Below are some resources I recommend if any of your ancestors in your family tree were Paper Makers.

A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z

Description: Someone who worked in the paper making industry as a paper maker by pouring a mixture of fibres and water through a screen, creating a sheet of randomly inter-woven fibers. Water is removed from this mat of fibers by pressing and drying to make paper. Most paper is made from wood pulp, but other fiber sources such as cotton and textiles may be used. In the early 1800s paper was made entirely by hand but this made it imprecise - paper could be of different thickness and quality. Whole families could be employed in the industry, with children and women performing the unskilled tasks such as drying sheets or sorting rags. The latter was a boring and dangerous job thanks to the inhalation of cloth dust. They could also catch 'rag sorter's disease', which was similar in nature to anthrax. More skilled work, often performed by men, would be stamping, which was breaking the rags into fibres, or the actual job of applying the pulp to the screen. As with all other industries, the industrial revolution had a massive effect. Machines such as the 'Fourdrinier' increased production and brought down the cost of paper. With the use of machines, roles changed. Men would still pulp raw materials which were then bleached. The machines churned this and ground the pulp down to the right consistency. It would then be poured over wire netting before the pulp was pressed by rollers before being dried. The workers would then cut the paper to the right size.

Websites:

National Association of Paper Historians

Reading materials:

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