A Short History Of The Haven
“When setting up this web site we felt that it would not be complete without a brief history of the family who originally built our home. As you read through these history pages, we hope you will see why we are proud to have this tenuous link to a family who accomplished so much in their lifetime through hard work & determination.” The Malcolmson Family: David Malcolmson started out with nothing but ambition, brains and determination. He was a member of the Society of Friends and a Carrick based flour miller. He established a cotton-spinning mill on what was essentially a green field site at Portlaw, County Waterford in 1825. When the factory was completed it measured 260ft by 40ft. And was considered the largest single span building in the world. It is said that there were 365 windows in the cotton factory. This was the greatest factory of its kind in Europe. David Malcolmson employed over 1,500 at the mill a fantastic number in those days. By 1840 the factory was bleaching, dying, printing, spinning and weaving cotton and exporting it all over the world. According to Tom Hunts study “Portlaw, county Waterford 1825-18762 (Irish Academic Press) The original village of Portlaw in the 1820s was a group of about 70 cabins. Here the Quaker Malcolmson was beginning what hunt calls his most spectacular business venture. Housing was the corollary of opening a factory in this area. With the factory in production, the Malcolmson and their manager Robert Shaw methodically re-planned the village of Portlaw. Houses of a very distinctive type were built for the workers to be let at a low rent. The factory town was laid out in the shape of a hand or rays of the sun. A single policeman could stand in the square and observe the whole village. Many of these houses can still be seen and are still in good condition. They have a semi-flat roof, with a timber truss, covered with tarred cloth, which became known as “Portlaw roof”. It was not idyllic: the workers really worked, from 7 in the morning to 7 in the evening- men women and children (although the children would not be paid if they had not attended school for the required number of hours) in the ceaseless round of labour necessary to keep the operation profitable. Yet the factory was properly built, with proper safety precautions, well lighted and ventilated. The workers were encouraged to keep themselves clean and well dressed. A girl entering employment here was given a hairbrush and comb. Her wedding gift was bed linen. Malcolmson Bros. In 1837 David handed over the running of his business to his seven sons and from that time they were known as Malcolmson bros. After his father’s death, Joseph became head of the firm. The Neptune ironworks at Waterford was founded in 1844, mainly as a repair depot for the Malcolmson bros. Ships, but later they went into shipbuilding themselves. The first ship to come off the stocks in 1846 was appropriately named “Neptune” and was built for the st. Petersburg steamship co. Owned by Joseph Malcolmson, who had agreed with the Russian government to inaugurate a line between London and st. Petersburg. Neptune arrived safely at kronstadt and was received with great acclaim. Tzar Nicolas himself met her on the river neva in his state barge. Forts and warships fired salutes for the memorable occasion. Between 1846 and 1880 altogether 63 ships were built at the yards. Another ‘Neptune’ ship the una, was one of the first ships to sail through the Suez Canal when it was opened in 1869. The Malcolmson family were also involved in a labyrinth of business enterprises which included corn mills and warehouses at Clonmel, Carrick and Waterford, the cotton spinning factory at Portlaw, the Neptune Ironworks at Waterford, the cork and Waterford steamship co., the st. Petersburg steamship co., the Shannon fishery co., the Shannon estuary trade at lax weir, limerick, The colonel and Thurles, limerick and Foynes, Waterford to limerick railways and the annoholty peat works, near castleconnell. They held controlling shares in the shamrock & Hibernia co., in the Ruhr. The Malcolmson also had a tea plantation in Ceylon and a teashop on the quay in Waterford. After the bank act of 1846 the Malcolmson got permission to issue their own “token money” though it had been in use since about 1832. It was legal tender within a radius of thirty miles. Unfortunately happenings outside the control of the Malcolmson brothers company, as it had become in 1837 undermined its operations. The great famine that swept through Ireland in the 1840s decimated the peasants and farmers and killed off the supply of grain to the mills. David died in 1846 and his son Joseph who then took over the firm died in 1858. The American civil war in 1861 was a bad blow to the factory. Raw cotton surpluses dwindled. Lincoln enforced a naval blockade and Malcolmson ships ran the blockade. They supplied cotton to the southern states, allowing a huge bill to mount up by the losing side. Cotton exports, which totaled £40 million in 1860, fell to £8 million in 1861. It was about that time that, for some strange reason, the Malcolmson embarked on a frenzy of house building. All the houses were fine examples of Victorian architecture. Among which was the villa marina (the haven) in Dunmore east built as a summer home for Joseph & his wife, the minella at colonel and woodlock house in Portlaw which was bequeathed, in accordance with Emily Maud’s wishes to the sisters of st. Joseph of cluny, who have a rest home for the elderly there to the present day. When Joseph died in 1858 it was a double tragedy for the firm, for his widow, Charlotte withdrew his share along with other members of the family. Then David died of intemperance at the early age of 37 and left one child, Joseph, who was 7 years old. David’s wife, nanny Malcolmson, began court proceedings to have her sons share also withdrawn. The crash of the city of London bankers, over end & gurney in 1866 was another bad blow for Malcolmson as the had most of their money invested through the bank, and so suffered a terminal financial blow. The business battled on for some years but in 1877 the Malcolmson brothers company was declared bankrupt with debts of over half a million pounds and their enterprises were sold off one by one. Sadly it was the end of the line for Portlaw. However they will always be remembered in Portlaw, the model community and village that the far seeing Malcolmson guided and helped through many years of prosperity. The Malcolmson will also be remembered in Tramore, where in the 1860’s William was involved in construction the Malcolmson bank – a feat of engineering which cut off the waters of the Rhine shark from a portion of the land at the rear of the strand. 263 acres were reclaimed and a fine racecourse was built. With age and neglect of repair, one winter’s storm in 1912 ended a lifetime’s work and flooded the racecourse forever. The Malcolmson business enterprises were divided into four distinct eras – by David Malcolmson alone in 1784-1818: then by David Malcolmson & sons 1818-1837, then by Malcolmson bros. With Joseph as principal partner from 1837-1857 then as Malcolmson bros. With William as principal partner 1857-1877. The villa marina (haven hotel) Nanny Malcolmson retired to Villa Marina in Dunmore east, which she had built as a summer home with her husband Joseph; their son became a dedicated fisherman. Unfortunately, he died at Portlaw before he was 20. In his memory, his mother built the fisherman’s hall in Dunmore east and inaugurated a trust fund to help the needy within a three-mile radius of Dunmore. This trust fund is still in operation in Dunmore east today. There is a portrait of nanny Malcolmson hanging in the lobby of the hotel. Extract from Hotel brochure in 1950’s: Accounts exist of the gay entertainment, which took place in the hotel, then, of course, a private house about one hundred years ago.
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