Hello everyone, I hope this finds you well. As I type I’ve just completed a series of webpages on my project, which can be found under the ‘Features and Articles’ section on the website. Hopefully this will be able to give you a final thorough and comprehensive view of the collection and show what information we have on the huge array of mills in Finland. I hope it serves you well and you enjoy looking through.
Take a look at the full collection here
You will be able to see that you can click on a variety of links within the paragraphs, which will show you the depth of information we hold on a specific mill or topic. Every time this is the case it will show blue with a line beneath it. There are a few photos scattered around too, which can also be clicked on! The Feature includes a brief biography of Rex Wailes, an introduction from the authors of the relevant Newcomen Transactions, followed by an introduction to each type of mill that can be found in Finland. One thing you’ll notice is that the names differ quite a bit from their English counterparts, as I’m sure you know from any previous blog posts you might have read! Following this you will find a much more detailed review of the mills, with many significant ones picked out and connected to the Archive Catalogue.
After this you’ll find some other interesting snippets from further afield than the main collection. The history of Finnish shingle mills are explained in full from a symposium speech, and a glossary of terms is also added, which is fully searchable. Look out for expressions such as ‘Hattu’ meaning ‘cap’ or ‘hat’, and of course ‘Mylly’ meaning ‘mill’. Last is Rex’s obituary, telling of his many accomplishments. While there is no direct mention of his travel to Finland, his expertise and research is noted as second to none. An article on the collection as a whole will be available in the Autumn edition of ‘Mill Memories’.
As there are now just over three weeks of my internship left to go I will be moving on to a slightly different role, but hope to keep you updated through subsequent blog posts. The other day, for example, Mildred Cookson brought in her fantastic model of a French windmill, based on one in Diderot’s Encyclopaedia, built by Jeff Hawksley. Mildred was explaining exactly how the mill worked, and I was able to match up many of the things seen in the Finnish collection with the fully moveable components of the model. One of the images of the same mill, taken from ‘L’Encyclopédie Diderot et D’Alembert’, is to the left for comparison.
Photos like the one below also remind me why I love rooting through archives. Initially you might question why this photo is even part of the collection. I did for a few seconds. But then you spot it and it becomes more obvious… A great sense of someone’s personality and their view of what’s important can be gleaned from images such as this without ever meeting them. It has been brilliant working with Rex Wailes’ collection over the past eight weeks, and I’m glad I can now pass it over to you all to view in its completeness.
I’d like to say a big thanks to the team for their help throughout, and am looking forward to continuing at the Archive in the coming weeks, now on a slightly different project!