Hi everyone! I’m Kate, the new intern at the Mills Archive for this summer. I’ve just finished my second of three years studying History at the University of Reading, and am really looking forward to meeting many of you at the Friends’ Garden Party this weekend. I’m now just over half way through my first week at the Archive, and it’s been great being able to get a feel for the place in the last few days.
One thing that’s immediately obvious to me it is that the team love their time here, and are so knowledgeable and interested in mills and their roles in the organisation, which makes it a very special place; I am so grateful for the opportunity to work here this summer.
It has been fantastic to find out more about the history of the Archive itself – through a session that was organised for myself and other volunteers – as well as get stuck straight into my own project. As I later hope to establish a career in museums and archives, I cannot wait to be even more fully involved in the Mills Archive’s work, especially learning about the individual millwrights, engineers, historians and their families, as well as what has happened to the mills themselves that in many cases are still so important to people’s lives.
My main project is to catalogue Rex Wailes’ collection on Finnish mills, making them available to you all on the new website. There are hundreds! After previously having only a small amount of insight into the milling industry (and even less knowledge of the parishes and provinces in Finland) it is needless to say this first week has proved to be a huge but exciting learning curve.
On my first day our Archivist Nathanael found and showed us all a huge, elaborately crafted document from 1841. After deciphering the handwriting and studying the beautiful watercolour illustrations we discovered it was a patent for a type of waterwheel that can be used both in its own right, or on a steam powered boat. What surprised us all, though – other than the ingenuity of the invention itself – was the huge seal that was sewn to the bottom of the document. You may well be able to view it on Saturday, at its home in Watlington House, and see what we mean! It is because of being able to discover little interesting facts like this that I first became interested in the study of History and the recorded past; it never disappoints and each collection, and even item, is so unique.
One of my own first discoveries here was the seemingly unusual terminology that Rex Wailes uses throughout his Finnish collection: calling a post mill a ‘toe mill’, and then classifying both ‘Magpie’ and ‘Chicken Hawk’ types, called as such because of the shape of their tailpoles. Part of the joy of this project is being able to put together a bit of a biography of Rex himself, too: he spent a vast amount of time in Finland, travelling around to as many mills as he could locate, and recording them all for us to see. It’s a great privilege to be working on its digitisation.
In a letter sent just after Rex’s fourth visit in 1971 he mentions the hospitality of one of his guides: “on my second Sunday was given a trip round Helsinki cemetery for several hours … some people have curious ideas of enjoyment!”. I think this again shows his deep passion for the study of mills, and not wanting to lose any time on things not directly relating to his study. It is in these short phrases that those who never met Rex are able to put together bits of his character: the power of written expression can show a great deal about a person, which is something that really intrigues me as a (budding) social historian.
Throughout my time here I hope to keep a blog, and I will endeavour to keep you updated on many more discoveries as they are made, so do keep a look out!