Spence Bryson is a Northern Irish

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

company which manufactures and distributes

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...

and linen products.

History

Spence Bryson was founded as Spence, Bryson & Co. Ltd in 1885 by John Bell Bryson and Thomas Henry Spence in

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

, County Armagh. John Bell Bryson (c.1859-1923) was born in County Down, and apprenticed in the linen trade to Robert Glass of Portadown, while Thomas Henry Spence (c.1854-1937) was born in County Armagh, and was apprenticed to Hamilton Robb in Portadown. By the 1950s, Spence Bryson was the largest of the 11 weaving companies based in the Portadown area and was based on Meadow Lane. The company was bought by Ulster Weavers Ltd in 1990. The company is known for its manufacture of a range of linen fabrics, from light linen to suit fabric, and for its self-sufficiency, sourcing local wood for their looms and locally

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

. In the 20th century, the sales division was organised into 3 sections: embroidery cloth, handkerchiefs, and suiting. In the 1950s, Spence Bryson worked with fashion designer

Sybil Connolly Sybil Connolly (24 January 1921 – 6 May 1998) was a Dublin-based fashion designer who was known for creating fashion from Irish textiles, including finely pleated linen, wools such as Báinín, Limerick and Carrickmacross lace, and later for ...

to develop her signature

pleated linen Pleated linen is a form of processing linen which results in a fabric which is heavily pleated and does not crease like normal linen fabric. History The earliest form of pleated linen dates from ancient Egypt and can be seen in a garment known a ...

from handkerchief linen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spence Bryson Linen industry in Ireland County Armagh Manufacturing companies established in 1885 1885 establishments in Ireland