Albert Bowtell Collection

Item set

Identifier
COL6
Title
Albert Bowtell Collection
Description
Albert Bowtell worked in the accounts department of Salts Mill for 28 years up to its end as a textile mill in 1985. He was very interested in the history of the textiles business and gave illustrated, entertaining talks on the story of Saltaire. We also have a large collection from his wife Joycert, another worker at Salts Mill.

Albert sadly died in 2003 but in 2007 his widow Joyce kindly donated his extensive archive of photographs, original documents, Salts-company objects and newscuttings.
Associated place or event
Salts Mill, Saltaire, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Associated person or organisation
Bowtell, Albert E
Additional information
Introduction to the Bowtell Collection
Type
Collection

Items

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  • 2019.28a: Aerial view of Saltaire
    Aerial photograph of Saltaire by C.H. Wood Ref. No. A14464. With pencilled information on reverse
  • 2019.4.1: Attendant badge
    Attendant badge for the Royal Yorkshire Jubilee Exhibition. Label used in exhibition to describe the medal & photograph copies of the medal and label
  • 2019.4.10: Product tag
    Small product tag. The label states Registered trademarks. Brown with certification.
  • 2019.4.11: Product tag
    Small green product tag with a green alpaca tag. The label states Registered trademarks.
  • 2019.4.13: Burling Iron
    Burling Iron used in the Burling and Mending Department to remove knots or lumps in woven cloth
  • 2019.4.14: Burling Iron
    A burling iron used in the Burling and Mending Department to remove knots or lumps in woven cloth
  • 2019.4.2: Ticket
    Ticket for the Royal Yorkshire Jubilee Exhibition. Red coloured book cloth cover with gold detailed saltaire crest and the words 'Exhibitor. Saltaire 1887.' The bottom of the inside of the ticket includes the signature of the secretary, name of the holder, and a signature of the holder.
  • 2019.4.3: Exhibition medals
    Exhibition medals from the Royal Yorkshire Jubilee Exhibition one with an image of Queen Victoria and another with the Saltaire Crest. Stored in a purple box with signs of wear. One medal has an image of Queen Victoria bordered by a floral wreath pattern and includes the text 'The Royal Yorkshire Jubilee - Exhibition - Saltaire 1887' around the edge. The other medal has an image of the Saltaire crest with the text 'Registered common seal of the governors of the salt schools shipley' around the edge of the medal.
  • 2019.4.4: book mark
    Book mark advertising the opening of the Royal Yorkshire Jubilee Exhibition.
  • 2019.4.6: key ring
    Small cream keyring with the words Saltaire fabric on it. Possibly given out by the Sales or Marketing Representatives at trade shows or to clients.
  • 2019.4.7: Product tag
    Small product tag. The label states Registered trademark, Super Pelecia Pepper Lee; green, black and red certification.
  • 2019.4.8: key ring
    Small red keyring with the words Saltaire fabric on it. Possibly given out by the Sales or Marketing Representatives at trade shows or to clients.
  • 2019.4.9: Product tag
    Small product tag. The label states Registered trademarks. Black with certification.
  • A2-024: The King was in his counting house, stained glass
    An image drawn onto glass portraying a king counting his money with the title 'the King was in the countinghouse'. It is aparently from the children's nursery in Milner Field house which is now demolished.
  • A2-025a: Glass find sparks Salt history plea
    Newspaper Article from the Shipley Target, about Albert Bowtells find of a piece of the stained glass from Milner Field. The glass was then gifted by Mr Bowtell to the collection.
  • A2-025b: Salt Family - Residences
    Photocopy of a cartoon from Shipley Target on finding of stained glass from Milner Field
  • A2-026: At Home with Sir Titus
    Article from 'The Dalesman' by Iredale and Townhill about Crow Nest near Halfiax, a home of Sir Titus Salt
  • A2-027: Lightcliffe village
    Set of 7 photographs of Lightcliffe village, church and lodge. Sir Titus Salt's favourite home was at Crow Nest in Lightcliffe.
  • B1-031: The Famous Belwarp Fabrics
    Advert for 'The Famous Belwarp Fabrics'
  • B1-032/3: Commentary by Dave Shaw on the photographs of and brochures about Salts Mill machinery from the Bowtell Collection.
    Commentary by Dave Shaw on the photographs of and brochures about Salts Mill machinery from the Bowtell Collection. 'Photographs exist of some of the machinery installed in Salts Mill during its days of textile production. Several of the photos were used in two promotional brochures produced by the company, the first (in French) in 1918 (approx) under the name Sir Titus Salt Bart Sons & Co Ltd; the second, in 1924 (approx) under the name Salts (Saltaire) Ltd. (Further commentary on the two brochures can be found overpage). Additionally, there are photos of the Mill departments following removal of machinery, presumably taken in the 1980s. The photographs were held by the late Mr Albert Bowtell, and subsequently (2007) donated by his widow Mrs J Bowtell to the Saltaire Archive. The original photos have been digitally scanned to minimise further handling and many are reproduced here for easy reference. We are anxious to document as much as we can about the type of machinery seen in the photos, its date of use, the mill department in which it was used etc etc. If you can help us to this end, please add your comments (together with your name and contact details) to the sheets accompanying the photos. The Industrial Museum has in its Reference Library a few Salts Mill brochures which are a very good source of information. Two of the brochures date from around the 1920s, one being in French, the other being in English. The French-language brochure was designed and printed by W. N. Sharpe Ltd., of Bradford and London. The Mill's company name in the brochure is 'Sir Titus Salt Bart Sons & Co Ltd'. Its text has mention of a Royal visit in 1918, so it dates from after that event. I currently judge it to be 1920-ish. (Also it is judged to have been produced by letterpress (indicated by the imprint on p15/16). The English language brochure was designed and printed by Percy Lund, Humphries and Company Ltd, The County Press Ltd, Bradford. The Mill's company name in the brochure is 'Salts (Saltaire) Ltd'. The brochure carries a page of photos of the company's board members of 1924, which presumably allows us to date it as being of that year. (This brochure is thought to have been produced by litho-press). Much of the text and the illustrations are common to the two publications. The French-language text is briefer than the English-language text, and the English-language brochure has more illustrations. Although most of the illustrations are common, many of those of the English-language brochure have been 'improved' — eg blemishes in photos have been removed; indistinct features have been sharpened by hand etc. Even the Belwarp and alpaca trademarks of the two publications are not quite identical. An illustration of the Mill, viewed from the SW, is common to both brochures but with modifications having been made in the later one — for example, cars have replaced horse-drawn carts seen in the other (earlier) brochure. What is also of interest is that several — perhaps the majority — of the photos are the same as those in Mr Bowtell's collection, including the ones which have been touched up. As we investigate the various photos in more detail, the two brochures will help date the textile machinery that features in the photos in the collection of Mr Bowtell.'

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