Leek Silk Manufacturer

[Suzi_mc]

Hello,

Can anyone help me?  I am trying to find out more about a Silas Gibson (senior and junior) who were  silk manufacturers in Leek.  In the 1881 census it refers to him as employing 160 ish workers.

I am based in Leeds so unfortunately do not have access to the relevant libraries or archives.

I have access to ancestry.com so have been able to find all the relevant census records but I would love to know more about his business

Any suggestions.

Suzanne

[Sam from Stoke]

Do you know what his factory was called?  Stafordshire Records Office has a quite a few records from Silk Mills in Leek, check out their website for what they have.

Sam x

[Elliebob]

I have forebears, the Dishley's who were working in the silk industry in Leek, I asked question on this thread.

www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,145805.msg666920.html#msg666920 

Regards

Ellen

[Suzi_mc]

Hi Sam,

Unfortunately I dont know the name of the factory.

Hi  Elliebob

Thanks I will try posting on there too.


Suzanne

[maggie may]

Hi Suzanne,
                   There is a book out called" Spirit of Leek 3." The Texile Mills. available from Landmark Publishers and Leek Books.
You might find this book quite useful.
The person who wrote the book is cathryn but I do not remember her surname.
I have had contact with her myself and she helped me with the Wellington mills as I had "Birch Families" working there. You could try her at   wcathryn@hotmail.com
Hope this is of some help to you.
Good Luck.
Maggie May

[kena]

Hi Suzanne, I have a copy of the book Maggie May mentioned, can't remember anything about Silas but will have a look for you.

Anna

[Suzi_mc]

Thanks guys, please let me know if you find anything.

Suzanne

[kena]

Hi Suzanne,am really sorry, had a flick through my book but unfortunately I couldn't find any reference to a mill run by your two Silas Gibson's though, am sure there must be other books around about the history of silkmills in Leek though, you could maybe try Abebooks, Haybooks.com and Ebay (these are my favourite sites for secondhand books), also the bookshop in Leek which also has a website, it seems to sell new and secondhand books. I also got another name of a Silkmill related book out of a book my parents have called A History of Leek by Ray Poole called The Story of Silk by Dr John Feltwell printed 1990, might be worth a look, unfortunately my parents book didn't show up anything either by the way.

Good Luck

Anna

[Suzi_mc]

Thank you ever so much for checking.