The Haworths of Oswaldtwistle and The Grove Chemical Company
The Haworth name in Oswaldtwistle & Church was very common; unfortunately so too was the Christian name, John! So where to begin?
By the end of the 16th century Oswaldtwistle was an economic centre for wool, the English staple. Hand loom weavers were everywhere and they were serviced by an emerging class of merchant chapmen. Water powered fulling mills were established by the 18th century and then flax and eventually new fangled cotton became increasingly fashionable ... the Yorkshire wool trade was the established the leader in textiles, built on the ancient Hanseatic League trade from the east coast ports ... development on the Lancashire side of Pennines followed the Yorkshire lead until the advent of cotton.
In 1764 Messrs Haworth, Peel & Yates started fustian and calico printing as further value was added to the hand loom weavers output. Richard Hills described the importance of Peel & Haworth to the industrial revolution in Lancashire. New technology in centralised manufactories dramatically enhanced the 'Blackburn Greys' ... calico printing became the first stage of a localised industrial revolution ... a second stage followed as further impetus came after 1800 when James Hargreaves (1720-78) of Stanhill developed his Spinning Jenny ... change was underway ... wool was 'old hat' ...
Notably in 1764 Messrs Haworth, Peel & Yates were the first Lancashire calico printers but, perhaps, the best known and most permanently successful were the works established by James Greenway. It was about 1776 that James Greenway started calico printing at Livesey Fold, Darwen and thirty years later, in 1808, he built the larger print-works at Dob Meadows. His sons-in-law Charles Potter and William Maude continued the business as Potter, Maude and Co, until about 1830.
The
Haworths of Walmsley Fold.
The initial inspiration for a host of calico printing works around Blackburn came from the expert siring of Edmund Haworth (1704-59), yeoman & Chapman in woven fabrics, and descended from the ancient Haworths of Haworth in Yorkshire. Edmund married Catherine Pickering (1713-). Their children were -
Elizabeth Haworth (-) who married Robert Peel (1723-95) in 1744. Robert was the grandfather of the great man Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850) ... Prime Minister!
In 1764 he joined his brother-in-law Jonathan Haworth and established the famous firm of Haworth, Peel, and Yates. The deed of partnership was dated 1770.
Edmund (1727-59) who married Mary (-) and had a son -
William Haworth (1751-81) who became a partner in the Mill Hill Cotton Works.
Giles (1730-59), who had no male issue.
Jonathan Haworth (1736-86) at some stage purchased the old seat of the Haworths at Highercroft in Lower Darwen and in 1762 he was elected a Governor of Blackburn Grammar School in 1762.
In 1764 he became the senior partner of Haworth, Peel, and Yates to which he brought most of the original technology & capital.
Jonathan established Mill Hill Works in about 1780 when he was a partner of Haworth, Peel, Yates & Co, Oswaldtwistle & Bury.
Jonathan married Mary Pilling (1740-1819) the eldest daughter of John Pilling of Sissclough in Newchurch-in-Rossendale in 1762. Their children were -
Edmund Haworth (1764-1855) of Mill Hill, Lancs & Sale Lodge, Chester, married, Elizabeth Peel in 1786. He died (aged 91 years) in 1855. Edmund and his son Edmund junior went into Jonathan's business in Bury. A partnership which involved William Hardman and was dissolved in 1828.Their children were -
Jonathan (-1825), who died unmarried in 1825.
Edmund Haworth (1797-) of Churchdale House, Co Derby, J P (the eldest surviving son), married, first, Eliza, daughter of Captain Wallace, and had an only son Edmund, who died young. He married, secondly, in 1868, Harriett Dorothea (widow of Rev John Chamock, and sister to Sir Comwallis Ricketts, Bart ), but had no issue.
Robert (-).
Daughters were - Mary, wife of Dr Goodlad, of Manchester; Susannah, wife of Rev Frederick Peel, Rector of Wellingboum and Canon of Lincoln; Elizabeth; Charlotte and Alice, wife of Canon Sergeant.
John Haworth (1765-) married Dororthy Tarbotom (-) ... their children were -
John,
Jonathan,
Edmund,
Daughters were - Sarah, and Mary Dorothea;
Jonathan (1770-) Gentleman of the parish of Blackburn married another Peel, Susannah (-) daughter of Edmund Peel in Blackburn in 1792.
Also daughters Alice, wife of Lawrence Peel, Esq, of Ardwick; Ann, wife of Joseph Peel, Esq, of Bowes House, and mother of Sir Lawrence Peel, Chief Justice of Calcutta; Mary, wife of Edmund Yates, Esq, of Tring Park; Elizabeth, wife of John Nuttall, Esq, of Bury; Sarah, wife of Jonathan Patten, Esq, of London; Jane, Harriet, and Charlotte.
Also daughters Jane, Ann and Alice.
Jonathan Haworth was eventually a merchant based in Manchester. He died on Jan 30th 1786 and was buried at St. John's Church, Manchester.
Both Elizabeth and Jonathan became embroiled in matrimony and in business with the Peel family ... the Haworth, Peel, Blackburn connections were explained in a Haworth memo of 1838 revealed in 'Sir Robert Peel: his Private Papers' edited for his trustees by Charles Stuart Parker (with a chapter on his life and character by his grandson the Hon George Peel), 3 vols. John Murray, Albemarle Street, London, 1899.
The early business interests started in 1764 at Brookside, Oswaldtwistle ...
