THE SILK INDUSTRY IN WESSEX. 71 



Pennsylvania, the last mentioned place-name occurring in 

 1773. I do not find that any French silk was thrown at 

 Westbury mill until the year 1799, when it became plentiful. 



It should be added that as the natural colours were white 

 and yellow only, the assistance of the dyer was required before 

 the thrown silk was sent to the weaver's loom. Among the 

 correspondence is a letter dated 21 March, 1778, in which 

 the writer calls Willmott's attention to a specimen or sample 

 of " three thread hard throw " which he was then sending. 

 By good fortune the yellow threads of silk are still attached 

 to the seal of this letter, from which we may see the nature 

 of the material that was thrown. 



I will now return to William Willmott, who had become 

 in 1769, as has been shewn, the sole owner of Westbury mill 

 and its outlying dependencies. Although he was described 

 as living at Hornsey in 1764 there is some reason to think 

 that he belonged to a Sherborne family, as I find among the 

 applicants for marriage licences at Wells in 1703 the name 

 of William Willmott, of Sherborne, who may have been either 

 the grandfather or father of our mill owner. In 1641 the 

 surname Willmoth occurs among the residents in that town, 

 and a similar form of spelling can be seen on a few bills paid 

 by Willmott about 1775. 



Among our collection of documents is Willmott's earliest 

 " silk book," dating from May, 1769, and containing 153 

 folios of excellent hand-writing which compares very 

 favourably with the average of the parish registers of that 

 period. This volume is a record of the bales of silk sent to be 

 thrown, and the net result of the process. As the price of the 

 raw material ranged from 25s. to 30s. the pound, and as some 

 of the consignments exceeded 400 Ibs. each, the aggregate 

 value of the silks in the temporary custody of the throwster 

 was very considerable, and required accurate book-keeping. 

 The condition of the raw silk and the skill of those who 

 handled it governed the amount of waste, which varied 

 between 6 per cent, and 18 per cent. The waste threads were 

 preserved and returned to the owner, excepting the portion 



