Brown Brothers Ltd., Woollen Textile Manufacturer, Galashiels

Archive Collection

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Dates of Creation
Name of Creator
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Physical Description

Scope and Content

Records of pattern design

Administrative / Biographical History

From 1868 William, Henry and Adam Brown occupied Buckholm Corn Mill. Adam retired in 1875, William and Henry died in 1883 and 1885 respectively, and control was passed to William's sons. Buckholm Corn Mill was said to be the first mill in Galashiels to be lit by electricity in 1884.

Messrs. Brown Brothers was formed into a limited company in or about 1928, the Directors being A. Laing Brown and his son William Brown. They retired in 1929 and James Brown of Gala Hill acquired all the shares. The new Directors were W.B. Laing, D.K Colledge [Chairman of the Governors of the Scottish Woollen Technical College 1945 - 1965], W. Addison and R.S. Dorward.

Towards the end of the Second World War, Brown Brothers Ltd. was acquired by D.K Colledge and continued to operate under his directorship until the 1970s. Colledge was awarded the C.B.E. in 1955 for his services to the textile industry. He died in 1972, the year also in which Buckholm Corn Mill was closed due to the decline in the industry. It was demolished in 1975.

Arrangement

Records are arranged chronologically according to provenance.

Access Information

By appointment. Access to records in a fragile condition may be restricted.

Other Finding Aids

Printed list plus item level computerised list available in the Searchroom.

Conditions Governing Use

Private study and research, subject to the condition of the documents. Applications for permission to quote from or publish images from the collection should be sent to the University Archivist.

Custodial History

The records were first listed as part of the Archive by the Business Archives Council (Scotland) Surveying Officer in 1988 while in the High Mill. Following the merger of the Scottish College of Textiles with Heriot-Watt University in October 1998, responsibility for the collection was transferred to Heriot-Watt University Archive, Records Management and Museum Service. In September 2000, the Archive moved to the Main Building at the Scottish Borders Campus, Galashiels.