09/01/2026
In December, a lady named Karen Fiske joined this group and mentioned that her Grandfather Mr W.G. Fiske ran the Mill in the 1930s. I decided to do bit of research, because although I had heard the name Fiske, I hadn’t realised quite how influential the Fiske brothers were in the formative years of Thames Board Mills.
It was William J. Alford who led the foundation of the Thames Paper Company in 1902. Although he lived in the USA, he came from a British family, but Mr. Alford's widespread business interests made him a continuous traveller and while he spent a good deal of time in Britain and was a frequent visitor to Purfleet, he did not himself take an active part in the management of the business. For that reason, in 1903, Mr. Alford
invited Mr. Edwin Burton Fiske to take over the management of the newly launched Board Mill and E.B. Fiske became the Company’s first Managing Director.
In 1907, Mr. Fiske appointed his brother, William Grant Fiske, (Karen’s Grandfather), as a Director. This was far from an example of nepotism, because Mr W.G.Fiske was a respected businessman in his own right, with specific expertise in the manufacture of cartons and containers. It’s thanks to him that the Fiberite container and its well known name came into being.
If you read the Thames Topics articles attached, you will get an appreciation of how much they gave to the Mill. In their era, Purfleet installed 5 Board Machines, including the largest in the World (No.5) and the Warrington Mill was built with two machines operating.
As you will see they both retired in 1938, at which time, William was 64 and his brother, Edwin almost 70. Sadly, Edwin died in 1940, but William enjoyed his retirement at Harwood Hall in Upminster, occasionally visiting the Mill to appreciate the fruits of his endeavours. He died in 1952 at the age of 78.
The attached images, including pictures of the two brothers, are taken from the Thames Topics of the time. Mr W.G. Fiske is the gentleman without the moustache.