Brookside Print Works
About 1640 Robert Peel of Hole House was a successful merchant in woollen cloths in Blackburn and the 1st prosperous Peel. All the local cotton spinners, flax spinners, calico printers and merchants seemed to have started as 'chapmen' or dealers in cloth and particularly the local cotton and linen cloth called 'Blackburn Greys'. Peel's son Robert Peel (-1733) married Anne Wardle from Blackburn in 1681 and purchased the Peelfold (formerly Oldham's Cross) estate in Oswaldtwistle in 1731, just before he died. William Peel (-1757) inherited the estate and in 1713 married Jane Walmsley from Lower Darwen. Their son Robert Peel (1723-95) followed at Peelfold where he farmed and in 1744 he married Elizabeth Haworth (1723-96) elder daughter of Edmund Haworth (1704-59) of Darwen. Robert was a mechanical genius and established a business which raised the family to considerable affluence. Around 1750 the cotton trade in Blackburn produced 'calicos greys' which were dyed for ordinary purposes and often sent to London for bleaching and printing. This was the 'putting out system' with merchants like Robert Peel doing all the organising of distribution, collecting and selling.
Elizabeth had a brother Jonathan Haworth (1736-86), an enterprising character, who ventured to London to learn the trade and on his return became the 1st calico printer in Lancashire. A story goes that the secrets were learned from a Dutchman named Voortman, who settled in London to print cloth for the East India Company. An Excise officer who had to visit Voortman's premises to stamp the printed pieces observed how carved blocks of wood left an indelible mark if applied to cloth previously treated with the salts of iron. The secret was to fix colours by using iron acetate as a mordant with the help of hot calendaring. The Excise officer was later to stay at the Black Bull Inn, Blackburn, tenanted by Mr John Yates ... in 1764 at Brookside there was an important happening involving Jonathan Haworth, with his brother in law, Robert Peel, and with some capital assistance from John Yates's son William Yates (1740-1813) ... this trio established the famous firm Haworth, Peel & Yates; Jonathan was the senior partner in 2 shares, the others had 1 share each. This was hardly surprising as it was Jonathan's grasp of the technology which drove the innovations. This firm went from strength to strength and with the help of the Hargreaves spinning jenny they produced and improving quality of cloth and significantly they printed their own cloth. The firm flourished, and with 'Parsley Peel' (named thus after his most famous print design) supplying the business acumen, they became the father of the printing trade in Manchester. The first pieces were hawked about the countryside from a cart, but when the partners became established at Brookside, Oswaldtwistle, they sold their cloth from a warehouse in Manchester. However the partnership did not continue for long.
Tragically in 1768 the machinery in the firm at Brookside was destroyed by the mobs indignant at the progress of technology and the factory system.
Around 1770 the two elder partners seceded and stared up a similar business at 'The Ground', Bury; Robert Peel remained in sole possession at Brookside but his enterprising eldest son Robert Peel (1750-1830) joined the old men in Bury. Robert Peel and James Hargreaves started a greatly improved method of carding at the factory at Brookside and Peel also bought from Hargreaves several of his spinning frames to stock his factory.
After the initial attacks the mill was refitted, but a second attack convinced Robert that he could not continue his businesses in the Oswaldtwistle district. Around 1779 he abandoned Brookside and forced to move to Burton-upon-Trent. Robert died in 1795 and sometime before his death he retired and returned to Lancashire and the original business was dissolved ... but Oswaldtwistle had lost enterprise, capital and jobs ...
The Brookside site hosted other tenants over the ensuing years ... William Smith, the Baron family, James Bealey, John Redish, Cunliffe & Brooks, a bleach works, a restart for calico printing in 1818-62, an indigo refinery 1856, glue making on Nook Lane 1856, paper making 1872-3 ... and the return of a Haworth, John Haworth (1824-98), 'John of Vine House' ... see below ...
Calico printing started in a small way at Brookside, but other print facilities followed quickly elsewhere ... the Peels were at Bury in 1770, at Church Bank in 1772 and at Foxhill Bank in 1790 ... and the Haworths at Mill Hill in 1785?
Bury Ground Print Works.
On the Irwell, north of Bury Bridge the works at Bury were known as The Ground, just a few wooden sheds to start with as the firm commenced their cotton printing business in a very humble way in the year 1770, cotton spinning was added a few years later. By 1800 the firm was a major employer in the area. In 1840 Hardman & Price were the proprietors. The significance of the Bury development was emphasised by John Aikin in 1795 -
‘The town and neighbourhood of Bury have been highly benefited by the establishment of the very capital manufacturing and printing works belonging to the company of which that very respectable gentleman, Robert Peel, Esq, member of parliament for Tamworth, is the head. The principal of these works are situated on the side of the Irwell, from which they have large reservoirs of water. There is likewise a separate reservoir supplied by a spring of clear water, whish is used for the washing of goods when the river is muddied by floods. The articles here made and printed are chiefly the finest kinds of cotton manufacturing, and they are in high request both at Manchester and London. The printing is performed in the most improved methods, both by wooden blocks and copper rollers, and the execution and colours are some of the very best of the Lancashire fabrics. The premises occupy a large portion of ground and cottages have been built for the accommodation of the workmen, which form streets, and give the true appearance of a village. In short, the extensiveness of the whole concern is such as to find constant employ for most of the inhabitants of Bury and its neighbourhood, of both sexes and all ages, and notwithstanding their great number, they have never wanted work in the most unfavourable times. The canal from Bury to Manchester, which will come within the breadth of the Irwell from Mr Peel's works, will greatly facilitate the conveyance of goods and raw materials'.
Clearly Oswaldtwistle's loss was Bury's gain, and more ... the progress of innovative technology for mass markets can't be stopped by those few who resist change and get themselves locked into a nonexistent idyllic past ...
Church Bank Print Works.
