SOUND ARCHIVE

Living Linen Interview LL2_R00/30

Sound Recording : Magnetic Tape, Reel

Brown, John Shaw (Mr) (Primary maker)
Brown, John Shaw (Mr) (interviewee)

12/04/2000
12/04/2000

Sound Recording on Reel: Library Transcript: Transcript. Summary: The firm of John Shaw Brown was based at St Ellen works, Edenderry, on the outskirts of Belfast. The Shaws and the Browns were initially two families. Several family members have been called John Shaw. Shaw is a middle name rather than part of a hyphenated surname - the family name is Brown. The original John Shaw Brown married an Ellen; probably accounting for the name of the works. The family owned a sizeable amount of land around the factory including Edenderry and Purdysburn villages, the only shop in Edenderry, and the access road through Minnowburn Beeches. There was also a farm connected to the factory which was run on a commercial basis. John Shaw's father, George Herbert Brown, was Managing Director of the Belfast Ropeworks before returning to Edenderry. The firm specialised in fine damasks, many of which were hand-painted. The company was renowned for its variety and quality of design. They had a huge export market, shipping linen goods to all corners of the globe. John Shaw entered the linen industry in 1975. In order to gain experience, he was initially employed as a trainee manager by the Ulster Weaving Co, before going into H Jacksons for a year, as a sales representative, after it was bought over by Ulster weavers. H Jacksons, earlier part of the York St Flax Spinning Co., was a distributor of kitchen textile goods. In 1978 John Shaw joined the family firm and spent two years going around the various departments within the factory. His over-riding memory, apart from the noise level, is that of a community atmosphere and sense of belonging - some thing that almost certainly stemmed from the linkages between the factory and Edenderry village. By this stage the linen business had become very difficult, particularly in the fine end in which John Shaw Browns specialised. In 1980 John Shaw went to Canada where he worked as a travelling salesman for the firm’s Canadian Division - Brown' Linens. Although in earlier times Brown's linens stocked and marketed linen manufactured in Belfast this had all ended by 1978 and the company focused on the Fieldcrest line. They were the sole distributor for Fieldcrest bathroom products in Canada. Browns linens had a making-up factory on the outskirts of Toronto. They produced a range of goods to complement the Fieldcrest range and sold both to the large department stores across Canada. Although Browns could not claim to be producing Irish linen they retained the Shamrock as their emblem so as to capitalise upon their Irish connections. John Shaw was based in Calgary from where he covered Western Canada and British Columbia. When he returned to Edenderry in 1980 the linen weaving operation had ceased. Browns Linens bought themselves out from John Shaw Brown and continued for a number of years. They eventually ceased to trade when they lost the Fieldcrest contract. St Ellen works were transformed into an industrial estate and property managing company which ran successfully for a number of years. The tied houses were offered to the occupants at very reasonable prices. Those employees who did not wish to buy their own homes were permitted to continue renting. By early 2000 the entire site had been earmarked for demolition and redevelopment. Many of the existing shareholders were elderly and wanted to see some return for their investment. Ultimately the deteriorating condition of the access road created difficulties for tenants who required the use of heavy lorries.

HOYFM.R2000.68

National Museums NI