how does one go about finding out if ones ancestor was an employee of this company thanks Michele --- Mariposa Obsidian <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi: Wow - I didn't expect to get this much info. > Did anyone else have family go to Mexico to work in > the Coats & Clark factory? > > Heather > > > David Rorer <[email protected]> wrote: It's funny > that the name Viyella should come up. My second > great uncle Alexander > James McNab was one of the principles in developing > the practical manufacture of > the thread called Viyella, in his mill at 171 Boden > Street Glasgow. This > building still existed as late as the 1970's and in > fact I've looked at the > aerial photos in Google Earth and it still appears > to be there. > Part of the story is quoted below. > > David Rorer > > Renison McNab & Co., Powerloom Cloth Manufacturers > of Glasgow > In 1863 Alexander James McNab and William Renison > founded Renison McNab & Co., > Powerloom Cloth Manufacturers, on Hosier Street, in > the Bridgeton district of > Glasgow. Later they appear to have built a new > building at 140 Boden St. > Renison McNab & Co specialized in weaving cloth on > commission, utilizing power > driven looms. One of their yarn suppliers was > William Hollins & Company, Ltd of > Derby, England, which had developed a specialty yarn > known as Viyella. Unlike > other yarns, Viyella was not made of a single fiber, > but was a combination of > wool and cotton fibers. Renison McNab & Co was one > of the firms called upon to > solve the problem of weaving this yarn into cloth. > The problem with combining wool and cotton fibers in > the same yarn is that > different sizings were normally used for these > fibers. The trick to successfully > weaving the mixed fiber yarn was finding a sizing > that would work well with both > cotton and wool. Renison McNab & Co was one of the > first mills to solve this > problem and satisfactorily weave it into cloth for > Hollins. Eventually, in order > to ensure the quality of the cloth woven from it's > yarn; Hollins purchased the > Boden St Mill, in 1900, from Alexander McNab who by > then was operating it as a > sole proprietor. > The mill was taken into the Hollins organization and > there cloth was > manufactured for the company for over three quarters > of the 20th century. The > Alexander McNab name was continued as the > distributor of unbranded cloth on a > wholesale basis until at least the 1950's. > > > > >> > > >>The connection between Paisley and Guadalajara > is that Paisley was once > > >>the > > >>World's leading town for the manufacture of > sewing thread. There were 2 > > >>huge > > >>family businesses, the Clarks and the Coats, > which eventually merged as > > >>United Thread Mills Ltd, a subsidiary of J & P > Coats Ltd, which is now > > >>part > > >>of the Coats Viyella Tootal group. By the end of > the 19th century, lots of > > >>countries were erecting tariff barriers to limit > imports and foster local > > >>industry. Mexico was one such, and one of the > Paisley companies set up a > > >>mill there (I'm not sure which), but in the > 1960s & 70s when I worked for > > >>Coats, they had a mill in Guadalajara and > another in Mexico City, as well > > >>as > > >>in countless other places around the world. Some > googling should yield > > >>further info. > > >> > > >>I hope this helps, > > >> > > >>Ken Mathieson, > > >>Uddingston SCT > > > > > > > Cualli Tonalli! > Mariposita Obsidiana, P.A. > > http://www.thelensflare.com/u_mariposa.php > http://mariposadreaming.blogspot.com/ > > "I am an amateur and I intend to stay that way for > the rest of my life." - Andre Kertesz, Hungary, > 1930 > > --------------------------------- > Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls > to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less. > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com