Paper
Did your ancestor work in the paper industry?
In the early 1700s Huguenot refugee Henri Portal arrived in England and joined a paper company at Stoneham Mills near Southampton. He took English nationality, changed his name to Henry, and set up on his own, opening Bere Mill in Whitchurch, subsequently transferring to Laverstoke Mill near Overton. Portals came to be known as the world’s leading manufacturer of paper for banknotes, supplying the Bank of England from 1724. Today the county archives looks after a large amount of material relating to the company, including correspondence, minutes, deeds and more. You can search the collection in its catalogue at calm.hants.gov.uk.