Laverstoke - Former Paper Mill - geograph

Overton - Portals Paper Factory - geograph

Portals is a

papermaking Papermaking is the manufacture of paper and cardboard, which are used widely for printing, writing, and packaging, among many other purposes. Today almost all paper is made using industrial machinery, while handmade paper survives as a speciali ...

business in the United Kingdom that has had two distinct existences as an independent business, from 1711 to 1995, and from 2018 onwards. It has been variously known as Portals Limited, Portals Paper Limited, Portals De La Rue Limited and Portals International Limited. Between 1711 and 1995, the company was owned by the Portal family. The family went on to become major land owners, and were involved in the development of the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

that served the area. In 1901 the Portal baronetcy was created for the head of the family.

History

The business was founded in 1711 by Henri de Portal (1690–1747), a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

refugee from

Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...

in France, who had come to England as a child with his father. Before the arrival of the Huguenot immigrants, most of Britain's paper requirements had been imported, but in 1686 a paper mill was established at

South Stoneham South Stoneham was a Manorialism, manor in South Stoneham ecclesiastical parish, parish. It was also a Hundred (country subdivision), hundred, Poor law union, sanitary district then rural district covering a larger area of south Hampshire, England ...

using Huguenot expertise, and Henri found employment there. Whilst there, he made the acquaintance of William Heathcote, who assisted him in the acquisition, in 1710, of the lease of Bere Mill, near Whitchurch in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. In 1711, he founded the Portal papermaking business there, and became a

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

British subject, taking the name Henry. The papermaking business was successful, and in 1718 Henry leased the nearby

Laverstoke Mill Laverstoke Mill is a former paper mill located on the River Test in Laverstoke near Overton, in England. The mill complex contains three grade II listed buildings: the Mill House, Mill Cottages, and the Glazing House. After a major refurbishme ...

in order to expand the business. Laverstoke Mill would be the headquarters of the business for the next 200 years and more. In the 1720s the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

was looking for a supply of improved paper for its

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes w ...

s. It so happened that William Heathcote's uncle, Gilbert Heathcote, was the

Governor of the Bank of England The governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the bank, with the incumbent grooming their successor. The governor of the Ba ...

during this period, and Henry Portal obtained the contract to supply this paper. In 1860, Portals won the contract to produce the paper for the

Indian Rupee The Indian rupee ( symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency in the republic of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 ''paise'' (singular: ''paisa''), though as of 2022, coins of denomination of 1 rupee are the lowest value in use wh ...

, and in 1880 for the first

postal order A postal order or postal note is a type of money order usually intended for sending money through the mail. It is purchased at a post office and is payable at another post office to the named recipient. A fee for the service, known as poundage, ...

s. Portals opened Overton Mill, near to Laverstoke, in 1922. Paper making ceased at Laverstoke Mill in 1963, having transferred to the nearby and more modern Overton Mill. In 1972, Portals acquired Bathford Mill, near

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, which had been producing paper since 1809. In 1995, Portals were themselves acquired by

De La Rue De La Rue plc (, ) is a British company headquartered in Basingstoke, England, that designs and produces banknotes, secure polymer substrate and banknote security features (including security holograms, security threads and security printe ...

, the banknote printers, and the name ceased to be used. In 2018, De La Rue divested itself of its paper making activities, and the name Portals was again used for the newly independent business. The new business produces paper at its sites at Overton Mill and Bathford Mill.

References

{{reflist, 30em British companies established in 1711 Manufacturing companies established in 1711 Manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Pulp and paper companies of the United Kingdom 1711 establishments in Great Britain