It is roughly 1½ miles from Gilford to the Canal at Madden near Tandragee. In addition to acquisitions in the warp knit business, Hayes pushed Guilford to learn new technologies. In spite of difficult conditions, Hugh Dunbar McMaster carried on a very successful flax spinning and thread manufacturing business. That year, Guilford's sales were $528.8 million and income was $15.9 million, and the company had slipped to the last slot on the Fortune 500 list. Giants like Burlington and J. P. Stevens had margins of 2 and 1.1 percent, respectively. HM Revenue & Customs charity ref. Source: International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. McMaster and the Dickson Brothers became very wealthy men and it was during this period that the latter built Elmfield and Gilford Castles. The proprietors, it seems, have just finished a large building for the manufacture of thread and this was appr… This late 20th century development provides another interesting study not entirely unconnected with the local linen industry. The Domesday Book records a mill being present on the site in 1086 - one of the five mills recorded as part of the great manor of Bramley.In the 15th century, the mill was owned by 'John atte Lee'. He has erected a hospital for the sick to the support of which he contributes very liberally. Capital expenditures of $80 million were planned for fiscal 1993. • Find out a brief history of the Mill. Guilford quickly introduced innovative dyeing and finishing techniques that included laminating, napping, embossing, and coating. Profits for the group fell 41 percent that year. ... Guilford marked 1990 with innovation, becoming the first U.S. mill to introduce microdenier specialty fabrics, which have a high-filament count that gives a silk-like feel to stretchy fabrics. The area around Guilford was settled before it was called by the name of its mill. And Guilford produced low-priced synthetic knockoffs of more expensive, natural-fiber fabrics. Guilford's CEO, Chuck Hayes, appointed Bryan Lodder as president of the company. The company retired at a reasonable hour, apparently highly delighted with the entertainment.". To accommodate the large number of workers encouraged to come to Gilford in search of employment mainly from Counties Monaghan, Fermanagh and Armagh, a huge house building project was begun. The conversion eventually cost Guilford more than $30 million in equipment and resulted in millions of dollars of losses. Many mill houses can still be found in the village. 8. During the previous five years, Guilford's sales had increased 70 percent. The production of fine denier specialty yarns allowed Guilford to create unique, exclusive fabrics. The company knits, dyes, and finishes nylon, acetate, and polyester yarn and sells finished fabrics to the apparel, automotive, and home furnishings industries. A great many ladies and gentlemen from the surrounding neighbourhood and also from Belfast were present and seemed highly gratified with the proceedings of the evening. When the mill shut in 1986, the village waned. Sites for the Roman Catholic and Presbyterian Churches were presented by individual members of the firm. By the end of the 1980s, the Guilford had more than 4,500 employees at 14 plants. Eventually the property was purchased by his nephew, Hugh. Guilford's automotive business unit also showed recovery, with worldwide growth in automotive and van interiors and residential upholstery. A Grocer's advertisement of the time indicates that he has undertaken an emigration agency. The earliest recorded mill on the site was one constructed by Walter de la Poyle in 1295. In 1711, the Log Chapel of Ease, now called Christ Church Guilford, was founded to the north of Guilford on a piece of land surveyed as "New Year's Gift" by Charles Carroll of Carrollton. ." So well appreciated is the river that linen is sent long distances, even, from Belgium to be bleached on the banks of the Bann. When he died in 1802, his property became the subject of a law suit in Chancery between members of the Law family. By his will, he left all his land, etc., to the eldest son, with Dunbarton, House (after life interest to his widow), and various other legacies. Great credit is due to Mr. McMaster - one of his partners of the establishment. In fact, he has done everything which generosity and human feeling can suggest for the benefit of those employed at the Gilford works. During the 1840s the firm provided schools under the National Board of Education. The company also supplied fabric for window treatments, automotive interiors, shoes, and luggage. My mother worked in this mill in the 1940s. However, it has survived the recession in the linen trade and in doing so will be in an advantageous position to benefit if the industry should expand, as predicted. Imports and exports were facilitated by the vast enterprise, for those times, of cutting the Newry Canal which was opened in 1737 and finally completed to Lough Neagh in 1741 at an estimated cost of £896,000. They are built, in part, literally over the River Bann, the water of which is famous for its bleaching power. The firm began to trade under Dunbar McMaster and Co. for flax spinning and linen thread and Dunbar Dickson and Co. for brown linen. passed to his sisters as co-owners but by amicable arrangement, Anne and Jane became the legal owners of their father's whole property. Although the company had to invent a new way to dye the velour-like material, Guilford perfected a synthetic velour in 1978 that generated six to eight years of profitability. He had a list of 400 poor people whom he served weekly at his own house with financial assistance. About 1834, Hugh Dunbar, late of Huntly Glen, near Banbridge, where he carried on a linen thread and brown linen manufacturing business, conceived the idea of erecting flax spinning mills and linen thread manufacturing on a large scale in Gilford. The company went public in 1971. That's where you'll find all the goodies as well. In 1767, before the colonists decided to seek independence from England, Daniel Dillon built a small tub mill in North Carolina on Beaver Creek, and went into business grinding grain for the early settlers. under certain covenants. In 1849, the following letter was circulated in the hope of establishing a market which would bring a degree of prosperity to Gilford and also attract business to the area. Specimens of foreign flax - Riga, Dutch, Flemish, French and Egyptian. Hayes retained the titles of chairman and CEO, but assured Lodder that he would have total autonomy. Completion of the Spinning Mills at Gilford took place in November 1841, and an extract from the Northern Whig of November 22, 