Haworth, Peel & Yates had begun at Brookside in 1764, but in 1772 they moved to Church Bank where a print works was erected on the site of an old fulling mill. As Peel, Yates & Co the firm flourished especially after the removal of duty on printed cloth. Henry Bury, and Peel's sons William & Jonathan joined as partners and they became the first to introduce machine printing in 1785 and in 1801 the first to use steam power in the area. In 1824 an important dye works was established at Church Bridge by Steiner, Haworth & Barnes. In 1835 the Peels retired and Church Bank Print Works was bought by Frederick Steiner, and by the 1840s it had been divided into three portions; a print works leased back to the younger Peels, a chemical works run by James Haworth (-1848) (see below) and a Turkey Red dye works operated by Steiner himself. In 1851 it employed 450 people. Steiner had taken the whole of the Church Bank works back into his hands by 1860, and major extensions were made in the 1870s and 1880s. By this time they were covering the whole range of Turkey Red dying, bleaching and calico printing. In 1897 Frederick Steiner & Co Ltd was formed, with G E Nuttall as MD. The company was very successful until the receivers came in 1935 but they survived until 1955. Church Bank works was then demolished and the site redeveloped.
Frederick Steiner was an important figure; a Huguenot who escaped to England in 1817 from Napoleonic persecution; he was thoroughly skilled in the business of bleaching, dying and calico printing.
During the 1790s Haworth, Peel and Yates also developed another print works in Oswaldtwistle ...
Foxhill Bank Print Works.
The
Foxhill Bank
Print Works in Oswaldtwistle was originally set up by Richard Brewer in 1780
again
on the probable site of an earlier fulling mill. The Foxhill area was between
the Tinker Brook and White Ash Brook. In addition to the Foxhill Bank print works,
chemicals and
dye works were established throughout the 19th century. The earliest of
these was Tom Knitter bleach works, which was in existence by 1822. This was
soon followed by Bridge End Works in 1830.
Peels operated the site in
the 1790s and Simpsons from 1813, employing both water and steam power.
Pigot’s directory of 1828 lists Foxhill Bank as a ‘Calico Printers of
Simpson, Haigh and Company’. Foxhill remained calico
printers and in 1831 it was leased for seven years to Thomas Coates. In
1834 the Calico Printer listed in Pigot was ‘Coates, Thomas &
Co’. The Simpsons returned in 1837 until the 1850s. Fortunes and tenants
ebbed and flowed and from 1891 Frederick Steiner became involved. The firm remained successful until
the 1920s but went into voluntary liquidation in the 1950s. Foxhill Bank was
still in use as a bleach works until 1958 but was cleared in the late 1970s.
Clearly Robert Peel, early in his commercial career, combined in his mills new technology for cotton carding & spinning developed by James Hargreaves, and the chemical technologies associated with dyestuffs, mordents and calico bleaching & printing. These latter were the technologies absorbed by Jonathan Haworth from his Dutch mates in London which transformed the Lancashire textile industry.
Mike Rothwell summarised the complexity of the chemical businesses associated with the textile trade. And David Hogg summarised an unfortunate externality -
'The streams were quickly polluted by effluent from the mills, and at Church the making of size from dead animal carcases, the dung pits of the print works, the boiling of blood at the dye works and the sharp eye stinging smells of the alkali plant were all the subject of a court case in 1840'.
Robert Peel (1723-95) & Elizabeth Haworth (1723-96) had 7 sons and a daughter. The 3rd son Robert Peel (1750-1830) in 1783 married Ellen Yates (-1768), the daughter of the original founder. It was young Robert, who in 1770 joined the two elder partners (his uncle Jonathan Haworth & William Yates) and established the new partnership Haworth, Peel & Yates in Bury. The Bury firm became one of the most extensive in the trade, young Robert was a smart cookie. Robert & Ellen not only benefitted from a flourishing new business in Bury but also had an elder son of repute ... Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850) ... Prime Minister!
After the early collaboration with the Peels, Jonathan Haworth set up a business at Mill Hill in Stakes, Blackburn with his nephew and sons ...
Mill HillCotton Works
The 'Cotton Town' website suggested that the Mill Hill cotton factory had been overlooked in the historical record. The factory was established about 1780 by Jonathan Haworth of Haworth, Peel, Yates and operated for thirty years or more with fluctuating fortunes. Mill Hill was originally an extensive calico printing business situated on the bank of the River Darwen at Stakes, where Livesey and Blackburn are bounded by the river.
Around 1785 the partners were -
William Haworth (1751-81), the son of Edmund Haworth (1727-59)
Edmund Haworth (1764-1855) and John Haworth (1765-), the sons of Jonathan Haworth (1736-86)
The Mill Hill business were in difficulties in 1781 ... in 1783 Mill Hill assets were up for sale ...
At some stage, perhaps 1785-90, the Haworths added a factory for cotton spinning to their Print Works. By the 1790's Mill Hill Works included a three storey water powered spinning mill with 26 spinning frames, printshops and workers' cottages. A warehouse and penciling shop was sited on King Street, Blackburn. But in 1799, the firm were in difficulties again, and had to make an assignment for the benefit of their creditors. The three members of the firm at that date were Edmund, John and Jonathan Haworth. The Works were offered for sale by public auction on the 30th of January 1800 ... in 1800 a dividend was possible ...
The new owners were William & Robert Turner and John Noble. The Tuners operated the firm until 1842. Robert Turner, calico printer, of Mill Hill Works, Livesey, died, aged 77, in 1811. The works closed in 1843 with the death of William Turner and the estate was acquired by Joseph Eccles, cotton spinner of Jubilee Mill.
Jonathan Haworth (1736-86) was at the heart of the early printing innovations in Lancashire and was the best bet as the inspiration for the Haworth bone business in Oswaldtwistle which probably began with the production of tallow & size for the calico printers Haworth, Peel & Yates ... but which Haworths got into the bone business and when?... and how was Jonathan connected to John Haworth (1824-98), the John of Vine House, who's sons Herbert & Walter made glue at Appley Bridge?
