K.H. Rogers, in Wiltshire And Somerset Woollen Mills, published by the Pasold Research Fund Ltd., in 1976, noted:
Heytesbury
In 1796 Sir William Pierce Ashe a’Court leased to John Gale Everett, clothier, a watercourse adjoining the road from Heytesbury to Hindon. The lessee was the son of William Everett, long a clothier at Horningsham, and was then aged about nineteen. A factory was probably built at this time. J.G. Everett was succeeded by his uncle and namesake, who also ran the Upton Lovell mill.
In 1816, the business was clearly extensive, employing 233 hands. In 1820, Everett made his will leaving his house, factories, and lands in trust for his ‘natural and adopted son’, Joseph Butt alias Everett; should Joseph choose to carry on the business and do so for twenty years, the property was to be conveyed to him. If he became bankrupt, his tenancy was to cease, and he was to live within five miles of Heytesbury for 250 days in every year. A lease to start on J.G. Everett’s death was made to reinforce the will in 1821. He died in 1825, and Joseph succeeded in fulfilling the conditions so that the property became his absolutely in 1846. Within a few months, he sold the whole, which included extensive lands, to Lord Heytesbury, for £22,000. This probably marked the end of the trade, as the firm is not mentioned in the 1848 directory. In 1855 the building materials of Everett’s house and factory were offered for sale. The factory stood on the east side of the road running from the Salisbury road down to Heytesbury Mill. The watercourse mentioned in the lease of 1796 can only have supplied slight and intermittent water power, but it was still in use in 1836.
WRO, 101, 172/10, and 828/6;
SJ, 7.9.1807, 8.4.1811;
DG, 5.7.1855.