Shropshire Star

US woman discovers history of descendent who worked at Shrewsbury Flaxmill

A US-based relative of a 19th century Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings worker will be part of a new arts project celebrating the site’s flax mill era workers.

Published
Anne Wilson-Dooley's relative John Billington worked at Shrewsbury's Flaxmill Maltings

Anne Wilson-Dooley, from Aurora, Illinois, was recently traced and contacted following years of research by a team led by Penny Ward, skilled researcher and board member of the Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings.

Anne is the great, great, great granddaughter of John Billington, who was employed at the site when it was operating as a flax mill and later emigrated to America. Built in 1797, the Flaxmill Maltings started life as a mill producing linen thread from flax. It closed as a mill in 1886 and re-opened as a maltings in 1897. Apart from a pause during the Second World War, when it was used as a barracks and training centre, the site remained a maltings for almost a century, until it closed its doors for the final time in 1987.

The Friends’ research took several years and has identified the names of 2,089 people who worked at the world’s first iron-framed building between 1797 and 1886. In some cases this research has uncovered some truly remarkable stories.

John Billington’s story was pieced together from papers and documents found in Shropshire Archives and Leeds Archives. Billington worked as a clerk at the mill, which is recognised as being the forerunner of the modern-day skyscraper. He was employed there for over 25 years in the early 19th century. In 1848, aged 55, he and his wife emigrated to join their sons in Springfield, Illinois, then a small American town which was also home to future president, Abraham Lincoln.

An online search led to Anne, who was actively researching her Billington family line across the Atlantic in the United States. The Friends reached out to Anne, who is no stranger to Shrewsbury, having visited the town herself in 2005, although she was unable to set foot in the then derelict Flaxmill Maltings.

Penny Ward from the Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings said: “It’s amazing where research can lead you. John’s name was mentioned in the Marshall’s wage book and he was also traceable to several other paper sources, so we know that he lived on Ann’s Hill, close to the factory. It is stories such as his that bring the history of the mill to life, and the link with Anne means the Friends will have the unique opportunity to create a better picture of the life of one of its flax-era workers.”

Anne will record Billington's name as part of the Flaxmill Voices project, a collaboration between the Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings and artist Andy McKeown in which people record the name of one of the workers.

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