale Board Mills closed in 1980.
- Bailey, F. W.BiographyBiography
F. W. Bailey was a Lecturer in Paper-Making at the Manchester College of Technology. He was actively engaged in research particularly during the 1930s, investigating bagasse paper, paper dyes and the use of various fibres for paper-making, amongst other areas.
In the course of his career, Bailey acquired a collection of resources including company literature, academic articles, books and paper samples. He donated this material to what would become the Science and Industry Museum in 1975, alongside some of his own research and correspondence. This material was intended to supplement the collections the museum had acquired from the National Paper Museum.
- Evans, LewisBiographyBiography
Lewis Evans was born in 1853 to Sir John Evans and Harriet Ann Evans (nee Dickinson) in Hertfordshire. Sir John Evans was a noted archaeologist, coin expert, and paper manufacturer. Sir John had joined his uncle, John Dickinson's, paper-making business at Nash Mills, Hemel Hempstead in 1840. He rose to become a partner in the firm and would prove to be influential in the paper-manufacturing industry. Sir John involved in founding the Paper Makers' Association in 1856 and the Paper Makers' Club and served as the first president of both organisations. Sir John was a successful businessman, contributing to the increasing success of John Dickinson & Co, managing the company's mills from 1856 and encouraging technological innovation.
Lewis Evans was no doubt inspired by his father's studies as well as his career, as well as that of his archaeologist older brother, Arthur Evans (excavator of Knossos, Crete). Evans studied Chemistry at University College London before joining the family firm, John Dickinson & Co. In his spare time, he collected scientific instruments, which he would donate to the University of Oxford to form the start of the History of Science Museum in 1924. He also donated much of his library to the new museum.
Not all of Lewis Evans' collections went to Oxford. Instead Evans separated material he had written or collected relating to paper-making, including correspondence related to Nash Mills, home of the family business. He donated this material to the National Paper Museum, and it was ultimately acquired by the Science and Industry Museum when the NPM closed.
- Watson, BarryBiographyBiography
Barry Watson was a paper historian and collector of material associated with the history of paper-making. Watson was a member of the British Association of Paper Historians and published articles in their journal. He is known to have been active in the profession between 1948 and 2010.
Watson donated material he collected in the course of his career to the National Paper Museum, which ultimately came into the collections held at the Science and Industry Museum.
- Simmons, John Simon GabrielBiographyBiography
Paper historian
- Beadle, ClaytonBiographyBiography
Clayton Beadle was an organic chemist, author and paper historian. Together with fellow chemists and cellulose researchers, John Bevan and Charles Frederick Cross, Beadle formed the Viscose Syndicate in 1893. the business manufactured adhesives, films, coatings for natural fibres, and mouldings.
Beadle also had an interest in the history of paper-making, and in particular, watermarks. Beadle published papers on the subject in The Journal of the Society of Arts and amassed a collection of historic watermarks. This collection was donated to the National Paper Museum and, through the NPM, ultimately came to the Science and Industry Museum.
Scope and Content
Original archive material includes correspondence, reports, minutes, notes, plans, photographs, slides, illustrations and watermark samples. Published material includes articles, brochures, catalogues, leaflets, price lists, sample books, advertisements, specifications, journals, newsletters, statistics, standards, patents, books
The archive collection has been divided into 13 series (see System of Arrangement), and comprises material regarding the management of the National Paper Museum; records of paper manufacturers, paper machinery manufacturers, paper associations and professional bodies; paper trade reference material; paper history research; material produced by or relating to other paper museums and exhibitions; and material collected directly by the National Paper Museum and via individual collectors.
The collection contained a large number of paper samples. Bound sample books or sample sets which have been produced for customer information or as a product catalogue have been included in this catalogue. Loose paper samples have not been included.
Extent
72 linear metres
Physical description
The collection is in a fair to good condition.
Archival history
The National Paper Museum was established by the British Paper and Board Makers' Association. It was opened on 24 April, 1963 at The Vegetable Parchment Mills, St. Mary Cray, Kent. Remy Barcham Green was one of the founding members of the Musuem, and a large proportion of the archive material had been collected by his company, J. Barcham Green Ltd, before the Museum was established.
The Mill at St. Mary Cray closed down in 1967 and the Museum exhibits had to be put into storage at Cray Valley Mills, Kent until alternative premises could be found. The NPM Trust then approached the University of Manchester, having heard that it was involved in setting up the Manchester Museum of Science and Technology. The museum agreed to house the NPM material and the exhibits were transferred in 1968. Dr Richard Hills, director of the The Manchester Museum of Science and Technology, sat on the NPM board of trustees and worked with them to continue collecting material for exhibition and research.
The collection was originally held on loan, under the reference L1969.30. The collection was subsequently donated to the Museum of Science and Industry (now Science and Industry Museum) in 2006. The collection was given the new accession number YA2006.60.
Level of description
TOP
Repository name
Science and Industry Museum
Associated people and organisations
- The National Paper Museum TrustBiographyBiography
The National Paper Museum was established by the British Paper and Board Makers' Association. It was opened on 24 April, 1963 at The Vegetable Parchment Mills, St. Mary Cray, Kent. Remy Barcham Green was one of the founding members of the Musuem, and a large proportion of the archive material had been collected by his company J. Barcham Green Ltd. before the Museum was established.
The Mill at St. Mary Cray closed down in 1967 and the Museum exhibits had to be put into storage at Cray Vally Mills, Kent until alternative premises could be found. The NPM Trust then approached the University of Manchester, having heard that it was involved in setting up the Manchester Museum of Science and Technology. The museum agreed to house the NPM material and the exhibits were transferred in 1968. Dr Richard Hills, director of the The Manchester Museum of Science and Technology, sat on the NPM board of trustees and worked with them to continue collecting material for exhibition and research. The Trust continued in existence until 2006. Its loaned collections were donated to the Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester.
Subject
Conditions governing access
Open access.
Conditions governing Reproduction
Copies may be supplied in accordance with current copyright legislation and Science Museum Group terms and conditions.
External document
Related object
Related items
Y2006.60
System of arrangement
artificialThe main bulk of the NPM collection had been previously indexed by subject, but had not been physically arranged into series. This material was therefore divided into eight artificial series, which aimed to represent the collecting focus of the NPM. These series are:
1. Papers and photographs regarding the management of the National Paper Museum
2. Papers and photographs created by and relating to paper manufacturing companies and paper merchants.
3. Papers, brochures and photographs produced by and relating to manufactures of paper making machinery and other equipment.
4. Reports and publications produced by Paper Trade Associations and professional bodies.
5. Reference information and trade literature on the Paper Trade.
6. Collected material on paper history research, covering research associations, paper history, watermarks, printing history and paper preservation.
7. Material produced by and relating to Paper Museums and paper exhibitions.
8. Additional material collected for the National Paper Museum.
There were also 5 distinct groups of material which were separately listed and which did not appear in the original index. These groups were therefore each catalogued as a series. Occasionally there was a small amount of information on these groups, such as a loan number. This information is recorded in the archival history field. These series are:
9. Material relating to paper research and manufacture, created or collected by F.W. Bailey.
10. Correspondence and documents collected by Lewis Evans.
11. Material relating to the paper trade collected by Barry Watson.
12. Articles and information collected by J.S.G. Simmons.
13.Clayton Beadle Collection of Watermarks, consisting of original watermark samples with indexes.
