Paper History Channel
Follow-up on Bryan Donkin 1838 paper machine.!
Since the original Bryan Donkin machine story was posted November 29, we have received an additional report from Tor Kjetil Bottegård, a machine tender at the Drammenselvens Paperfabrikker (Union Geithus).
After reading the original story, Tor rummaged around and found some photos and what remains of an old book which may have belonged to his grandfather or great grandfather. Tor's family are paper mill workers who have been with Drammenselvens Paperfabrikker (Union Geithus) since the start 125 years ago.
From a heap of papers he discovered some interesting notes, photos and sketches. The papers were rather sorry looking. They had been attacked by children with crayons in red and blue. Tor said it was likely he himself may have used the papers as a coloring book in his younger days. Tor Kjetil and Øyvind Haugen tried to remove the crayon hieroglyphs but found they were also removing the script from the pages. They resorted to an illuminated magnifying glass. The text was in Danish, as were all writings in Norway in the those days. They were unable to find the name of the book or the author, that is what remained of the book. The Danish text and translations appear opposite the photos. Click on each photo to see an enlarged version.
The text for this sketch of the Bentse Brug mill read: Bentse Fabriker. Tegning af J. F. Eckersberg i 1860-Aarene. Translated into English: Bentse paper mill. Sketch by J. F. Eckersberg in the 1860's. |
 The
text for this sketch read: Ovenstaaende Illustration viser en engelsk Papiir Maskine fra ca.
1840, som blev instaleret paa Bentse Fabriker ved Agerselven i Christiania. This
translates into: The above illustration shows an English paper machine from
about 1840, which was installed at the Bentse paper mill on the river Akerselven
in Christiania. Paper History Channel note: Sketches similar to this are
common in historical archives. Keep in mind there were little means to
take photos in those days. It is possible that Mr. Eckersberg, the artist, used
an existing sketch of the times and modified it to suit his needs. |
This is a photo of the Bryan Donkin 1838 machine as a pulp dryer at Embretsfos Mill in Norway, circa 1920. This photo has historical significance and seems to further validate the information of the original story.
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Tor Kjetil Bottegård is 32 years old. He is fifth generation of a family of
paper mill workers who have been with Drammenselvens Paperfabrikker (Union
Geithus) since the start 125 years ago. Presently he is machine tender of the
mill's no. 4 machine. His nickname Moonshine - or just Shine for short - speaks
for itself. Not implying that he does any illegal household chores - nor is he
known to frequently be "on the sauce". However, he is known occasionally
to have served some very special "brain-tonic". Tor is reported to be just one of the
real good guys. When asked about any hobbies, he put up a big grin and said,
moonshine and paper machines!
Øyvind Haugen of of Vikersund, Norway worked with Tor developing this story,
The Paper History Channel thanks both Tor and Øyvind for sharing this important piece of history with our visitors.
Luigi Bagnato
Paper history Channel
You can see other photos of the 1838 Donkin paper machine by clicking here!