what was a millwright?

[lorraine66]

Was a millwright someone who built mills or would he have been someone who put the equpment inside the mills in place thanks

[MikeBos]

I have found the following on Wikipedia:

A millwright is a craftsman or tradesman engaged with the construction and maintenance of machinery.

Early millwrights were specialist carpenters who erected machines used in agriculture, food processing and processing lumber and paper. In the early part of the Industrial Revolution, their skills were pressed into service building the earliest powered textile mills.

Modern millwrights work with steel and other materials in addition to wood and must often combine the skills of several skilled trades in order to successfully fabricate industrial machinery or to assemble machines from pre-fabricated parts. The modern millwright must also be able to read blueprints and other schematics to aid him in the construction of complex systems.

Hope it helps
Regards
Mike in Denmark

[Jan1954]

A Millwright was someone who designed, built and maintained the mills - or mill machinery.They needed to be able to read plans and be able to solve mechanical problems, so they would certainly have had to have been literate.

I hope that this helps.

[lorraine66]

thanks that fits in with what my mother and grandmother said. It was early 1900s he was educated they lived in a nice part of town.