John
of Vine House - Vine House was clearly marked on the 1892 map of the
Brookside complex - The Lancashire Historic Town Survey Church &
Oswaldtwistle suggested that there were a number of higher status dwellings
built in the nineteenth century in Oswaldtwistle & Church, and that most
were the homes of mill owners -
- On the south-east side of Oswaldtwistle was Rhyddings Hall, built in 1853
by Robert Watson of Rhyddings Mill. The house was demolished in the 1930s,
and only the coachman’s house, lodge, folly and stable block survive in the
former grounds of the hall, now Rhyddings Park. Watson also built houses at
1-19 Rhyddings Street in 1861 for his mill managers and foremen. These are
of substantially better quality than most workers’ housing, as demonstrated
by par-point masonry and projecting gables.
- Hollin Bank House on Blackburn Road, built c1850 by William Bury of
Foxhill Bank Printworks;
- Foxhill Bank House, built c1848 by Bury for the widow of his partner, James
Simpson;
- the Chestnuts and Foxhill Bank Hall, the latter erected by Simpson;
- Paddock House built c1835 in the classical style by the Walmsleys of
Moscow Mill;
- Moscow House in Frederick Street;
- Grove House in New Lane, the home of Jonathan Westall of White Ash Mill;
and
- Vine House which was occupied in 1861 by John Haworth, one of the first
subscribers to the Vine Mill Company.
Comparable properties in Church were -
- Holland Bank House which was occupied by 1861 by William Blythe of Holland
Bank Chemical Works;
- Plane Tree House, owned by Joseph Barnes of Dunkenhalgh pit, which was
sold in 1862 and became a private school;
- Elmfield Hall, Hyndburn Road which by 1861 was occupied by Frederick Gatty,
one of Steiner’s partners at Church Bank Works.
Of all these only Hollin Bank House, which is now a care home, Moscow House,
which is now a public house, and Vine House still stand.
Sometime before 1849 John and Moses Haworth had a glue business in Church ... J & M Haworth, Glue, Oil and Tallow Agents. In 1849 Moses left the business but John Haworth continued ... these likely lads were probably cousins both born around 1824 ... and John was to become big in bones, he was John of Vine House ... it appeared they may have followed John's elder brother Reuben into bones, Reuben was an agent with John Everth, of Appley Bridge ...
Henry Haworth (1757-<1841) and Rebecca Hindle (1761-1844) were married in Haslingden in 1785. They had three children -
Betty (1787-)
John Haworth (1790-1827). John had a son John (1824-98) of Vine House. See below.
Nancy (1792-). Nancy was unmarried and had a son, Moses (1822/6-82) and daughter Mary Ann (1829/31-). Moses was baptised in Church in 1822. And Mary Ann was baptised in 1929 at Church.
In the 1841 census Henry had died; Rebecca was a Housekeeper living at Alleytroyds, Whalley, Church with Nancy and Moses & Mary ... and John Haworth (1827-) ... her three teen age grandchildren ... John of Vine House
In 1849 Moses married Alice Armstead (1821-73) in Blackburn. They had two surviving daughters Betsy (1854-) and Mary Ellen (1856-) ... Betsy married Thomas Pickles in 1886. Mary Ellen married George William Tootle in 1884.
By 1851 Moses, a Print Works Labourer, and Alice were living at Chapel Row, Oswaldtwistle with son James (1850-2) and 'lodger' Mary Ann (1831-), Moses's sister who was a Weaver.
Moses was not found in the 1861 census.
In 1869 a Moses Haworth had gone into the cotton business with Henry Taylor. The firm appeared in The Manchester Commercial list in 1871 as Haworth and Taylor ... but this was another Moses born in 1849, a Cotton Spinner, from Livesey.
In 1871 Moses, a Carrier, and Alice were living at Chapel Street, Oswaldtwistle with Betsy and Mary Ellen.
By 1881 Moses, a Beer Seller, had married Hannah Wilkinson neé Carter (1824-94) and they were living at 61 Beer House, Oswaldtwistle, Mary Ellen was with them plus a host of Yates ... nephews & nieces.
Moses Haworth died in 1882.
John Haworth (1790-1827) was born in Haslingden, the son of Henry Haworth (1757-<1841) and Rebecca Hindle (1761-1844). John was a printer.
John married Jane Archer (-) of
Accrington in 1812 or Jane Ashworth (-) of Haslingden in 1811??
Reuben (1813-62) was born in Oswaldtwistle, Lancs.
He
was baptised on 18th July 1813, St James', Church, Lancs. He died in Ormskirk
in 1862.
In 1841 Reuben was a Calico Printer living at Pole Field, Eccles, Pendleton.
He married Anne Stonehewer (-) in Prestwich in 1835 and they had three children -
John (1836-) was
baptised in Eccles in
1836. See the Haworth's of Westhoughton.
Mary Jane (1838-) was
baptised in Pendleton in 1838. She married ?? Woodhead (-). They had a grandson Job (1859-).
Elizabeth (1840-)
married
William Walkden (-) of Manchester in 1865 in Southport.
In 1851 he was a Practical Chemist, living at 1 Howard Street, Byker, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, with Ann, Mary j and Elizabeth ... John was not with them.
In 1856 Reuben was the proprietor of the Appley Bridge bone manure works ...
1856 found Reuben supplying manures and offering prizes at the local agricultural show in Wigan.
In 1860 a few years before he died, Rueben was still peddling manures at Skipton ... Peruvian guano ...
In 1861 he was a Corn Factor living at 89 Lord Street, North Meols, Southport, with Ann and unmarried John, a Gasfitter, and Elizabeth. Mary Jane's young 2 year old son Job Woodhead was with them.
Reuben died in Southport in 1862 at only 48 years old, he was a Brewer at the time ... skills he passed onto his son John (1836-)
Reuben Haworth, Founder of the Wigan Corn Exchange (1856) oil painting by T J Baldwin.
