The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, Delaware  19735

Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:         Bent, Robert, 1849-circa 1906.

Title:               Dye recipe books, finishing notes, and textile swatches

Dates:             circa 1875-1910

Call No.:         Col. 974         

Acc. No.:        2017x123

Quantity:        22 volumes

Location:        39 F 5

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

Robert Bent worked in the textile industry in England and in Lawrence, Massachusetts.  He was born in August 1849, the son of Alice and Josiah Bent; married Ann Monton or Morton in 1875; and had children Thomas, Alice, Blanche, and Robert George (born around 1876, 1879, 1881, and 1884).  In August 1895, the Bent family, which had been living in Accrington, Lancashire, sailed from Liverpool to Boston, Massachusetts.  They quickly settled in Lawrence, Mass., where father Robert began work at Pacific Print Works (Pacific Mills).  A man named Robert Bent died in Methuen, Mass., in 1906, and this may be the same person.  Ann Bent died in 1927.

 

Robert Bent’s daughter Blanche Annie Bent married Fred Sherburne Buzzell of Methuen, Mass.  He was born in 1877, the son of Amanda Rankin and Sherburne Buzzell, and he died in 1960.  Blanche and Fred married in 1906.  On his World War I draft registration card, Buzzell listed his home address as Methuen and his employer as Arlington Mills in Lawrence.

 

J. Bent has not been identified, but was probably a relative of Robert Bent.  J. Bent worked at the Know Mill Print Works in Entwistle, England (the nearest city is Manchester).

 

Facts about Thomas Warburton are sparse.  In the 1881 England census, he was listed as living Huddersfield, West Yorkshire and working as a color mixer to a wool printer.  He was born around 1847 in Bury, Lancashire.  His wife was named Mary (age 31), and their children were Samuel, William and Lilly (ages 8, 4, 1).  Although supposedly he immigrated to the United States, there were too many men of the same age and name to definitely identify this one.  He was not listed in the 1900 city directory for Lawrence, Mass.  It is possible that Warburton did not emigrate but that for some reason Bent brought his notebooks with him.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

A collection of volumes, many of which contain dye recipes and textile swatches, while others document finishing of textiles.  Most of the swatches are cotton, but wool and linen are also found.  Some of the volumes can be attributed to Robert Bent or to Thomas Warburton; one belonged to J.(?) Bent, and another to Fred S. Buzzell.  Several volumes were compiled by unknown textile workers.  Most of the material in the volumes was accumulated in England, but the volumes were brought to Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1895 when Robert Bent and his family moved from England to the U.S. 

 

           

ORGANIZATION

 

The volumes are in accession number order, but that is not a particular order.

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

           

 

PROVENANCE

           

Gift of the American Textile History Museum; given to them by Joseph Flibbert.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

People:

            Bent family.

 

Topics:

            Pacific Mills.

                        Aspley Print Works (Huddersfield, Eng.)

            Cotton fabrics - Specimens.

            Cotton manufacture - Massachusetts - Lawrence.

Dyers – England.

Dyers - Massachusetts - Lawrence.

Dyes and dyeing - England.

Dyes and dyeing - Massachusetts - Lawrence.

            Formulas, recipes, etc. - Massachusetts - Lawrence.

Industries - Massachusetts - Lawrence.

Textile fabrics - Specimens.

Textile finishing.

            Textile printing - England - Huddersfield.    

Textile printing - Massachusetts - Lawrence.

            Woolen and worsted manufacture - Massachusetts - Lawrence.

            Huddersfield (England) - Industries.

            Receipts (Recipes)

            Swatches.

            Notebooks.

 

Additional authors:

            Warburton, Thomas, circa 1847-

            Buzzell, Fred Sherburne, 1877-1960.

           

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 39 F 5

 

 

Box 1:

 

Folder 1:          Robert Bent, 1895: memorandum book, with notes about finishing cloth; widths of various makes of cloth; how many pieces of various kinds of cloth can be woven in an hour; swatches of fabrics with notes about finishing; and a note about his family’s immigration: sailed from Liverpool, Aug. 8, 1895, and arrived in Boson on Aug. 17; Bent began work at Pacific Mills in Lawrence on Aug. 21 

Volume: stiff cardstock covers, with cloth along spine; the word Memorandum and a design are printed on what is supposed to be the front cover, but is in this instance the back cover;

(acc. 2017x123.1; ATHM 0022.50.1)

 

Folder 2:          Thomas Warburton, 1878: dye recipes, with some swatches; a few of the recipes are noted as being from or for Hervey Peck & Co.;

