INDUSTRIES 



inquire of Tanners that have used the occu- 

 pation of a Cordwayner or a Currier, or hath 

 putt any Leather to sale, but red Leather 

 as it came from the Tannefutte, or that 

 hath putt any Hyde or Peece of Leather to 

 sale before it be well dryed, marked & 

 sorted & then sold in open Markett, or that 

 hath tanned any Sheepskins. Also wheather 

 Glovers or Whitetanyers of Leather doe 

 make any other ware then that w'ch is 

 substantial!, well taned & dryed, and not 

 rotten nor tainted, and sell the same at 

 reasonabl prices. And a white Taner may 

 tane noe calfe skynns except they be putt to 

 him to be tanned upon paine to loose for 

 every calfe Skynne xxd.' * Ock Street seems 

 to have been the chief centre of the trade. In 

 1830 William Gidden and Thomas Waite had 

 tanneries there, one of which was continued 

 until a few years ago, having been carried on 

 by Mr. T. R. Kendall. It is now aban- 

 doned. 



Parchment does not properly come under 

 the head of leather, seeing that it is neither 

 tanned nor tawed, but consists of dressed 

 skins dried and prepared for particular uses. 

 But although an account of its manufacture 

 does not come within the scope of this 

 section, it may be stated that there were 

 several parchment makers in the county at 

 the beginning of the last century. James 

 Parker carried on the business of fell- 

 monger and parchment maker in the kine- 

 croft, Wallingford, and was presumably con- 

 nected with John Parker, tanner, who had 

 a tannery in the same locality. Parchment 

 was also made in the last century by George 

 Jackson at Abingdon, which is still a seat of 

 the industry, Messrs. T. J. Bailey & Son 

 having a manufactory in Ock Street, and 

 Mr. W. B. Bailey at the Spring Grove Works. 

 Faringdon also produces parchments at the 

 works of Mr. J. Bailey. At Windsor the 

 industry was not unknown, though tanning 

 has been extinct there for many years. In 

 1637 it is recorded there was a house called 

 ' the Tannhowse ' by the Thames side, which 

 points to the existence of a tannery at that 

 period, and curriers and leather-cutters 

 carried on this trade until modern times in 

 High Street, Eton. The old Tanhouse at 

 Wokingham still remains. It is an ancient 

 building situated on the Barkham Road, and 

 the business is now in the possession of 

 Messrs. Philbrick, who own the Reading 

 tannery in Katesgrove Lane. In 1830 James 

 AUwright conducted the business at a tanyard, 

 and was succeeded by the Twycross family, 



1 Rec. of Abingdon, xxix. 



who held it until about 1860, when it was 

 acquired by the late Mr. John Philbrick and 

 adapted for the purposes of fellmongering. 

 Messrs. C. & G. Philbrick's tannery at Reading 

 is situated in Katesgrove Lane, and occupies 

 the land between that thoroughfare and 

 St. Giles's millstream. It was purchased 

 some years ago by Thomas and John Phil- 

 brick from Mr. George Higgs, who had 

 successfully carried on the business for many 

 years prior to 1832. The tannery was 

 partially destroyed by fire in 1839 and was 

 completely burnt down in 1851, when it was 

 rebuilt by the late Mr. John Philbrick. The 

 method of tanning carried on here is known 

 as the ' English Oak Bark Tannage ' and the 

 articles produced are dressing hides and 

 calf skins. About thirty men are employed. 

 It would appear that leather and all the 

 trades dependent upon it have formed one 

 of the staple industries of the county. Shoe- 

 makers appear among the earliest manu- 

 facturers in Berkshire industrial history. 

 Allusion may here be made to an important 

 village industry, that of boot and shoe making, 

 which was founded at Cookham in 1828. 

 This village became the centre of a large 

 manufacture, giving employment to from 

 1,200 to 1,500 workpeople. The business 

 was both home and colonial. It was a 

 cottage industry carried on by the workpeople 

 in their own homes, women and girls taking 

 the lighter portions of the work, only the 

 cutting out and giving out of the work being 

 done at the central place of business. But 

 with the introduction of machinery in making 

 boots and shoes, enabling them to be produced 

 at lower prices than by the handmade pro- 

 cess, this was superseded, and the Cookham 

 business, hitherto so successfully carried on 

 first by Mr. Burrows and subsequently by his 

 sons, was brought to a close some twenty 

 years since, the trade going to towns such as 

 Leicester and Northampton and the work 

 being carried on in large factories. The 

 origin of the Cookham business was somewhat 

 singular. Mr. W. J. Burrows had been 

 connected with the Bermondsey leather 

 market, but ill-health compelled him when 

 quite a young man to retire from business, 

 and he settled at Cookham. From his 

 business knowledge he enabled the three or 

 four local shoemakers, for whom he interested 

 himself, to obtain their materials on better 

 terms than they had been accustomed to do, 

 and, noting how much spare time they had, 

 he suggested to them the making of boots 

 and shoes, of good material and workmanship, 

 suitable for the middle and working classes, 

 which he would dispose of for them. The 



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