Cornelius (1815-82) was born in Stanhill, Oswaldtwistle,
Lancs. He was baptised on 17th September 1815, St James'.
Cornelius
married Susanna Booth (1817-) from Brinscall, Lancs, on 14th August
1836 in St Mary's, Blackburn, Lancs.
In 1841 he was a Labourer in Oswaldtwistle living at Baron Stile, Oswaldtwistle, with Susanna and 3 year old Jane ... and his in laws John & Jane Booth.
He went into the bone and size business in Lower Darwen as Haworth & Coyle, sometime before 1848 when his partnership with George Coyle and Henry Deighton was dissolved. Henry Deighton continued with the business.
In 1851 he was a Gelatine Maker at Chemical Works, living at Manchester
Road, Warrington, with wife Susanna and children Jane, Mary Ann & John.
Cornelius had a
narrow
escape in 1856, presumably still involved in business between Warrington
and Wigan.
In 1861 he was a Size Maker, living at 42 Peel Street, Pendleton.
In 1871 he was a Chemical Agent, living at 20 Smithy Brook, Oswaldtwistle, with Susanna and 3 daughters ... John had left home
In 1881 he was a Phosphate Manure Agent staying with his daughter Mary Ann Starkey at 20 Ellison Street, Accrington.
Cornelius died in 1882. He was buried on 8th May 1882 in Mount Pleasant Chapel, Oswaldtwistle, Lancs.
Susanna appeared in the census in 1891 living at 4 Tanpits Road. She died in 1894 and was buried on 11th January 1894 in Mount Pleasant Chapel.
Cornelius & Susannah had the following children -
Jane (1838/42- ) born in Oswaldtwistle.
Mary Ann (1846-1900) born in Leigh. Married John William Starkie in 1879 in St James',
Accrington,
John (1848-1873) born in Accrington.
Matilda (1856-)
Mary (1818- ) was born in Stanhill. She was baptised on 18th June 1818, St James', Church.
Sarah (1821-) was born at Moor End, Oswaldtwistle, Lancs. She was baptised on 6th May 1821, St James'.
John Haworth (1824-98) was born on November 24th 1824 at Moor End. He was
baptised on 9th January 1825, St James'.
Known later as John of Vine House ... confusingly another John Haworth
(1825-90), John of Moor End, was born in Oswaldtwistle, son of Richard
Haworth and Catherine Whittaker. He died in 1890 at Moor End House. See
below.
More confusion because John of Moor End was 'closely associated' with John
of Vine House ...
John Haworth (1824-98) was born at Smithy Brook on November 24th 1824.
John's obituary confirmed his dad died before his memory & mum died when he was about 6; he was brought up by Rebecca his Gran.
John's dad, John Haworth of Smithy Brook, was buried Feb 13th 1827, at Accrington Union Methodist (grave 167).
John's mum, Jane Howarth of Smithy Brook, widow of John, was buried May 26th 1831 at Accrington Union Methodist (grave 167).
This confirmed Fiona Hall's Families 50 & 72, were the same family!
At 7 years he went to work for Thomas Simpson at The Foxhill Print Works.
In the 1841 census John was living with his grandmother Rebecca at Alleytroyds, Whalley, Church. Also there was his cousin Moses (1822/6-82). Both John & Moses were working as Labourers ...
At so stage John moved to a chemical works in Renfrew, Glasgow. This was training and enterprise; Stuart Nisbet explained why Renfrewshire became a centre for calico bleaching and printing before Lancashire! Interestingly ... William Blythe (1813-) of the Holland Bank Works was from Scotland (see below), he was a partner at The Church Bank Works before establishing Holland Bank Works in 1845 ... the works had an office at 95 Bath Street, Glasgow. The Glasgow / Church links were multiple?
And another chemical works at Hulme, Manchester.
John married Alice Tattersall (1826-) from Oswaldtwistle, in Blackburn, in 1848 when he was 24.
Then in 1851 he was at a chemical works in Paddington, Warrington.
In 1851 census John was a Sulphate Indigo Maker, living at Manchester Road, Warrington. Brother-in-law William Tattersall was living with them.
The family returned to Oswaldtwistle and John worked
initially at Tom Knitter
Bridge Bone (?) Works.
Rothwell's book on the local industrial
heritage identifies the Tom Knitter Bridge Bleach Works in Oswaldtwistle
which can be seen on an 1894
map. It was
associated with Foxhill Bank Print Works from 1822. The works may well have
been started earlier by Haworth, Peel, Yates & Co. Later in 1875 John was involved with the formation of
a paper company (see below), the plan was to convert the Tom Knitter Bridge
Bleach Works to paper making but things didn't work out. Bleaching was
reintroduced in 1884 but ended in 1887 when the site was sold to Steiner.
Tinker Brook runs
under the buildings and the arched, stone culvert remained in 1993.
John Haworth's return to Oswaldtwistle spawned some significant initiatives.
In 1856 John started a small indigo refining works with Edward Brook at Brookside Works. In 1862 The Chemical News & Journal of Industrial Science commented on the partnership of Haworth and Brook as manufacturers of dyestuffs and The World Paper Trade Review confirimed in 1898 that this was the company of John of Vine House ...
In the 1861 census John was described as a Manufacturing Chemist, living at Vine House, Oswaldtwistle, with Alice, 35, John Charles Henry, 9, Frederick George, 7, Herbert, 3, Emily Jane, 3 months and a couple of student visitors and a couple of servants ... the detached villa, Vine House was erected in 1858 ... Edward Brook left the Brookside chemical works in 1863 and became associated with big progress in the aniline dye business ...
