GlenavyHistory.com

County of Antrim

List of persons applying to Register their Freeholds at the next General Quarter Session of the Peace, to be held at Belfast, for the Division of Carrickfergus, in the said County pursuant to the Act of 10th George the Fourth, Cap.8, entered by the Clerk of the Peace.

No: 50

Name and Residence of Applicant: John Lennon, Ballyvorally
Description of Freehold: House and land Ballyvorally
Yearly Value to be registered: £10

Manufactories and Mills

Adjoining to the town of Glenavy there is a cotton factory in a very ruinous state and is seldom wrought. A few years ago there was employed 130 hands in it: and in the town land of Ballyvorally there is a bleach mill (with a green of 27 acres attached to it) that employs from 20 to 26 hands, and there is constantly between 5 and 6 ton of coals consumed weekly; and there is also a small corn mill in the town of Glenavy.

Bleach Greens

Ballyvorally town land; there is a bleach mill, the diameter of the wheel 30 feet, breadth of wheel 4 feet, fall of water 34 feet, overshot wheel. The quality of the linen depends much on the bleaching. All the linen is sent to New York. The process is as follows: the linen is boiled, then washed and dyed, next beetled and afterwards bleached and finished by lapping. The lapping is the only part of the business that requires any degree of skill and it is general for a person to serve several years of apprenticeship in order to get a knowledge of it.

Mills and Manufactories

In Ballyvorally town land, and on the Glenavy river, is a bleach green extending over 27 acres. The machinery is propelled by an overshot water wheel 30 feet in diameter and 4 feet broad, and having a fall of water of 34 feet. This establishment affords constant employment to from 20 to 26 men.

Parish of Camlin - Mills

The machinery of the parish consists of 1 corn and 2 flax mills. The corn mill is situated in the town land of Ballygortgarve, on the Crumlin water. It is propelled by a breast water wheel 16 feet in diameter and 3 feet 6 inches broad; fall of water is 3 feet. There is sufficient water for only 7 months in the year.

The Crumlin Mills

Lewis, in his "Topographical Dictionary," gives some interesting information about the Crumlin Mills. Built in 1765 by Rowley Heyland, these mills were the first erected in the North of Ireland, and seen to have been at all times the staple industry of Crumlin, The Irish Government considered them of such importance that they erected extensive warehouses, and encouraged by every means the growth of wheat. Lewis goes on to say that a large portion of the flour was shipped to the Clyde and the several ports of the North of England, and tells us that during the year 1833 two hundred thousand tons of flour and oatmeal were sent from these mills (which were connected with some subsidiary mills) to Liverpool and Manchester. When later, Messrs. McCauley & Son held the Crumlin Mills the quantity of grain annually consumed by them was on an average 5,000 tons of wheat, and 3,000 tons of oats. These mills have, however, "weathered the storm" of Free Trade by their conversion into a tweed factory, and the yare now an extensive and flourishing concern.

Few places, however, have been as fortunate as Crumlin. The overwhelming majority of Ulster's old flour mills are now in ruins, many of them having only the four bare walls left standing. A short distance form Crumlin are the once important Glenconway Mills, on the Glenavy river, where only a few men are now employed in the production of flock, while nearer to Crumlin, is Cidercourt, a large old mill which lies absolutely idle, and is rapidly mouldering into decay. Goldsmith describes it also, since its millstream, like that mentioned in the "Deserted Village."

"Choked with sedges, works its weary way."

Nowadays we hardly realise the importance of the once great industry. The words "seed time and harvest" have, alas, lost much of their former significance. We so seldom now see the reapers out in the golden cornfields, working by the silver light of the harvest moon, so that "all may be safely gathered in ere the winter storms begin." After the reaping came the threshing, and the journey to the mill. Perhaps we can picture the old grey mill - perchance a windmill, but more often driven by water. Standing back among the green meadows, we can see the carts rumbling up a county lane, bearing their precious freight. We see the mill-dam among the fields, and we hear the water rushing down the mill race to the great wheel. We hear the clanking and crunching, the creaking and groaning as the big black wheel turns, and perhaps we see the miller within the building, passing to and for. Tennyson saw it all, and in "The Miller's Daughter," beautifully puts the scene before us -

"I loved the brimming wave that swam,
Thro' quiet meadows round the mill,
The sleepy pool above the dam,
The pool beneath it never still.

