Surrey Archaeological Collections
Surrey Archaeological Society, 2003. (updated 2023) https://doi.org/10.5284/1000221. How to cite using this DOI
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Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 379
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000221
- How to cite using this DOI
SURREY ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS
The papermaker and the prophetess: Elias Carpenter of Neckinger Mill, Bermondsey, supporter of Joanna Southcott
The aim of this article is to place in context some remarkable events which occurred at Neckinger Mill in Bermondsey at the beginning of the 19th century. In particular, Elias Carpenter, who was a very innovative papermaker at the mill, became the principal supporter of Joanna Southcott, who has been called âthe greatest prophetessâ. An account is therefore given of activities at the site of the mill in the late 18th century, of the role played by Carpenter and his associates Hector Campbell, Matthias Koops and Thomas Cope in developing methods of recycling paper and of making new paper from wood and straw, and of Southcott's background in Devon before she came to London. The interactions between Carpenter and Southcott are then explored. Finally a summary is provided of later developments at the mill, of the subsequent lives of Carpenter and Southcott and of further related events.
