Family Vignette--John Watling Sayer, A Miller of Diss

 

Family Vignette--John Watling Sayer, A Miller of Diss

John Watling Sayer was born around 1816 in East Bilney, Norfolk, England to John Sayer and his wife Elizabeth.  He was baptized in Norwich on September 1, 1816.  Very little is known about his parents, except that his father was a miller.

In 1841, at the age of 25, he was a miller living in St. Margaret’s parish of Norwich.  On April 6, 1841, he married Ann Guyton 1814-1891 at the parish church of Great Ellingham, Norfolk, England. Ann Guyton was the daughter of George Guyton 1787-1878 and Jane Adcock 1792-1875.

John Watling Sayer is listed as a miller of Diss as early as 1854.  John and Ann had 7 children.  They were:

1.      Sarah Ann Sayer 1842–1915  Eldest daughter married the eldest son of the mill owner William Frederick Chaplyn

2.      Maria Elizabeth Sayer 1843–1911 married Arthur Agus Sayer 1844-1906, also a miller.

3.      Jane Ann Sayer 1845–1931 married Robert Aldrich 1843-1925.

4.      Eliza Mary Sayer 1846–1932 married George Robert Grimmer 1842-1895. (Their son William John Grimmer 1882-1918 was killed in WWI on Flanders field.  Before his death, William John Grimmer married Mabel Jane Smith 1884-1972 and their daughter was Phyllis Primrose Grimmer 1915-1984.  Phyllis married Richard Arthur Turrell 1916-1962.  Richard A. Turrell’s parents were Ernest Turrell 1876-1956 and Pamela May Alexandra Utting 1880-1943.)

5.      Susanna E Sayer 1847–

6.      Harriet Alice Sayer 1849–1941

7.      John Henry Sayer 1851–1885 Emigrated to New South Wales Australia about 1883 and married Anabella Edwards.  He died in New South Wales.

John Watling Sayer began running the Rose Lane mill around 1856.  At that time, his eldest daughter Sarah Ann was 14 years old.  Coincidentally, the mill owner’s eldest son, William Frederick Chaplyn was 17 years old.  On May 24, 1860, Sarah Ann and William Frederick were married in the parish church at Diss, Norfolk, England.  They would have six children. Their youngest child, Albert was born in 1868 and he would succeed his father as the mill owner by the age of 30.

The 1861 census showed John Watling Sayer as a miller employing 2 men as well as 14-year old Elizabeth Goff as a house servant.  John Watling Sayer managed the Diss mill at Rose Lane from 1856 until 1874, when the business was turned over to John Button. The mill continued in the ownership of William Chaplyn until his death in 1881.  The mill was next owned by his eldest son William Frederick Chaplyn, the husband of Sarah Ann Sayer.  

The mills were turned over to William Horace Lincoln in 1922, two years before the death of Albert Chaplyn.

 

John Button, Miller & Merchant, Victoria Rd., Diss, begs to acknowledge the increased patronage received during the past eighteen years by the inhabitants of Diss and its neighbourhood, and wishes to inform them he has Enlarged his Business by taking

The Victoria Steam and Wind Mills Also the  Shop in the Market Place

Late in the occupation of Mr. J. W. Sayer, where a first-class stock of every kind of

Corn, Flour, Meal, Offal, Malt and Hops Will be Always on hand. Wholesale and Retail Coals of all kinds kept in stock. Agent for W. Blackmre & Co.'s Patent Bolting Cloths for Dressing flour Steam Thrashing Machine Proprietor.

Diss Express - 26th June 1874

 

Geneaology:  John Watling Sayer 1816-1886 was the father of Eliza Mary Sayer 1846-1932 and her son was William John Grimmer 1882-1918 and his daughter was Phyllis Primrose Grimmer 1915-1984 and her husband was Richard Arthur Turrell 1916-1962 and his mother was Pamela May Alexandra Utting 1880-1943 and her mother was Elizabeth Durrant 1849-1930 and her mother was Maria Welch 1826-1896 and her father was Sherrard Welch 1791-1856 and his father was Thomas Welch 1761-1792 and his son was John Welch 1787-1884 and his son was John Welch 1812-1884 and his daughter was Susannah Welsh 1847-1898 and her son was George "Pikey" William Welch-Adams 1867-1940.

 

About the Diss mill on Rose Lane

Diss Rose Lane composite mill consisted of a post-mill buck mounted on the base of an earlier tower-mill that had been built to supply power to an adjacent coarse yarn spinning factory. The post-mill had been badly damaged and possibly destroyed during a storm in 1834 and it was decided to combine two mill structures to make one corn mill. The mill stood to the north of the Mill House. 

The 4 double shuttered sails of the post-mill, each with 8 bays of shutters were struck by rack & pinion and turned to the wind by a fantail. The sails powered two pairs of overdriven 4ft French burr stones and a flour mill. A further pair of underdriven stones, along with a flour mill and jumper, were set on the ground floor and powered by an engine. 

