Coincidentally the Halls visited the archive department in Uglich some two weeks before our arrival. They were similarly cruising between St. Petersburg and Moscow. Like other pathfinders, the first visit isn't always the most fruitful, especially in Russia where obtaining information instantly is almost impossible. We had been asked indirectly from Tania's family via the Halls neither to volunteer too much information on the GAUBERTs to the Russians nor to take any photographs of the family to Russia. On our cruise we were particularly fortunate to have Professor Alex Reid of Dundee University as our lecturer. He offered to act as our interpreter and accompanied us to the Archive Department. His excited exclamations on examining the blue file indicated the amount and extent of the information compiled. The staff were most helpful and, having been primed by the Halls, had found the records of the paper mill established by John Peter GAUBERT.



We made notes at the time, now reproduced below –

1. paper mill founded in 1735 and sold to a person from Rybinsk.
2. in 1859 it was purchased for 300,000 silver roubles by 3 men, including a merchant from St.Petersburg and John Peter Gaubert
3. they created a limited company of 600 shares of which John Peter Gaubert had 190 shares
4. the mill was in very poor condition when they purchased it
5. they imported all equipment, including steam engines from Britain
6. it produced all types of paper including linen, top quality paper including watermarked, cardboard, tea and sugar paper for wrappers, coloured paper, and paper for the government and the royal family
7. Gaubert (presumably John Peter) was known as Ygor Ivanivich
8. it used large quantities of horses and carriages to transport the paper
9. it had 3 directors, and John Peter Gaubert was also a manager/worker for a period
10. his salary was 2,500 silver roubles per annum (this was at a time when a silver rouble was equivalent toanEnglish pound)
11. it imported 4 skilled workers from abroad to help with the production
12. it had between 250 - 500 employees who earned 9 roubles per month for men, and 6 roubles per month for women
13. the GAUBERTs also had a home in St. Petersburg
14. the mill built a village library, a school, and a hospital with six beds (twice a week out-patients were admitted free)
15. it also created a fire brigade with an engine and hoses
16. the mill created a telephone exchange in 1906
17. there were great celebrations in 1906 for the 50th. anniversary
18. Peter Gaubert died of a heart attack in 1914
19. the factory was eventually worth 260,500,000 roubles
20. the mill was destroyed by fire in 1914 - possible insurance fraud ?
21. the main family house was 2 km from the factory
22. the 2 storey dacha (it is large by present standards) was moved from the Volga by the present owner's grandfather
23. part of the ground floor of the dacha is used as a pharmacy
24. the upper storey was once used as a restaurant


Following our visit to the Archive department we were surprised to be told that they had arranged for a jeep to take us for a tour. We were driven to the area where the factory existed, to where the family home had been, and where the family's summerhouse or dacha now stood. Nature had largely reclaimed the factory site and the family home although they pointed out a similar house of the period which was mansion - like in size. Close to the site of the mill was a spring covered by an ornate pergola. While we were examining the spring, a cyclist approached and filled his water bottle - perhaps an indication that the water was still very good.

The dacha, built of logs, had been moved from its original site when the river was dammed, and moved further up the hillside. I was allowed to film inside the pharmacy, which occupies about half of the ground floor. It was a poignant moment for me to stand inside that house. The decades just rolled back. Meanwhile my wife, through Alex Reid, was talking to the owner of the remaining part of the house. After a few moments a stout Russian wife dragged him away inside so we only got the briefest details from him.



click on the photo below to view a larger picture


uglich aerial 01

The photo above is of Uglich. The black meandering river to the left is the River Korozhechna whilst the wider river to the right is the River Volga. The penninsular between both rivers is where the mill once stood. If you look at the centre of the photo, you can see two adjacent light-coloured rectangles. These might be the crop marks of the former main mill buildings. Directly below them is the hydro electric dam across the Volga. We were driven across that dam and then I think we turned left until we came to the former Gaubert 'dacha' or summerhouse.