James Whatman |
Many stories end with a wedding. The Whatman story begins with one. On August 7th, 1740, in the parish church of All Saints at Maidstone, Kent, the marriage took place between James Whatman, a leather tanner, and Ann Harris, a widow who had inherited her first husband's newly-built paper mill.
It was a match that was meant to be. The Whatman and Harris families had known each other for several years, and James Whatman had been a trusted friend of the late Richard Harris, and was a witness to the will which left Turkey Mill to Ann.
The newlyweds set about making their paper mill the finest in the land. At that time, the best quality writing and drawing papers came from abroad, particularly from France and Holland, but it was a commercial tradition that James Whatman determined to break.
He assembled a highly skilled workforce of craftsmen for all stages of the paper making process, even the most laborious but nevertheless crucial task of selecting and grading rags. By 1753 his 'laid' papers, made on a simple mesh of wires, had an excellent reputation in Britain, and were even being exported to America. Three years later, James Whatman was to demonstrate the innovative and technical flair which was to typify the enterprise over succeeding generations by introducing 'wove' paper, where a different configuration of wires in the mould resulted in a smoother, finer sheet. Whatman wove paper set the standard for superior quality drawing, writing and printing paper, and it was 30 years before other paper makers began selling similar products.