                                    Volume: marbled paper covers, covering printed blue paper; Warburton wrote his name on the front cover; inside front cover: calendars for 1876 and 1877; inside back cover: Henderson’s Merchant’s Ready Reckoner, a chart showing the relative value of the standard weights;

(acc. 2017x123.2; ATHM 0022.50.2)

 

 

Folder 3:          [Thomas Warburton?]: similar to the volume above, with dye recipes and some swatches; one recipe is listed as coming from Read Holliday & Sons;

                                    several items are laid into the volume, including a signature from another volume (several recipes in this section have names of other companies), a loose piece of paper with the date May 21/02, and a trade card for W.L. Macomber & Co., manufacturing chemists of Boston.

                                    inside front cover: calendars for 1879 and 1880; inside back cover: Henderson’s Merchant’s Ready Reckoner, a chart showing the relative value of the standard weights. 

(acc. 2017x123.3; ATHM 0022.50.3)

 

Folder 4:          [Robert Bent?]:  Sample book, 1892-1893, with later items; entries are numbered, but presumably these are run numbers (they are not sequential); there are mentions of softening mill, mill rollers stretch, new dry, and such things as that; there is one fabric swatch, and the name Eli Higham is associated with this

                                    laid into the volume is one dye recipe; some notes dated 1901; and a vaccination certificate for William Miskell, an employee of Pacific Mills, Dec. 29, 1904;

                                    volume: coves of textured paper over brown paper, both covers detached;

(acc. 2017x123.4; ATHM 0022.50.4)

 

Folder 5:          [unknown compiler]: Dye recipes, with some swatches of printed cottons, 1874; some recipes attributed to J.S. Robison, J. Gorton, and Joseph Walker;

                                    laid into volume are two sheets with recipes and attached swatches;

                                    volume: leather cover, bound with flap closure and an inside pocket;

(acc. 2017x123.5; ATHM 0022.50.5)

 

folder 6:           [Robert Bent (some question, but pretty sure this is his)]: notes about finishing textiles, 1894-1895; also a number of names and addresses of people in Manchester, Accrington, and Huddersfield, England, plus addresses in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, including William Howarth, the machine printer at Pacific Mills; also includes a list of furniture sold;

                                    volume: textured, coated cloth covers, flaking in places;

                                    (acc. 2017x123.6; ATHM 0022.50.6)

 

Folder 7:          [Robert Bent(?)]: notes about finishing textiles, 1899-1900, with some printed cotton swatches, including dimity and leno;

                                    Volume: covers of cloth over stiff paper;

                                    (acc. 2017x123.7; ATHM 0022.50.7)

 

Folder 8:          [unknown compiler]: dye recipes (no swatches)

                                    Volume: covers missing; blue paper, ruled for accounts; fore-edges are marbled;

                                    (acc. 2017x123.8; ATHM 0022.50.8)

 

Folder 9:          [Robert Bent?]  Sample book, 1890-1892; entries are numbered, but presumably these are run numbers (they are not sequential); there are mentions of cold Swiss stretch, mellow, near dry, and such things as that;

                                    See also acc. 2017x123.4;

                                    Volume: coated cloth covers

(acc. 2017x123.9; ATHM 0022.50.9)

 

Folder 10:        Thomas Warburton: Dye recipes, with a very few swatches, 1878; with a few extra sheets of recipes laid in;

                                    Written inside front cover: Thomas Warburton, Aspley Print Works, Huddersfield;

                                    Volume: covers of green textured paper, with pages ruled for accounts

(acc. 2017x123.10; ATHM 0022.50.10)

 

Folder 11:        [Thomas Warburton]: Dye recipes, with swatches, 1878; with a few extra sheets of recipes laid in;

                                    No name, but volume is identical to acc. 2017x123.10;

(acc. 2017x123.11; ATHM 0022.50.11)

 

 

Box 2:

 

Folder 1:          [Thomas Warburton?]: Dye recipes, with two swatches, 1878; one recipe is attributed to Robert Bent;

 “Aspley Print Works, Huddersfield” is written in the volume, hence the questionable attribution to Warburton;

                                    Volume: stiff brown paper covers;

(acc. 2017x123.12; ATHM 0022.50.12)

 

Folder 2:          [Thomas Warburton?]: Dye recipes, with cotton swatches, and two extra sheets of recipes laid in;

                                    Volume: leather cover, with flap closure; because paste-downs are missing, it is easy to see how this was constructed; text block completely detached

 (acc. 2017x123.13; ATHM 0022.50.13)

 

