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John Quayle, clerk of the rolls, built this mill on the Silverburn, a little downstream of the Creg Mill which he had acquired from the Prestons some years earlier, in the early 1760s but did not at the time acquire the Lord's licence for a new Mill - possibly his absence in London on the Lord's business, the death of the 2nd Duke of Atholl, the transfer of the Lordship to the 3rd Duke, followed quickly by the revestment might explain this absence. It is likely that it was built a short time before the revestment in 1765. Post-revestment he, along with Dan Mylrea, had been appointed by the 3rd Duke as stewards of his manorial estate. The governor no longer played any role in granting licences thus Quayle could in effect licence himself and others who had built or adapted mills to exploit the large expansion in linen manufacture - an annual 1s rent - a smaller rent than that given in the past for little or vertical mills. There was however a significant disagreement when the 4th Duke began to take an interest in his Manx estate - he accused Quayle of dishonesty in building his own estate at the expense of the Duke.
The mill remained in the Quayle family for the next century though the flax scutching had ceased by the 1830s as George Quayle advertised for a new tenant:
Manks Advertiser, Tuesday, 17th April 1832
WOOL CARDING MILL.
TO be SOLD, hy .Private Contract, or LET, from and after the 12th November next,—The MILL a short distance lower down the River than the Creg Mill, in Malew, formerly a Flax Mill, but now in the occupation of ROBERT MULON. as a Wool Carding Mill. The Land attached to the Mill is 2A. 2R. 23p. Further Particulars may be known by applying to the Proprietor, G. QUAYLE , Castletown. 13th April, 1832. (16)
The previous tenant, Robert Mullin had moved to a larger
mill -
Lamplugh gives some history of the extraction and preparation of Ochre and Umber which around 1830 would appear to have gained some impetus by the entry of James Grellier who acquired the lease originally given by the Duke to a Thomas Satterwaite. Grellier, an ex-army surgeon from London, already had something of a reputation as a sharp operator, apparently dug and exported significant quantities by 1835 for James McCrone, by then Crown agent to ask the acting Attorney-General to begin legal proceedings to obtain both information on quantity and payment of the Lordship due. Grellier was an intimate friend of Edward Forbes, the banker, and it is possible that some of the capital needed to modify a flax mill into a processing mill for Ochre originated from Forbes - the later collapse of this bank in 1843 caused significant financial damage to many.
Grellier was involved in many commercial undertakings, usually in partnership with Edward Forbes - some light is thrown on this nexus by a law case in the Chancery Court in July 1841 [reported at length in Mona's Herald 20 July 1841] in which Peter Crank Woods sued Edward Forbes and Adolphus M'William the remaining partners of several companies in which Grelier had also been a partner. One was as woollen manufacturers when James Grellier & Co operated the Union Mills along with the firm known as P.C Woods & Co as Corn merchants. Another company also called James Grellier & Co which consisted of Grellier and Forbes as partners in a mining and ochre business which operated from about 1832 and that around 1837 Forbes bought out Grellier's share in the Ochre business though the company still traded as James Grellier & Co and that partnership was never dissolved though run entirely by Forbes.
Thus in 1837 Pigot's directory which noting that "Not far from Ballasalla are extensive limeworks, and an ochre and umber manufactory" also has:
Grellier Jas. & Co. umber & ochre manufacturers, Ballasalla — Thos. Pearson, agnt
Thomas Pearson can be found in 1841 census as an English born (as were all the household) mines agent at Ballasalla Lodge north of Ballasalla and close to the Mill, at Flax Mill house, the adjacent cottage also built by Quayle, was Wm Creer agricultural labourer.
As this company was actually owned by Edward Forbes whose bank failed in 1843 the lease on the mill was it seems transferred to Gavin Torrance as in Slater's 1846 directory:
Torrance G.& Co. Ballasalla; North quay, and Duke street, Douglas Joseph Torrance, agent, Ballasalla;
Torrance was still there in 1857 with
Muncaster Thomas, manager of the umber and ochre works, Ballasalla
and in 1863 Thwaite's directory
Torrance G. & Co., manufacturers of umber, ochre, and cement, Ballasalla
The 1868 O/S plan would appear to indicate an extension at the side of the Mill - possibly this was a grinder coupled to the water wheel on the west side of the 1765 mill building - the plan also shows the settling tanks mentioned by Lamplugh used in the processing of the mined material.
The Mill would appear to have passed to the Quine family, possibly at the time Wm Quine obtained the Creg mill in the early 1860s; Teddy Blackburn writing in 1989 recounts Dr Robert Quine retiring to the Island and converting the mill into a 'lovely dwelling house' - he also notes the Umber House on the Irish Quay at Castletown where the umber was stored prior to export off the island. This trade had ceased pre WW1, the Umber House itself being demolished in the 1950's. This Umber house, I think, had been built as Ordnance stores for the garrison stationed at Castletown and had briefly been transformed into Barracks but was sold after the new Barracks on the Parade were completed in 1834. A little more detail had been given earlier by C. E. Watterson.
The remaining building is known as the Umber House, for the following reason. It was used by a Mr. Torrance, a ship's chandler and provision dealer, who carried on his business at the Fleetwood Corner on the North Quay at Douglas, as a store for umber. Mr.Torrance had his works near Ballasalla, at a water-mill near Silverburn, which has now been altered and with additions thereto is used as a residence by Dr. Quine. The umber was periodically shipped in barrels to an English port in Mr. Torrance's schooners - the 'Christianna' and the 'Bessy' - the latter schooner making the journey once a year to Lisbon to load cork for the fishing nets.
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Water powered Mills etc |
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Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received The
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