Ebenezer took over the windmilling business in 1871 but soon found that, beset by increasingly stringent health regulations (what is new?), flour production at the windmill was unprofitable. So it ceased completely and he depended entirely on grist milling animal feed for the outlying farms in the district. He replaced the old steam engine by more modern and stronger engines to do the complete milling process. The wind powered machinery was then used solely as a standby mode of milling for busy periods.
Ebenezer died young, at only 55, in 1883, so he had only been running the business for about twelve years. He had married Suzanna Oyler of Goddards Green, Cranbrook and had four sons, Caleb, George, Sydney and Hugh. His eldest son, Caleb, had been milling successfully in the Ashford area and was now well established at Mersham Mill, which he owned. However, these were all watermills, with which he felt more at home than he felt with windmills. So he was not interested in leaving his flourishing business at Mersham and returning to the Union Mill.
Of the other two brothers, George had the wanderlust and, having run away from school, went to sea and washed up on the shores of the United States, where he spent the rest of his life. Sidney did not have the confidence to take on the business of milling so he allowed Hugh to run it while he became the accountant, mechanic and general handyman under his younger brother. He was an engineer and kept the various bits of machinery in good order.
Ebenezer's youngest son, Hugh (married with three children) took over the business on his father's death; this included Slipmill, the watermill in Hawkhurst, acquired from his cousin, George Russell, junior. Hugh prospered with the business at the two mills, though he did concentrate somewhat on the watermill at Hawkhurst. Then, in 1902, having made a preliminary visit to Perth two years earlier, he and his wife and two children emigrated to Western Australia. (His descendants are spread over the continent, now.)
| Ebenezer Russell
Hugh Russell
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