That's a coincidence as all my McNab ancestor's worked for Coats also. Sandy (Wagga x 2) ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Rorer" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 5:21 AM Subject: RE: [Renfrew] Coats & Clarks > 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 > > > >