But bigger things were afoot at Brookside ... in 1865 the chemical works was let to John & Jonathan Haworth (apparently no relation, see Family 18 below) ... and John went into cotton and invested big time ... Mike Rothwell described the ambitious Brookside Mill ... in 1871 Brookside Mill had flourished and John was 46 now described as a cotton manufacturer employing 270 hands in Oswaldtwistle. Alice was 45 and they had two servants - Annie Taylor 21, and Lavina Wheeler 20, both from Oswaldtwistle. Still living at Smithy Brook (Vine House), Oswaldtwistle. John was known as 'John of Vine House'.
Nevertheless John
had never left the bone business and in 1873, 17 years after the indigo investment, John established the Nook
Bone Works, close to Brookside on
Nook
Lane. Was this the 'original' bone business that became 'The Grove Chemical
Company, Appley Bridge, founded 1856'? ... Mike Rothwell, 'Nook
Works, started in 1873 as a bone crushing works by John Haworth of Brookside
Mill, and worked by his sons until 1879'.
In 1886 the Nook Lane Bone Works was operated by Hindle Rhodes & Co, who were still going in 1904 as Kelley's Directory lists Hindle, Rhodes & Co at Nook Works, Oswaldtwistle. At some stage prior to 1921 (when the business was in receivership) it was taken over by James Prescott, as confirmed by a splendid advert in Mike Rothwell's book ...
John also had a glue works at White Ash Mills. Originally a twin site cotton mill, probably built by William Hargreaves in 1816. After Hargreaves went bust in 1824 James Bury took over. Mike Rothwell suggested that in 1865 part of the site was converted to a chemical works by John Haworth of Vine House. And in 1875 most of the factory became a paper works ...
In 1875 the Church Paper Company was formed ... the announcement indicated John, 51, was a cotton manufacturer, young son Herbert, 17, was still in Oswaldtwistle and son Frederick George,21, was running the glue operation ... at some stage John also became an investor in The North of Ireland Paper Co, Balyclare.
In 1907 A Dykes Spicer MA wrote in 'The Paper Trade:
A Descriptive & Historical Survey of the Paper Trade from the Commencement
of the 19th Century' - 'An exceedingly important factor among Irish mills is
the North of Ireland Paper Company. Their Ballyclare Mill was started about
1834. For some time a vat mill, the date of the introduction of machines is
uncertain. A plentiful supply of water and reasonably cheap labour were the
reasons guiding the choice of location, for there were no special facilities
in carriage either of the raw material or manufactured article, and the coal
needed had to be imported from England or Scotland. All kinds of raw
material have on different occasions been worked and papers of various
classes produced, but principally printings, engine-sized writings, news,
cartridge, and parchments, and since 1870 there have been four machines
added, and the total output has increased from some 5 to 180 tons per week.
Rags, esparto, and flax have all been worked, and within the last ten years
small quantities of wood-pulp to meet the demand for lower qualities of
paper. At the present time the raw material is almost entirely confined to
linen and cotton cuttings and old rags. Up to 1879 printings and tub-sized
writings were the only papers made, but since 1881 the variety has largely
increased'.
In 1876 after 10 years of Haworth operation the Brookside Mill, at Little Moore End, Oswaldtwistle was leased by John of Vine House to Samuel Tomlinson. A year later in 1877 the Brookside Mill lease was assigned to Thompson Hampson Brown although John's son Herbert was still involved around 1880. It appeared there were other fish to fry ... not only paper making but also the bone business was apparently attractive and by 1888 the Haworth glue & manure business had moved to Appley Bridge ... nevertheless cotton operations continued ...
In 1871 John Haworth was, perhaps, involved in the Hippingsvale Cotton Spinning & Manufacturing Co Ltd, Oswaldtwistle ... incorporated in 1861 this was one of the first joint stock companies, a new era was starting the old family firms became disadvantage in the search for investment capital ...
In 1874 John was one of the first subscribers to the new 'Vine Spinning Company' who erected a mill adjacent to Brookside Mill in 1875/6.
In 1878 riots in Oswaldtwistle were reported in The Manchester Evening News; John Howarth at Vine House was a target for the mobs. In 1879 the industry was in hard times.
In 1882 John was, perhaps, still in the cotton industry with George Hampson, Albion Mill, Accrington?
In 1882 John and the family escaped to Southport. Was it time to sell out?
In 1893 Brookside Mill and Vine House were up for sale. John was now in Southport and in failing health, his sons Herbert & Walter were focused at the Appley Bridge business which was incorporated in 1895, and eldest son Frederick George was an established surgeon in London.
John died in at Ambleside on 5 Jun 1898, he was 74. The death was was reported in the Liverpool Echo. His obituary in the Accrington Observer and Times included a summary of his business involvements but did not mention his investments in paper mills.
The obituary explained that John of Vine House was 'closely associated with
- John Haworth of Moor End
- Thomas Nuttall who went to America
- Rev Marshall Randles, President Wesleyan Conference
These formed a coterie of close friends for purpose of mutual improvement' ... and the presence of John of Moor End make disentangling their business interests a challenge ...
John & Alice had the following children -
John Charles Henry (1851-91) was born on 24 Nov 1851 in Pilkington. John Charles Henry was baptized at Mount Pleasant on 2 Apr 1852. 1871 census John Charles was 19 and a Bookkeeper at Cotton Mill in Oswaldtwistle. John Charles died in Southport in1891, late of 'Vine House' and predeceased his father & mother.
Joseph (Died as Infant). Born on 23 Aug 1852. Joseph was baptized at Mount Pleasant on 26 Sep 1852.
Frederic George (1854-1928). 1871 census records
Frederick George at 17 as a Bookkeeper at a Cotton Mill in Oswaldtwistle.
