La Linera
The Compañia Linera de Mexico SA was founded in 18871 by Job Hamer, and was located in Mexico City in the Lecumberi area, convenient for the railway yards at San Lazaro. It depended on flax imported from Russia, Belgium and Ireland, since linen-grade flax could not be grown in Mexico at that time.
Its business was that of spinning, weaving, dyeing and bleaching linens, chiefly tickings, drills and hollands.2
In the early years cash was tight, and decisions had to made about whether the profits would be used to bring a new loom from England or to bring another family member over from England.3
The business was managed by Job and by some of his sons, notably Geoffrey Hamer, the fourth son and William Hamer, the third son. The latter was the accountant, and when he died of typhoid in 1896 the eldest son, Thurston, was encouraged to return from England to take his place.
The 1901 balance sheet shows that it was a fairly healthy concern. According to de la Fosse “Output at 1907 was estimated at about 2,000,000 metres, but that it would be shortly increased. Its dividend in that year was 12%.” de la Fosse goes on to tell us “Their heavy drill outfitted the Mexican Army during the Porfiriate period. One of their advertisements reads: ‘White linens manufactured from imported Irish yarn ¾ bleached and woven in our factory. Drills and hollands up to 32 ins. wide and sheeting up to 70 ins. wide. These cloths suitable not only for household use but for fancy work.'”
Job Hamer moved to Cuernavaca around the turn of the century for health reasons. His sons were managing the business, and were often on the train to Cuernavaca to consult him. He died in 1905. In 1907 the listed officers of the company were Thurston Hamer (son) President; John B. Body (son-in-law), Vice-President; Norman Hamer (son) Secretary, and Geoffrey H. Hamer (son) Mill Manager.2
In January 1915 Geoffrey wrote to Thurston, who was at the time with his family in Veracruz. He says that Mill must be closed due to lack of flax, and the unlikelihood of obtaining more in the near future (war in Europe, German submarine activity and the Russian Revolution all conspired to make importation impossible). In June 1919 the Mill was re-opened as a cotton mill. Geoffrey writes to his brother Thurston in January 1920 saying that their first seven months of trading have been difficult: “at first we have had a hard time trying to sell our goods in competition with the other cotton mills here.” In fact, they were unable to compete and by the mid-1920s the Linera was closed for good.
I am grateful to Nancy Hamer and to Guy Thomson for helping me to track down a copy of the book “The First Hundred Years of British Industry and Commerce in Mexico 1821-1921” (edited by Katherine de la Fosse, 1978, Instituto Anglo Mexicano de Cultura, Mexico DF) which is not an academic treatise but which includes material gained from interviews with members of the British colony in Mexico City in support of an exhibition which was mounted at the Instituto Anglo Mexicano de Cultura.
Michael Johnson
Aug 2019
- According to Katherine de la Fosse “The First Hundred Years of British Industry and Commerce in Mexico 1821-1921” (1978, Instituto Anglo Mexicano de Cultura [↩]
- de la Fosse 1978, op cit [↩] [↩]
- see Dorothy Golding’s reminiscences [↩]