1924, recalls the occasion, "19th November, 1841 was a great day in Gilford when one of the most splendid soirees ever held in this part of the country took place at the Works of Messrs. Dunbar, McMaster & Co. in the reading room and library belonging to the establishment. Houses were built around the crossing place or `ford' and on Castle Hill which was the main road leading from Lurgan to cross the river and proceed to Loughbrickland. In 1981 Guilford organized a joint venture in the United Kingdom with Carrington-Viyella plc. The two companies planned to share marketing resources and technical knowledge and supply American and Japanese car manufacturers with fabric for head and door liners. To do so he obtained free farm grants from Hugh Law of the Corn Mill; from James Uprichard of lands at Banvale to construct a tail race and from Wm. By 1968, Hayes, 33, was president of the company, which had turned increasingly to the production of warp knit fabrics. Guildford (disambiguation) Gildford, Montana; This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Gilford. However disagreements took place and on 1st April, 1866, McMaster served notice on his partners that the partnership was dissolved from henceforth, the trade of "Dunbar, Dickson and Co" would be carried on by him in partnership with Wm. At the beginning of this partnership, the mills at Gilford were substantial enough to permit the commencement of the business but for some time longer until 1843, part of the business, that of the manufacture of brown linen continued to be carried out at the Huntly Glen, Banbridge. During the late 1970s, Guilford acquired the Chadalon Nylon Extruding Plant in Georgia and started a major bonding and laminating division at the Greensboro, North Carolina site. According to CEO Hayes, speaking in the May 1992 Business--North Carolina article, Guilford was ill-prepared for the transition. The company also set up a partnership with Suminoe Textile Co of Japan, a leading supplier of textiles to the automotive industry. learn how over 7,000 companies got started! His eldest son, Hugh Dunbar McMaster being named after the founder of the Mill. Because the fabric was double the standard width, Guilford needed new machinery to dye it. At occasional intervals lemonade was served with cakes and fruit. The economic success story of this industry in Gilford was such that it was necessary and commercially profitable to open a mill in Greenwich, New York, in 1880. Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. The company's first permanent knitting plant was built four years later in Greensboro, and in 1961, Guilford started its first dyeing and finishing plant, which Hornaday hoped would enable Guilford to charge more for its material. "It all came together because at that time we had the most advanced line of warp-knit products in the world and had replaced a lot of woven fabrics at lower selling prices, but at better margins to us. There was also a fulling mill here when Guildford was an important wool town. On his death he was survived by four sisters: Anne, Jane, Isabella and Elizabeth. Charity Commission for Northern Ireland ref. Tem. The present building was erected in 1771 and the western extension added in the 1850s in an identical style. This website has been created in an attempt to document, or at least try to understand the important role Gilford played and the impact of the war years on our small town. "The Northern Whig" Tuesday 14th, 1849, reports that "Dunbar, McMaster and Co." exhibited the following: "Dunbar, Dickson & Co." had the following on exhibition: Today the firm still remains in business. The original partnership was formed by Hugh Dunbar and W. A. Stewart of Edenderry, Banbridge and business commenced on 4th February, 1836, in premises in Mill Street. Industry analysts wondered if the financier Victor Posner, owner of the Graniteville Co. corduroy plant, planned a takeover. Guilford took advantage of the "click" and used profits to embark on an aggressive acquisitions campaign. 1,759 were here. McMaster is buried in Tullylish Old Churchyard. He also erected a new weir and widened the mill race to generate more power and thus increase production. Lodder was president until 1991, when Hayes assumed that position. All rights reserved. Sir James Johnston granted 46 leases for the building of houses on Castle Hill between 1807 and 1811. The Old Mill of Guilford was founded in North Carolina on Beaver Creek in 1767 to grind grain for the early settlers of what is now Guilford County. Sales for 1990 were $544.1 million. Gilford Mill update 25th June 2009 - geograph.org.uk - 1372567.jpg 640 × 480; 94 KB Gilford Mill, Gilford - geograph.org.uk - 264791.jpg 640 × 426; 138 KB The disused Gilford Mill, Gilford - geograph.org.uk - 1806446.jpg 832 × 445; 104 KB Your attendance is particularly requested, Franklin McCreight Secretary, Pro. McMaster continued to live in Dunbarton House overlooking the Mill and died in 1872 at the age of 53. St. James Press, 1994. Dunbar himself became the exclusive owner of the lands, mill buildings, workers' houses, etc. The dye house was awash with debris and oil as two 10,000 gallon fuel tanks were breached and their contents spilled into the river and throughout the mill; machinery was … Two years later, Guilford bought out the British company, which was renamed Guilford Europe. With progressive production strategies, the company quickly grew to $3 million in sales. This can be attributed, in part to the attraction of the new mill in America. And it also seems strange that Common work hands in that country get but £15 or £20 per annum and that Archabald and you get so large salaries.". The "British Trade Journal" of 1890 states: "The success of the firm as manufacturers of yarn and thread must be attributed in no small degree to the exceptionally favourable position of their works. gorgeous building, shame it isn't put to better use than wreck and ruin Footnote: once the largest industrial undertaking on the Upper Bann, production ceased at Dunbar McMaster's mill in the 1980s and the site currently lies semi-derelict awaiting a new use. Always driven to research and innovation, Guilford began developing a technical center in Greensboro to combine its engineering, technology, research, and product divisions under one roof. Twenty-one years after its founding, Guilford had a second dyeing and finishing plant up and running. He used every exertion in his power to promote the comfort of the large assembly. Unfortunately nothing now remains of this early development. Gilford is within the Banbridge (district) area. Image: Savills. 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