Occupation: In 1881 he was a Medical Student, in 1891 he was a Physician and Surgeon
and in 1901 he was a Surgeon living at 188 Duckworth Street, Darwen with his
widowed mum, Alice, as a visitor. In 1888 Frederick George married Sarah
Helen Taylor (1859-) from Oldham.
Elizabeth Alice (Died as Infant). Born on the 14th of July 1855. Elizabeth Alice was baptized at Mount Pleasant on 24th of August 1855.
Herbert (1858-1923). See below.
Emily Jane (1860-1950) 1871 census Emily Jane was 10 and a scholar in Oswaldtwistle. In 1883 she married J B Cooper an Accrington Tailor. Both Mr & Mrs J B Cooper became Directors of The Grove Chemical Company when incorporated in 1895.
Walter (1863-). See bellow.
Herbert Haworth (1858-1923) was born on 23 May 1858 in
Oswaldtwistle. Herbert was baptized at Mount Pleasant on 13 Jun 1858.
In 1880 when Herbert was 21, he married Betsy Jane Morris, in Wigan. Betsy
was born in 1858 in Atherton.
1871 census Herbert was 12 and a scholar at school in Oswaldtwistle.
1891 occupation was a Chemical Manufacturer, living at Wrightington, Chorley.
1901 a Glue Manufacturer, living in Southport.
Herbert & Betsy had the following children -
Charles Ernest. Born in 1882 in Oswaldtwistle.
Sydney Maurice. Born in 1885 in Eccleston, Chorley. Sydney Maurice died in Wigan in 1921, he was 36.
Horace John. Born in 1887 in Eccleston.
In 1924 when Horace John was 37, he married Edith Hill, in Ormskirk.
Ted Herbert. Born in 1891 in Wrigtington.
May have had double wedding with sister Rachael as same page in Registration
Book.
In 1917 when Ted Herbert was 26, he married Margaret McArdle, in Christ
Church, Douglas.
Rachael Alice Gladys (1893-)
Rachael Alice Gladys Haworth was born in 1893 in
Appley Bridge, Wrightington.
Rachael & Ted may have had a double wedding as their marriages were on the same
page in Registration Book!
In 1917 when Rachael Alice Gladys was 24, she married Ivan Lindley Waddell,
in Christ Church, Douglas.
They had one child -
- Peter L who was born in 1919 in Wigan.
From 'The Wigan Courier' April 13 1923 - Death of Mr Herbert Haworth, formerly of Harrock Hill, Parbold, in his 66th year.
Walter
Haworth (1863-) was born on 21 Nov 1863 in Oswaldtwistle. Walter was
baptized at Mount Pleasant on 13 Dec 1863.
1871 aged 7 and a scholar in Oswaldtwistle.
1881 boarding as a Student Pharmaceutical (Chemist) with George Bosham, Chemist, Druggist & Dentist & Postmaster at Stockport Road, Levenshulme.
1891 Chemical Manufacturer, at Wrightington, Chorley with Herbert.
1901 Glue Manufacturer, at 31 Church Street, Southport with Herbert.
1851 - Poulton, Warrington. 1871 - Vine House, Oswaldtwistle.1891 - North Meols, Southport.
1901 - Over Darwen with son Frederick. His occupation was described as a Manufacturing Chemist.
1911 - Bloomsbury
Walter Haworth - Age: 65 Abode: 81 Broad o'th Lane Buried by: P R Grove. Vicar. Burial: 30 Jan 1945 St Paul, Astley Bridge, Bolton, Lancashire, England?
Herbert Haworth and Walter Haworth became directors of British Glues & Chemicals from 1920. From 'British Glues & Chemicals' registration documents in 1920 'Herbert' & 'Walter' Haworth had the same address - Harrock Hill, Mawdesley, Nr Ormskirk, Lancs.
John Haworth (1825-90), John
of Moor End, was a County Councillor and the
proprietor of The Globe Chemical Works and
died
aged 64 in 1890. His father was Richard Haworth (1798-1866) who in 1822
married Catherine Whittaker.
Jonathan Haworth (1819-87) was John's cousin. His father was Jonathan Haworth (1789-1865) who in 1810 married Ann (Nancy).
John & Jonathan were business partners and moved into the indigo refinery at The Brookside Chemical Works in 1865 and in 1871 they built The Globe Chemical Works. The Globe was on the site of a much older copperas works, foundry & size works, to the west of market street, established in the early 1820's by Robert Anderson & W Jackson.
They were cousins and shared the same granddad - Richard Haworth (-) who in 1787 married Isabella Birtwistle (-1835) a great Methodist reformer.
John Haworth (1825-90) & Catherine had a daughter Catherine (-) who married Christopher J Whittaker ( -). Christopher and his brother-in-law Walter Bryant went on to run Globe Chemicals after John died. The Whittaker / Bryant partnership was dissolved in 1902.
Kelly's Trade Directory 1895 still listed - Haworth J & Co, Globe Chemical Works, Market Street. Chemists Manufacturing. Indigo Refiners. Soap Boilers. Drysalters.
Grace's Guide confirmed the Haworths were indigo refiners; blue & red
carmine of indigo (extracts as powder & paste).
In 1899 the Globe Works was taken over by United Indigo Co Ltd in 1899 and closed in 1903. Various firms occupied the site after this date including sewage engineers, card printers (1903-18) and polish makers, Globe Chemical Co 1911-15 and Phoenix Chemical Co Ltd 1915-25. Operations ended in 1925 and the buildings were sold to John Wilson who ran Iceland Freezer Co. Crisp making took place on the site after 1949. Remains include large three and two storey blocks of built machine brick, there are ruins to the west of Market Street and a low building on Blackburn Road may incorporate part of the original copperas works.
There were other Haworths involved in chemicals in Oswaldtwistle.
