A HISTORY OF SURREY 



It is not improbable that the Ravensbury 

 printing works were started by Mr. John 

 Cecil of Ravensbury, Mitcham, who was 

 buried at Morden 2 1 April 1760. Mr. John 

 Cecil apparently came from the Merton 

 Abbey works, for it is stated in the monu- 

 mental inscription to Mrs. Hannah Cecil 

 in Morden churchyard that 'she died at 

 Merton Abbey near this parish, January 

 the 3rd, 1756, aged 58 years.' It is said 

 that the works were afterwards carried on 

 by John Arbuthnot, esq., whose first wife 

 was Sally Margaret Cecil. He was after- 

 wards an inspector under the Irish Linen 

 Board. 



For many years after the works were 

 carried on by the Penning family, who were 

 previously of the Merton Abbey works. 

 The first of the name was William Pen- 

 ning, who is called in the will of Jonathan 

 Meadows of Merton Abbey, thread whitster, 

 dated 21 December 1778,' 'Mr. William 

 Penning of Merton in Surrey calico printer.' 

 On the Penning tomb in Mitcham church- 

 yard he is called William Penning, esq., 

 and as 'William Penning esq. aged 74 

 years' the entry of his burial appears in 

 the register on 15 August 18 12. Accord- 

 ing to the Gentleman's Magazine, Mr. Pen- 

 ning of Ravensbury grounds, Mitcham, died 

 on 9 August 18 12, in his seventy-fourth 

 year. He was succeeded by his son, William 

 Penning, who retired from business and for 

 some time lived at Baron House, Mitcham, 

 but was finally of Christ Church, Surrey, 

 where he died on 22 February 1837.^ He 

 was buried at Mitcham. Prom the time of 

 his relinquishment of the business it was 

 carried on by Mr. Bailey Austin, who died 

 in 1823 and is described in his will as calico 

 printer of Ravensbury, Mitcham. Prom this 

 time the works gradually dwindled in import- 

 ance, and ceased towards the middle of the 

 last century. The house was pulled down 

 some twenty or more years ago. 



Among the calico grounds stated to be in 

 existence at Mitcham in 1 8 1 1 were those of 

 Messrs. Howard & Co.^ These were the 

 large printing works at Phipps Bridge, which 

 were destroyed by fire about 1850. They 

 were carried on in the latter part of the 

 eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth 

 centuries by Messrs. Howard & Rivers. Mr. 

 John Rivers was buried at Mitcham 1 6 May 



> Proved by W. Penning, P.C.C. 10 Feb. 

 1780 {Collins, 94). 



' See his monumental inscription on the family 

 tomb in Mitcham churchyard. 



= Lysons, Environs of London, ed. 2, i. 262. 



1797. The inscription over his vault is as 

 follows : ' Sacred to the memory of Mr. 

 John Rivers of this parish Calicoe Printer 

 who died 9th May 1797, aged 57 years.' 

 In his will he is described as ' John Rivers 

 the elder of Mitcham gent.* The Howard 

 family has a high railed tomb in Morden 

 churchyard, from which it appears that ' Mr. 

 Richard Howard formerly of Phipps Bridge, 

 Mitcham, died December 19th, 1820, in the 

 80th year of his age.' R. Howard, senior, 

 was a member of the original committee of 

 the Surrey Iron Railway as constituted on 4 

 June 1 801.* The first plans of the railway 

 included a branch from his calico works at 

 Phipps Bridge to near Merton, but it does 

 not appear that this was ever carried out." 

 Richard Howard, junior, married at Mitcham 

 28 March 1799 Ann Rivers, daughter of 

 John Rivers, senior; and he in conjunction 

 with John Rivers, junior, carried on the 

 business, but they were finally bankrupts. 

 Conveyance of the estates of Richard Howard 

 the elder, John Rivers, Richard Howard the 

 younger and James Howard, bankrupts, was 

 made on 22 May 1813.° In the Ravensbury 

 Court Rolls at a Court Baron held on 7 

 February 1801, mention is made of ' all that 

 close, parcel of meadowland, situate near 

 Pipes Bridge in the parish of Mitcham, now 

 used as a calico ground in the occupation of 

 Messrs. Howard, Hellier and Company, calico 

 printers.' The Mr. Hellier who thus appears 

 as a partner in this business was Isaac Hellier 

 of Merton Abbey, calico printer, who died 

 25 February 1842, aged seventy-nine years, 

 and was buried at Mitcham on the following 

 4 March as of Wimbledon. 



In addition to the calico grounds of 

 Messrs. Penning & Sons at Ravensbury and 

 those of Messrs. Howard & Co. at Phipps 

 Bridge, which were in existence at Mitcham 

 in 181 1, there were also in the same parish 

 those of Messrs. Thwaites & Co. and of 

 Messrs. Serle & Co.'' In 1823 calico print- 

 ing is said to be still carried on extensively 

 in the neighbourhood, but the only works 

 which are mentioned are those of Mr. Bailey 

 Austin,® which, as we have seen, were at 

 Ravensbury. 



So far we have been primarily concerned 



• C. T. Davis, Interesting Incidents in If'ands- 

 viorth History, 38. 



5 W. B. Paley in the Engineer of 5 Jan. 1900, 

 quoted in Davis, op. cit. 27. 



« Close R. 53 Geo. III. pt. 9, No. 20. 



' Lysons, op. cit. ed. 2. i. 262. 



8 Pigot & Co., London, etc.. Commercial Directory 

 (1823-4). 



374 



