James Whatman |
On June 29th, 1759, James Whatman died. His wife became life tenant of the mill estates, and his will specified that their only surviving son, James II, should take over the business when he was 23.
At the time of his father's death, James II was a 17-year-old lieutenant in the West Kent Regiment, but he became so expert at the family business that he took over the running of the mill by the time he was 21, leaving Ann to retire to Devon.
James Whatman II made a substantial impact, both professionally and personally, and he became High Sheriff of Kent at a mere 26 years of age, suggesting a strong social position.
Fortunately for Turkey Mill, James II was a worthy successor to his father, a shrewd businessman and an innovator. He discovered that the whiteness of paper could be improved by adding blue stone in the early stages of manufacture, further establishing the company’s pre-eminence as a paper maker.
In 1770, the Society of Antiquaries was commissioned to make a large copper engraving of an old painting depicting Henry VIII meeting Francis I at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. The necessary paper had to be 49.25 inches by 27 inches - bigger than the Double Elephant size which was the largest made by Whatman.
James II, ever the creative problem solver, wrote: "I have no doubt but a Contrivance I have thought of will enable me to make it, although that will draw on a certain expense of at least Fifty Pounds for things which cannot be of use to me on any other occasion".
Whatman built his Contrivance to make Antiquarian-size paper, which took 11 men to operate. The resulting sheets were so heavy that they had to be transported to London by a small sailing vessel called a hoy.
In 1776, after the death of his first wife, Sarah, James II married Susanna Bosanquet, the daughter of a well-to-do Huguenot family. They had a son, also called James, born the following year. But there was also another young lad at home, William Balston, a bright Lancashire-born schoolboy who James had taken under his wing as a potential long-term successor.
The family were enjoying a period of singular prosperity. In 1783, James II bought an old manor house at Vinters, close to Turkey Mill, which he rebuilt on grander lines from local Kentish ragstone, and commissioned the great landscape gardener Humphry Repton to produce a design for the grounds.
By 1773, James II was running two other mills. In addition to wove paper, he was also exporting marbled paper, and paper for copper plates. He also established the reputation as a considerate and enlightened employer, occasionally paying employees a guinea or two bonus, and up to four guineas extra at Christmas.
When James II was struck down with a paralyzing stroke in 1790, his 31-year-old protégé William Balston took over the running of the business. Due to illness, James II sold the entire business in 1794 to two local men for £20,000. William Balston remained with the business after the sale.
James II died four years later in 1798.