A HISTORY OF SURREY 



of oil, size and other cements.' To the ma- 

 terial so prepared was given the name of 

 ' Londrindiana.' It seems however to have 

 been principally intended for hangings. In 

 a pamphlet published in 1677 the writer 

 states that calicoes were at that time brought 

 over from India to be printed in England. 

 The adoption of these printed calicoes for 

 wearing apparel seems to have become very 

 general and aroused the jealousy of the wool- 

 len manufacturers, so much so that in 1700 

 the import of Indian prints was prohibited,^ 

 and in 17 12 excise duties were imposed on 

 the home printed goods.* 



These duties with various modifications 

 were maintained until 1831. Moreover in 

 1 72 1 the use of printed calicoes was entirely 

 prohibited under penalties of ^^5 upon the 

 wearer and j^20 upon the seller." Calicoes 

 dyed all blue were alone excepted from these 

 penalties. Among the objections which the 

 weavers had raised to the use of printed cali- 

 coes was the one that of the 800 persons 

 more or less who were employed in the in- 

 dustry two-thirds were labourers, women and 

 children, unfit for any other employment, 

 whilst the major part of the masters and 

 workmen were French Roman Catholics, 

 who had settled this trade in England after it 

 had been prohibited in France.* In conse- 

 quence of the Act of 1 72 1 the printers seem 

 to have turned their attention to the colour- 

 ing of linen cloth,' but fifteen years later the 

 Act was so far amended as to permit of the 

 wearing of calicoes made with a linen yarn. 

 Such calicoes of cotton and linen continued 

 in use until an Act of 1 774 permitted the use 

 of printed calicoes made wholly of cotton. 



Such were the general conditions under 

 which an industry, which for many years as 

 we have said had its chief centre in the 

 metropolitan districts of Surrey, Kent and 

 Essex, was carried on. Not many years 

 after the notice of the print ground at Rich- 

 mond, references occur to the existence of 

 the industry at Mitcham in the register of 

 that parish. Thus on 9 March 1717-8 

 Hall, ' a calicoe printer,' was buried. In the 

 clerk's book he is described as ' Mr. Hall.' 



' Pat. 10 Chas. I. pt. 3, No. 20, and see art. 

 ' Prints ' in The Drapers' Dictionary. 



2 Tie East India Trade, a most frojitabk Trade 

 to this Kingdom, attributed to Sir Joshua Child, 

 a director of the East India Company. 



= Act 10 & II Will. III. cap. 10. 



• Act 10 Anne, cap. 19. 



• Act 7 Geo. I. cap. 7. 



• Treas. Papers, ccixiii. 15. 



' A Plan fir Engfish Commerce (1728), attributed 

 to Defoe. 



In 1 7 1 9 we have on 1 8 May the baptism of 

 'Isaac the son of William Merrick, calicoe 

 printer,' and on 1 5 August that of ' John the 

 son of — Bowbind, calicoe printer.' On 

 7 March 1719-20 Elizabeth, the daughter 

 of William Taylor, calico printer, was bap- 

 tized, and it is interesting to note that on 

 30 March 1722, in the baptismal entry of 

 the same man's son Thomas, the father is 

 described as a whitster. Either he combined 

 the two occupations, or the effect of the Act 

 of 1720 had been to make him abandon his 

 former trade. Nevertheless we have on 

 12 June 1726 the burial entry in the clerk's 

 book of ' Symon Clarke, a calico printer,' and 

 on 28 July following that in the register ot 

 ' Jane the wife of Philip Man, a calico 

 printer at Tho. Ways.' It is worthy of re- 

 mark also that William son of Henry Smith, 

 whose burial entry in the same register occurs 

 on 8 June 1733, is entered in the clerk's 

 book as ' William the son of William {sic) 

 Smith, a Dutch printer.* 



All these calico printers were men who, 

 from the failure to discover any wills or ad- 

 ministrations relating to their estates, we 

 must presume to have been employed in a 

 more or less subordinate capacity. We may 

 now proceed to consider the notices of those 

 eighteenth century bleachers and calico 

 printers in Mitcham and the neighbouring 

 districts, who were undoubtedly master men. 

 We shall find ample evidence to justify us in 

 the belief that they held no mean social posi- 

 tion, and that many were possessed of con- 

 siderable wealth at their deaths. The 

 bleachers are variously described as whitsters, 

 thread whitsters, or cloth whitsters, according 

 to the particular branch of the industry in 

 which they were engaged. ' Benjamin 

 Middleton sent,,' who was buried at 

 Mitcham on 28 February 1722-3, is de- 

 scribed in the will of William Haycock of 

 Wandsworth, miller, dated 22 December 

 1 701,^ as of Mitcham, ' whister.' 



Amongst the thread whitsters who carried 

 on the industry at Mitcham in the early part 

 of the eighteenth century was the Cammell 

 family. It appears from the clerk's book at 

 Mitcham that ' Mr. John Cammell, whitster,' 

 was buried at Merton on 10 August 17 18, 

 and he appears as ' Camell of Mitcham ' in 

 the Merton register. In his will, dated 17 

 June 1 71 8,* he is called John Cammell of 

 Mitcham, ' thread whitster.' It is not im- 

 probable that he was of Dutch origin, for 

 ' James Jacob of the parish of Martin (Mer- 



» Prob. P.C.C. 22 Sept. 1702 {Heme, 117). 

 » Ibid. 16 Aug. 1718 {Tennison, 157). 



370 



