Second cousins, John and Henry, formed Campbell & Co. and bought Mossley Mill in 1859, when the property was described as: “Two mills for the spinning of flax and tow, 22 workers’ houses, manager’s house and garden with a dwelling house and grounds, ornamentally planted. The machinery of the mill was run by two steam engines with boilers (25 horsepower each with shafting and great gearing attached).” Ordinance Survey Memoirs 1839.

It appears that Henry provided most of the capital for Mossley Mill, but John was the one who ran it. On Henry’s death, his money was left in trust for founding a school or hospital, and, in 1894, Campbell College was opened in Belfast.

John modernized the factory, built new workers’ houses and established Mossley School in 1868 for the education of workers’ children. Night classes were also attended by adult mill workers and local farmers. After John’s death in 1901, his son, Robert Garrett Campbell continued to run the mill. Robert was married to Alicia Anne Ferguson, and they had three children – Ann Alicia Campbell ("Nan", b. 1 Oct 1894); Lawford Burne Campbell (b. 4 Nov 1895, d. 1 Jul 1916); and John Dermot Campbell ("Dermot", b. 20 Jan 1898, d. 23 Jan 1945).

It is Alicia’s correspondence with her three children that forms the basis of this archive.The correspondence appears to have been saved by Nan, since the majority of the letters are addressed to her.

There are numerous references in the correspondence to experiences of war and life in the trenches. Lawford Burne Campbell was killed in the First World War, and John Dermot Campbell was killed in the Second World War.

John Dermot Campbell, was an Ulster Unionist MP for Antrim South, Wartime Flax Controller for Northern Ireland, and a wealthy linen industrialist. He was married to Josephine Patricia Campbell ("Pat"). John Dermot died in 1945 at the age of 47, missing, presumed dead in a plane crash during the Second World War. The Northern Ireland Screen Digital Film Archive contains nearly 80 digitized Campbell family realms from 1929-1956. Most of the footage was taken by John Dermot.

The collection contains letters from Captain Arthur Cathal O'Connor, who served in the 1st Norfolk Regiment in the First World War. On June 3, 1916, O'Connor received the Military Cross for gallantry after rescuing four colleagues. He was killed at the Somme in July, 1916. The collection also contains letters from Lieutenant-General Sir Walter Campbell, who served in the First World War becoming Deputy Quartermaster-General to the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force taking part in the evacuation at Gallipoli. In 1918 he was appointed Quartermaster-General with the Imperial Camel Corps in Jordan.

Mossley Mill was later sold to London-based Hanson Trust, and in 1993 Mossley was bought by Herdmans flax spinners of Sion Mills Co., Tyrone, but closed down in 1995. Newtownabbey Borough Council bought the site a year later and part of the mill was converted into the new Council Civic Centre.



(References: http://www.thepeerage.com/p23814.htm#i238139; https://digitalfilmarchive.net/collection/campbell-family-collection-156/?collection=156&page=1 (Northern Ireland Screen Digital Film Archive); https://antrimandnewtownabbey.gov.uk/contact/mossley-mill/