When the site was offered for sale by auction in 1896, the adjacent four-story steam mill was using a 14-horsepower steam engine with a 20-horsepower boiler to power a further 4 pairs of 4ft French burr stones. 

 

 

Timeline of Diss Milling

Joseph Hodskinson's Suffolk map 1783: Windmill

Pigot's 1830: William Chaplyn, miller, POST MILL 

1834: Towermill used to power a cloth factory  

31st July 1834: Postmill severely damaged during a storm 

Poor Rate 1836: Owner & Occupier: William Chaplyn, miller 

White's 1836: William Chaplyn, corn miller 

O.S. map 1837: Two windmills  

Tithe Award 1837: William Chaplyn, owner & occupier 

White's 1836: William Chaplyn, corn miller 

1850: William Chaplyn, miller 

White's 1854: John W. Sayer, corn miller

1858: William Chaplyn, owner; also owner of Billingford postmill

Poor Rate 1864: Owner: William Chaplyn; Occupier: John W. Sayer, miller

White's 1864: John W. Sayer, corn miller, Victoria Road

1868: John Watling Sayer, miller

1872: John Watling Sayer, miller

1874: John Button, miller took over the business of John Sayer

1875: John Button, miller (wind & steam)

Kelly's 1879: John Button, miller, corn & coal merchant; agent for W. & H. M. Goulding's celebrated manures, Dublin & Cork, W. Blackmore & Co.'s patent boulting cloths for dressing flour, Victoria mills

1880: John Button, miller

1881: William Chaplyn died (owner)

1881: William Button, miller  

May 1881: Mill advertised for sale by auction along with Billingford towermill 

October 1882: Mill advertised for sale or let

White's 1883: John Button & Wiliam Edward Button, millers, corn & Coal merchants & thrashing machine owners, Victoria Rd. & at Weybread

1883: William Edward Chaplyn, miller (wind & steam) 

O.S. map 1886: Windmill 

1888: William Frederick Chaplyn, miller, farmer & merchant  

Kelly's 1892: William Frederick Chaplyn, miller, malster, corn, coal & cake merchant & farmer, Victoria Road 

August 1896: Mill offered for sale by auction but was withdrawn 

Kelly's 1896: William Frederick Chaplyn, miller (wind) & farmer, Victoria Road

Diss Almanack 1898: Albert Chaplyn & Co. Millers, Merchants & Maltsters

Kelly's 1900: Albert Chaplyn & Co., millers (wind & steam) & corn merchants, Victoria Road & corn dealers, Market Place 

Kelly's 1904: Albert Chaplyn & Co., millers (wind & steam), corn merchants & furniture removers, Victoria Road & corn dealers, Market Place 

Kelly's 1912: Albert Chaplyn & Co., millers, coal, corn, cake & manure merchants & farmers, furniture removers & carting contractors & brick makers, Victoria Road (T N 9) & corn dealers, St Nicholas Street

Kelly's 1916: Albert Chaplyn & Co., millers, coal, corn, cake & manure merchants, maltsters & farmers, furniture removers & carting contractors & brick makers, Victoria Road (T N 9) & corn dealers, St Nicholas Street

c.1919: Mill demolished

O.S. map 1920: Windmill 

Kelly's 1922: Albert Chaplyn & Co., millers, coal, corn, maltsters & farmers, furniture removers & carting contractors, Victoria Road (T N 8) & corn dealers, St Nicholas Street

1928: William Horace Lincoln Jnr. took over the roller mills 

Kelly's 1929: William Horace Lincoln, miller & corn merchant, Victoria mills, Victoria road 
Kelly's 1933: William Horace Lincoln, miller & corn merchant, Victoria mills, Victoria road. T N 79

Kelly's 1937: William Horace Lincoln, miller & corn merchant, Victoria mills, Victoria road. T N 79  

c.1971: Mill mound removed

 

Farther down Victoria Road, in Rose Lane, formerly stood two windmills, both marked on the 1837 Ordnance Survey Map. One, a tower-mill, was built to supply power to a factory spinning coarse yarns, but was later converted and adapted by taking the brickwork down to the third storey, and mounting the body of an old post-mill on top, making for a most unusual structure. It stood on a mound in the yard of Bartrums, and was in the Chaplyn family for generations. The old post-mill had been shattered during a sharp tempest on July 31st 1834, and William Chaplyn, miller, maltster, corn and coal merchant, accordingly decided to combine the two mills into one. This would appear to have worked very successfully , and the business eventually passed to Albert, his grandson, who had the mill pulled down after the First World War. The brickwork remained until demolished by the Lincoln family about 1935, and the mound on which it stood was only removed some two years ago.
Diss Antiquarian Society News Sheet - Spring 1973