INDUSTRIES 



monumental inscription, seventy-three years. 

 Her will, dated 14 September 1776,' mentions 

 her copyhold messuages, lands, etc., at Mit- 

 cham held of the manor of Ravensbury ; 

 also her freehold messuages in the same 

 parish, and ^^ 1,200 in the 3 per cent Con- 

 solidated Bank Annuities. Mary, another 

 daughter of William Smith, married at Mit- 

 cham, on 24 January 1726-7, Thomas Ward, 

 who is then called in the clerk's book and 

 also in his burial entry on 4 September 17 35, 



* calico printer.' 



Another ' cloth whitster ' of Mitcham was 

 Stephen Brookson, who was buried there on 



9 April 1776. In his will dated 2 December 

 1757,' he mentions his customary messuages, 

 lands, etc., in the manor of Biggin and Tam- 

 worth [in Mitcham]. Similarly William 

 Parker of Mitcham, whitster, disposes of 



* all my copyhold estate held of the manor of 

 Biggin and what stock I shall be possessed of 

 at the time of my death in the Three per 

 cents.' ' 



Other Mitcham bleachers and calico 

 printers who from the occurrence of their 

 wills may be taken to have been master men 

 in their respective industries in the eighteenth 

 century are, amongst the whitsters : — 



Lawrence Gundelach, whose name appears 

 in various forms, and who is described in his 

 will dated 14 July 1729,* as a thread whiter 

 {sic). He was buried at Mitcham on 22 July 

 of the same year. 



John Jacobs, buried in the same parish on 



10 October 1758. He has a flat stone now 

 nearly illegible in the churchyard, on which 

 he is called ' Mr John Jacobs late of this 

 parish.' He appears as a Mitcham whitster 

 in his will dated i January 1749-50.^ 



And amongst the calico printers : — 

 Samuel Harris, buried at Mitcham 18 

 November 1759, aged eighty-two. His will 

 is dated 4 December 1758,* and in it he is 

 described as of Mitcham, * calico printer.' He 

 mentions his grandson, John Drake of New- 

 ington, CO. Surrey, print cutter, an occupation 

 which will be explained below. 



Thomas Hatcher, buried at Mitcham 6 

 August 1787. The death of Mr. Thomas 

 Hatcher, calico printer, on 29 July of that 

 year, is recorded in the Gentleman's Magazine. 

 His will is dated 27 July ijSj.'' 



» Prob. P.C.C. 29 Jan. 1776 {IVarburton, 24). 



2 Ibid. 15 April 1776 {Bellas, 166). 



3 Will dat. 6 April 1787, prob. P.C.C. 10 July 

 ly^l {Major, 336). 



* Ibid. I Aug. 1729 {Abbott, 224). 



B Prob. Archd. Ct.of Surr. i Dec. 1758. 



« Ibid. 15 Dec. 1759. 



' Prob. P.C.C. 7 Aug. 1787 {Major, 370). 



John Nutcher, described in his will dated 

 7 September 1790,^ as of Mitcham, 'calico 

 printer.' 



Francis Weight is called in his will dated 

 26 July 1792," of Mitcham, 'yeoman,' but 

 Susan Mead of Richmond, co. Surrey, widow, 

 in her will dated 19 December 1 7 7 8,'" leaves 

 'unto my brother Francis Weight of Mit- 

 cham . . . calico printer one guinea for a 

 ring.' 



In 1792, according to Lysons, there were 

 two calico printing manufactories at Mitcham, 

 Mr. Rucker's and Mr. Fenning's." The 

 Mr. Rucker was John Anthony Rucker, who 

 is described elsewhere in the same work as 

 'esquire.' He came from the Merton Abbey 

 works, as he is mentioned in 1765 in the 

 will of Francis Nixon, of whom we shall 

 have more to say below in our account of 

 those works, as one of his partners. He is 

 described as John Anthony Rucker of Car- 

 shalton, esquire, in the will of Francis's 

 widow, Hester Nixon, dated February 1769, 

 and was one of her executors. She be- 

 queathed to him her set of prints of the 

 Apostles' heads. He seems to have been a 

 man of considerable wealth, for according to 

 Lysons, he was in occupation in 1792 of 

 Putney Bowling-Green, the site of a once 

 fashionable place of entertainment for public 

 breakfasts and evening assemblies,'^ and a very 

 handsome villa had been lately built for him 

 at Wandsworth near Lord Spencer's park on 

 the site of a house which had been built for 

 the then Lady Rivers and had been lately 

 occupied by Lord Stormont. The house is 

 said from its elevated position to have been a 

 conspicuous object in the neighbourhood.*-' 



The works of Mr. Fenning above noticed 

 were the important Ravensbury factory at 

 Mitcham, of which we quote the following 

 account published in 1793 : — 



On the Wandle are mills for grinding corn, 

 tobacco, logwood, etc., and Mr. Fenning has some 

 grounds for the bleaching and printing of calico, 

 which are supplied with water by the same river. 

 Mr. Fenning has an engine in case of fire, the 

 pumps of which are worked by the same wheel 

 that is used in the business. He experienced the 

 benefit of this machine a few months ago, when 

 his premises took fire, and would have been 

 totally consumed but for this admirable inven- 

 tion." 



8 Ibid. 16 Oct. 1793 {Dodzoell, 518). 



» Ibid. 20 Sept. 1792 {Fountain, 493). 

 »» Ibid. 8 Nov. 1791 {Bevor, 527). 

 '1 Environs of London, ed. l, i. 360. 

 " Ibid. 427, 428. " Ibid. 518. 

 >< Ambulator or a Pocket Companion in a Tour 

 round London, ed. 5 (1793), 260. 



373 



