Quidhampton paper mill; really…?

Sterling bank notes
Sterling bank notes from Wikipedia

Thanks for the positive comments on the new website – much appreciated! If you have any comments, please feel free to use the commenting facilities on particular pages/posts or drop us an email at web@quidhampton.org.uk.

One topic that has come up more than once is the introductory text on the welcome page, taken from Wikipedia:

Quidhampton was the home to a Royal Mint papermill. This is where the pound sterling derived the slang name “Quid”.

Graham Heeley writes:

I dispute that there was a paper mill at our Quidhampton; Quidhampton near Overton in Hampshire (just by Overton railway station) is the present site of a mill that produces bank note paper. I am sure this is the cause of the error! You can’t believe all that you read on Wikipedia.

So, does anyone have any definitive answers on this? It would be good to settle this once and for all. Wikipedia is often wrong about such things but being a community driven platform, it is up to us to improve it. The Quidhampton page forms part of WikiProject Wiltshire, a specific community project to improve the content on Wikipedia for Wiltshire. It would be great if we could make the Quidhampton page an exemplar of how great a village page can be! We could also write a short article for the new village history website.

Please leave any comments and/or further information below or email us. Thanks!

Posted

in

by

Paul Cripps

Tags:

, ,

Comments

6 responses to “Quidhampton paper mill; really…?”

  1. C.D. Lewis avatar
    C.D. Lewis

    Albert Jack’s “It’s a Wonderful Word: The Real Origins of Our Favourite Words” says that while trying to debunk the story that the term “quid” originated in a Quidhampton paper mill, he discovered that the Overton Paper Mill, formerly called the Quidhampton Paper Mill, did in fact exist and lay between the villages of Overton and Quidhampton to the west of Basingstoke in Hampshire. It did produce paper for banknotes, and did so for several centuries, but wasn’t located in the Quidhampton in Wiltshire.

    Hope this helps.

    Reply
    1. Grahame avatar
      Grahame

      Sorry to debunk this, but the Overton Paper Mill only began operations at Quidhampton (a collection of just a few houses), Overton, Hampshire in 1922. The first recorded use of the term “quid” is in 1688. Prior to 1922 the Portal’s mill operated from Bere Mill, near Whitchurch, Hampshire about 8 miles away.

      The term “Quid” appears to come from the Latin ‘quid’ meaning ‘something’ and developed amongst the London Goldsmiths for the receipts/promissory notes that they carried in lieu of their deposited gold.

      The Bank of England adopted this promissory note system when it first issued banknotes in 1797.

      Reply
  2. paulc avatar
    paulc

    That’s really useful information – thanks!
    The consensus seems to be that the mill is actually over the border at Quidhampton in Hampshire.

    Reply
  3. M.P. Hunt avatar
    M.P. Hunt

    I live in Quidhampton Mill in Hampshire and understand that it was involved in the papermaking process and is quite possibly to origin of quid.

    Reply
  4. James Davies avatar
    James Davies

    The paper mill was at Overton, The British government says it was in quidHampton . The answer is obvious .

    Reply
  5. John SouthPark avatar
    John SouthPark

    Portals de la Rue, previously Thomas de la Rue operate Overton Mill who make paper for banknotes and have done so for centuries is actually located at the north end of Quidhampton, about a mile north of Overton. However, Overton train station is actually in Quidhampton. I worked at the mill on and off for several weeks in 2002 – more I am not at liberty to say.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *