The Acland Mill was the first jute mill established in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The mill was established in 1855 by British entrepreneur George Acland and Bengali financier Babu Bysumber Sen in Rishra,

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

, British India (present-day

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

, India).

Background

At the beginning of the nineteenth century,

jute Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...

manufacturing in India and Bengal was inefficient and of poor quality. The

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

interrupted the supply of

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...

and

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a plant in the botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial and consumable use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest ...

from the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

to Britain, which enabled the Bengali

jute trade The jute trade is centered mainly around India, India's West Bengal and Assam, and Bangladesh. The major producing country of jute is India and biggest exporter is Bangladesh, due to their natural fertile soil. Production of jute by India and Ba ...

to permanently take the place of the flax and hemp supply. By the middle of the eighteenth century, Bengal exported large quantities of raw jute to supply the flax industry in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. The founder of the Acland Mill was George Acland, an English entrepreneur, owner of coffee plantations in

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, and former marine in the East India Company's Marine, from

Devonshire Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the wes ...

. He initially had the idea to grow rhea grass to serve as a substitute for flax and hemp, to make up for losses he had acquired through other business ventures. However, John Kerr, a machine manufacturer, advised Acland to manufacture jute products in Bengal instead.

Mill history

In 1855, George Acland, in collaboration with a Bengali financier named Babu Bysumber Sen and a Dundee jute overseer, installed the first jute spinning machinery at Rishra. Acland Mill was then established as the first jute mill in India. The mill was built on land that formed a part of the Garden House property once owned by

Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first governor-gener ...

. The Acland Mill was managed by Charles Smith, a jute mill overseer from Dundee. The mill produced 8 tons of jute yarn per day in its first two years of operation, which were in turn sold to local weavers. In about 1857, the mill expanded to handweaving coarse gunny cloth on a small number of frame hand looms. During the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

, Acland hired seamen from the Sailors' Home in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, along with the staff that operated the mill, to guard his property. Around this time, Acland also formed the mill into a

limited liability Limited liability is a legal status in which a person's financial Legal liability, liability is limited to a fixed sum, most commonly the value of a person's investment in a corporation, company, or joint venture. If a company that provides limi ...

company named Rishra Twine and Yarn Mills Co. Ld.

Reestablishments and legacy

After the mill burnt down in 1858, Acland reestablished the mill in 1862 under the new name of the Ischera Yarn Mill. In 1868, the Ischera Yarn Mill was

wound up Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as wound-up or dissolved, although di ...

and auctioned off to new owners. After it was partially closed down from 1868 to 1872, the mill was again restarted under the name of the Calcutta Jute Mills Co., Ld. This mill prospered primarily because of the British demand for cotton caused by the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, by providing a supply of jute bags to Bombay (present-day

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

). In 1877, the mill was transferred to the A.R. McIntosh and Co., after which it became bankrupt in 1880. It was then purchased by the Champdany Jute Company ( James Finlay & Co) in 1880 and later renamed as the Wellington Jute Mills. The minor success that the Acland Mill enjoyed in the Bengali

prompted the establishment of several other jute mills in Calcutta. One such mill was established in 1859 by the Borneo Company, which enjoyed much success in the late 1860s and early 1870s.

References

Notes

Bibliography