The meal sacks on the whiten'd floor,
The dark round of the dripping wheel,
The very air about the door,
Made misty with the floating meal."

Valuable farm of land (under power of Sale contained in Mortgages),
For sale at Ballyvorally, Glenavy.

To be sold by Auction, in the Auction mart, Bow Street, Lisburn, on Tuesday, December 24th 1889, at the hour of One o'clock, That farm of land in the Possession of Mr. Wm. Lowe, situate in Balllyvorally near Glenavy, containing 24a 2r 37p., held under Sir Richard Wallace, Bart., at the yearly Judicial Rent of £16 16s. There are two acres of an orchard on the farm.

The Dwelling houses and out houses are in a good state of repair. The farm is distant about 10 miles from Lisburn, and 2 miles from Glenavy. Part of the Purchase - money may remain on the security of the Farm, if required. Terms- £30 deposit at time of sale, with 2½ per cent. Auction fees.

For further particulars as to title and conditions of sale apply to
Samuel F McConnell, Solicitor for Mortgages, 24 Railway Street, Lisburn; or to Wm J. Bailey, Auctioneer, Lisburn.

A Day at Glenconway

At Glenconway's Waterfall
I lay me down, and seek surcrease
From care's despond;
While lo! Its wandering waters call,
As they rush by, "Not here is Peace
But Far Beyond."

                                 S.K. Cowan, M.A.

We left the town of Lisburn
On bicycle and brake,
For an outing and a picnic
Near Britain's largest lake.
We passed through Ballinderry
Left behind us Magheragall
And the village of Glenavy,
For Glenconway Waterfall.

O, 'tis lovely in the sunshine,
On a pleasant summer day,
With the lass you love beside you,
Speeding lightly on your way;
With the spell of Cupid o'er you,
And the raptures love reveals
With the fabled wings of Mercury
Upon your cycle wheels.

To ride between the hedgerows
Filled with hawthorn's sweet perfume,
O'er the uplands, through the meadows,
Passing the orchards rich in bloom,
Where the cuckoo's song repeating
Echoes over vale and hill,
Where the blackbirds and the thrushes
Their sweet notes of music thrill.

As we passed through Ballinderry,
Then we thought of days of yore,
When Bishop Taylor wrote and taught
By the lake side of Portmore.
At Glenavy we pierced further
Through the mists that veil the past,
To the times of great St. Patrick,
And his mission labours vast -

When he first laid the foundation
On Glenavy's virgin sod
Of her ancient church, St. Aiden's,
Dedicated since to God;
And chose as her first minister
The "Angel Dwarf," to preach
The love of Christ for sinful men,
And how he died for each.

And so a-down the ages, still
The "Angel Dwarf" has twinned
His name with old Glenavy's name,
His teaching with her mind.
Long be it so, may truth prevail,
And love be shed abroad,
May Heaven smile and bless our Isle,
Where once St. Patrick trod.

From Glenavy we passed onward,
With Lough Neagh's banks in view,
Where Ram's Island in the distance
Nestled in its waters blue.
All at once we turned in quickly,
As the Trumpet-Major's call,
To the entrance, as we found it,
Of Glenconway's Waterfall.

There beside the millstream, sweeping
«Neath the beeches» cooling shade,
We refreshments found al fresco
On the money greensward laid;
With below the river rushing
Down its rough and rocky steep,
Now dashed in spray, or on its way,
In circling eddies sweep.

Some went to ride, some took a walk
To Lough Neagh's pebbled shore,
While others eat to pleasant chat
Upon the greensward floor;
And thus in social intercourse
A pleasant day was spent,
Each unit feeling happier,
And gladder that he went.

As the evening sun was setting
To the westward of Lough Neagh,
We then prepared to turn our steps
Upon our homeward way.
When all had then assembled,
To the Trumpet-Major's call,
With grateful heart we left behind
Glenconway Waterfall.

                                 J.H.

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Flock Manufacturers — partnership disolved

The following is an extract from The Lisburn Standard Saturday 4th January 1890

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Publican Charged

The following extract is from the Lisburn Standard Saturday 29th September, 1906

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