INDUSTRIES 



with the very numerous master bleachers and 

 calico printers at Mitcham, but references to 

 the neighbouring printers at Merton have 

 frequently been made. The w^orks wrhich 

 were carried on here within the walls of the 

 ancient abbey were very important and 

 present several features of interest in the 

 history of the industry. Francis Nixon has 

 already been mentioned. In his will dated 

 1 6 January 1765,* he is described as of the 

 parish of Merton, calico printer. He men- 

 tions his two partners, Sir George Amyand, 

 bart., and John Anthony Rucker. He leaves 

 to his wife Hester the sum of ^^ 1,000, part 

 of a capital stock in the hands of Amyand, 

 and to trustees an annuity of ^^40 provided 

 and secured to be paid by the articles of co- 

 partnership between Nixon, Amyand and 

 Rucker. His widow, Hester Nixon, is 

 described in her will dated — February 1769," 

 as of Mitcham. Amongst other bequests she 

 left ;^io in putting out Hester Nixon 

 (daughter of John Nixon, late of Merton, 

 carpenter, deceased) as an apprentice and 

 £ri\ to be equally divided between four poor 

 widows belonging to the parish of Merton. 

 According to Lysons, Mr. Francis Nixon, 

 whom he incorrectly states to have died in 

 1768, is said in the epitaph on his tomb in 

 Merton churchyard to have been the first 

 who perfected copper-plate calico printing, an 

 expression which in the opinion of the same 

 writer was too strong, as many improvements 

 in the art had been made since his death.^ 



From Lysons also we learn that in 1792 

 there were two calico printing manufactories 

 upon the site of Merton Abbey. The first 

 had been established in 1724, and was in 

 1 792 in the occupation of Messrs. Newton, 

 Hodgson & Leach, who carried on a very 

 extensive trade and had brought the art to 

 a great degree of perfection.* The Mr. 

 Leach here mentioned is no doubt the John 

 Leach of Merton Abbey in the county of 

 Surrey, calico printer, who on 6 April 1802 

 obtained a patent for his new-invented 

 method of using madder in the dyeing of 

 calicoes, linens, and stuffe, * whereby a great 

 saving is made in the consumption of that 

 root or drug.'^ In 181 1 the firm which 

 carried on these works was Messrs. Newton, 

 Langdale, Simpson & Co.* The Mr. Lang- 

 dale of this firm was perhaps Mr. Marmaduke 

 Langdale, who lived at a house in Mitcham 



1 Prob. P.C.C. I March 1765 {Rushworth, 108). 



2 Ibid. 15 Dec. 1773 {Stevens, 479). 



3 Lysons, Environs, ed. 1, i. 348. 

 * Ibid. p. 345. 



s Pat. of Inventions, No. 2605. 

 » Lysons, Environs, ed. 2, i. 250. 



375 



called The Firs, which is now about to be 

 taken down. The Mr. Simpson was William 

 Simpson of Mitcham, calico printer, who is 

 described as of Merton Abbey, esquire, in the 

 entry in the register at Mitcham of his mar- 

 riage on 3 1 March 1 8 1 8 to Emily Cranmer. 

 He died 29 December i860, and was buried 

 at Mitcham on 5 January following. He is 

 no doubt to be identified with the partner of 

 the firm of Simpson, Newton & Co., which 

 is mentioned below as having been engaged 

 in calico printing at Carshalton in 1823. 



The second print manufactory at Merton 

 Abbey was established within the walls of 

 the abbey in 1752, and was carried on in 

 1792 by Mr. Half hide.'' In 181 1 it was in 

 the hands of Mr. West, and there was a 

 third factory at Merton belonging to Mr. 

 Bennet.* Including the employes of a copper 

 mill there were stated to be in 1792 'upon 

 a moderate computation ' a thousand persons 

 employed within the abbey walls in the 

 different manufactories. But by 181 1 the 

 nurnber of hands in the calico print works 

 had been very much reduced. There were 

 then not more than 300 persons employed 

 in the manufacture at Merton, although it 

 was carried on to a greater extent in con- 

 sequence of the patterns being lighter and 

 finished more expeditiously than formerly. 

 In this connection we may record here the 

 claim that has been put forward for the 

 Merton mills that the first successful calico 

 printing from the continuous printing-roller 

 was performed in them.* In more recent 

 times printing has been carried on by Mr. 

 Welch, Mr. Makepiece, and Mr. Littler 

 respectively. Mr. E. Littler's silk printing 

 works at Merton Abbey appear to be at the 

 present day the sole representative in Surrey 

 of its once extensive industry. 



An analogous instance to that of the Mer- 

 ton Abbey works, where premises originally 

 designed for less secular purposes were adapted 

 for use as factories, occurs in Surrey at Croy- 

 don, where the ancient archiepiscopal palace 

 was used in 1792 for calico printing, the 

 garden being used as a bleaching ground.'" 

 in 1823 bleaching was still carried on at the 

 palace by Messrs. Thomas and Samuel Starey, 

 who were bleachers to the East India Com- 

 pany. Mr. James West of Church Street in 

 the same town was a calico glazier.^' 



At Carshalton and Beddington also on the 



' Ibid. ed. i, i. 345. 

 8 Ibid. ed. z, i. 250. 

 » Brayley and Britten, Hist, of Surrey, v. App. 



1" Lysons, Environs, ed. i, i. 176. 



" Pigot & Co., Commercial Directory (1823-4). 