                        Thomas Warburton: Dye recipes, with swatches (some badly damaged); also names and addresses of men in and around Manchester and Bolton;

                                    Volume: coated cloth covering, with metal clasp for keeping volume closed, and a slot for a small pencil; Thomas Warburton wrote his name and address inside both covers

(acc. 2017x123.14; ATHM 0022.50.14)

 

Folder 3:          [Robert Bent?]: dye recipes, backing recipes, and notes on finishing;

                                    Volume: reddish leather covers;

(acc. 2017x123.15; ATHM 0022.50.15)

 

Folder 4:          J.(?) Bent: dye and finishing recipes, 1875, with many cotton swatches; some names and addresses at end;

                                    WARNING: many of the pages are stuck together; DO NOT attempt to separate;

                                    Volume: coated cloth covers; text block detached from covers;

(acc. 2017x123.16; ATHM 0022.50.16)

 

Folder 5:          [unidentified compiles}: dye recipes, finishing notes, and many cotton swatches, with names and addresses at front of volume; includes references to Tottington Mill, which was located a few miles outside Bury, Lancashire;

                                    Volume: paper covers, stained and worn;

(acc. 2017x123.17; ATHM 0022.50.17)

 

Folder 6:          Thomas Warburton: Dye and size recipes, 1875, 1879;

                                    Volume: textured leather; most pages are blank; Thomas Warburton wrote his name inside the volume;

(acc. 2017x123.18; ATHM 0022.50.18)

 

Folder 7:          Fred Buzzell: answers to problems dealing with textile production, 1909-1910; Buzzell seems to have been taking a class, and this notebook includes class notes, questions, and answers to some of the questions; includes a couple of diagrams and one cotton swatch;

                                    Volume: marbled covers, textured cloth spine; label on one cover;

(acc. 2017x123.19; ATHM 0022.50.19)

 

 

Box 3:

 

Folder 1:          [Robert Bent]: notebook of dye recipes, with a few swatches towards the back;

                                    Laid into the volume is a printed record cad of contributions made by Robert Bent to the Rose of England Lodge of N.U.F.G., 1895-1896, although how he could have made contributions after July 1895 is a mystery since he emigrated in August 1895.  N.U.F.G. may stand for National United Order of Free Gardeners, which was a friendly society with a Rose of England Lodge based in Levenshulme, Manchester (the organization also had a lodge in Accrington, where the Bents lived prior to emigration).   (Another mystery is why a textile worker would join a gardeners’ association.)

                                    Volume: marbled boards, coated cloth spine; fore-edges marbeled; most pages are blank;

(acc. 2017x123.20; ATHM 0022.50.20)

 

Folder 2:          Robert Bent: notebook of recipes, including dye recipes and fabric swatches; also some sketches of printing machinery;

                                    The volume also includes personal notes: George began to pay rent in 1890 (son Robert G.?); an address for Pvt. Alfred Bent; receipt for Bent paying rent on a stable and barn in Lawrence (dated April 1896); draft of a letter to his brother about the family’s voyage to America (Robert was seasick); a draft of the opening of a speech; the draft of a presentation inscription to son Tom Bent on Dec. 11, 1895; a letter to Miss Fairburn in Bath, Maine, about Frank Lees’ deceitfulness (and mentioning that his father sold rum);

                                    Several items laid in, including a list of expenditures (seeds and plants, picture, wine, etc.); a note about interest on $5000; a statement about a insurance policy for Alfred Bent of Huddersfield, issued by Refuge Assurance Company in 1886; and a statement to shareholders in the Manchester Ship Canal Company, 1891 (printed form);

                                    Volume: mauve cloth cover, with red leather spine; end papers of blue marbled paper; a number of pages have been torn out of the volume; same kind of volume as in next folder;

                                    (acc. 2017x123.21; ATHM 0022.50.21)

                       

 

Folder 3:          [Robert Bent]: notebook primarily of fabric swatches, both cotton and wool, with a few dye recipes laid in;

Also laid into the volume are a picture of a textile machine made by John Downham & Co.; a note about finishing chambrays, dated 1897; a description of a tract of land in Lawrence, Mass.; a letter from James Smith of Accrington (date torn off, but prior to Bents’ emigration); notes about the average number of yards made per week at Pacific Mills, 1897-1898; and a faded photograph of a woman in the huge leg o’ mutton sleeves of the 1890s;

Volume: mauve cloth cover, with red leather spine; end papers of blue marbled paper; fore-edges have been marbled; a few pages have been removed; same kind of volume as in previous folder;

                                    (acc. 2017x123.22; ATHM 0022.50.22)