James Haworth (-1848) was identified by David Hogg as 'a member of an old yeoman family. He and his brother were bookkeepers at the Peel works in early life. In 1923 the church roisterers described him as a merchant and in 1824 a directory entry gave a James Haworth & Company, Madder Hill, Coppy Clough. The chemical works was probably started by Haworth, Peel & Yates before the canal was built, the 1893 map identified the location. James was obviously another of that able group of men who began life working for the Peels and subsequently branched out on their own'.
In 1841 James was living at Church Bridge, Accrington.
He had two sons Henry (-) and George (-). In 1839 Henry the eldest son
married
Mary (-1878) the youngest daughter of the late James Bury of White Ash. This
may have been a 'dynastic' marriage as Henry & Mary were obviously the
children of prominent businessmen. William Bury
was the partner of James Simpson at Foxhill Print Works. James's eldest
daughter
married Christopher Bradley, a surgeon, of Accrington in 1837. His
extensive estate included the
Commercial Inn in Church ... Fiona Hall explains that the reason James
did not feature in her website was because he lived at Church Bridge and
this came under Accrington. In 1851 and 1861 Henry and Mary are in Hapton
and by 1871 they had moved to LLanbedr in Wales. Mary died there in 1878 and
was buried at Church Kirk. Henry
seems to have died by 1891 and some of the children - Mary Louisa, Adela and
James Bury decamp to Longton where James Bury died in 1900. None of this
family lived in Ossy or Church, though Henry admited to Church as a birth
place in 1881 ...
In 1821 Frederick Steiner set up business with James Haworth (-1848) and Joseph Barnes. In 1835 Steiner purchased the Haworth, Peel & Yates calico print works at Church Bank and in 1836 the original Steiner, Haworth & Barnes, Manufacturing Chemist partnership was dissolved. The business was split three ways - Steiner himself concentrated on Turkey Red dye, the print works was leased back to the Peels and James Haworth & Joseph Barnes continued with the chemicals. The 1821 business was one of the first references to a Haworth Chemical Business in Church. William Blythe was a minor partner in this firm before he established The Holland Bank Chemical Works in 1845.
In 1838 it appeared a colliery operated by Messrs Haworth & Barnes was involved in a
fatal
accident. They were also in the middle of
fires
at Chemical Works which occurred with uncontrollable regularity. In 1847 a
Mr
Boardman was also involved in the firm. The James Haworth & Joseph
Barnes partnership operating collieries, quarries and Manufacturing Chemists
was dissolved
in 1847 when Barnes was paid out and the business continued to be run as
Messrs Haworth &
Sons, Chemical Manufacturers in Church where they were
confronted by a distracting problem of theft of valuable copper and lead.
In 1849 there was a court case concerning a Chemical Works at Church, but this time the defendants were the partners ... William Blythe, Henry & John Haworth, Abraham & John Berry and William Thomas Benson. This works was The Holland Bank Chemical Works which manufactured chemicals for the textile industry.
The site was on the opposite side of the canal to John Haworth's Chemical Works at Church which was up for sale in 1856. The sale notice identifies the factory, between the railway, canal and Blackburn to Accrington Road; still marked as Chemical Works on the 1893 map ...
William Blythe (1813-) was from Kirkaldy, Scotland and studied chemistry at Glasgow & Manchester University. In 1835 he worked at The Church Bank Works for Messrs Haworth & Barnes, before establishing the Holland Bank Works in 1845, as Blythe & Benson. He was the most important of the manufacturing chemists.
There was court case concerning a Chemical Works at Church in 1854; The defendant was Mr Joseph Barnes the proprietor of a colliery just across the canal; The Aspen Colliery? Henry & George Haworth were the sons of James Haworth (-1848).
Later over 1,200 tons of plant & equipment from Church made a good price as scrap when sold in 1859 after a Chancery decree ... and in 1862 the Haworth Chemical Works was finally up for sale again ... the notice identified lease holders were formerly Messrs Haworth & Barnes and latterly Messrs James Haworth & sons.
But which Haworth family did James Haworth (-1848) belong to?
In 1864 John Haworth was a Manufacturing Chemist in Church near Accrington, acting as a trustee. But which John Haworth? Haworth was a common name and Oswaldtwistle boasted 'many' John Haworths ...
In 1896 Timothy Gorton, Giles Haworth & Moses Haworth were involved in 'pitch & loss' and a strange court case in Blackburn ...
Dates -
1774 - Scheele, chlorine and chemical bleaching.
1800 - population Oswaldtwistle 2,710; Church 323. 1831 - population Oswaldtwistle 5,897; Church 979. 1841 population Oswaldtwistle 6,655; Church 1,545. 1861 population Oswaldtwistle 9,246; Church 3,208.
1810 - Leeds Liverpool Canal.
1818 - Power Weaving.
'Chemistry of Calico Printing, Dyeing, and Bleaching: including silken woollen, and mixed goods, practical and theoretical' by Charles O'Neill, Dunnill, Palmer & Co, 1860.
'Accrington Captains of Industry' by R S Crossley,1930.
'A History of Church & Oswaldtwistle' by David Hogg, Accrington & District Local History Society 1760-1860 and 1860-1914, 1971 & 1973.
'Industrial Heritage: A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Oswaldtwistle' by Michael Rothwell, Hyndburn, 1980.
Lancashire Historic Town Survey Programme, Oswaldtwistle & Church - Historic Town Assessment Report - June 2005.
The Oswaldtwistle School, Oswaldtwistle - Archaeological Deskbased Assessment - Oxford Archaeology North - June 2010.
Fiona Hall's impressive website which covers the details of this extensive family - The Haworths of Oswaldtwistle & Church ...
Cotton Town Blackburn & Darwen - a wonderful resource packed with information ...
see also the Haworths of Westhoughton
back to British Glues and Chemicals