242 History of the 



place. His father and grandfathers, paternal and maternal, were 

 the principal woollen manufacturers at Bacup. 



He received the first rudiments of learning at the old school, on 

 whose site is now erected the Bacup Mechanics' Institution, of 

 which latter he was President from its establishment in 1839, until 

 his death. 



At the age of thirteen he lost his father, a man highly respected, 

 whose good sense and extensively-cultivated understanding enabled 

 him to impress on the youthful mind of his youngest son the 

 general outlines of, and love for the study of natural philosophy, 

 geography, geology, astronomy, history ; such politics as have in 

 view equal privileges and the greatest good for the greatest number ; 

 the science of political economy, and commerce, which seeks not 

 gain by others' losses, like gambling, but aims at self-enrichment 

 by making others rich. So prepared, Lawrence became a pupil of 

 the eminent Dr. John Fawcett, of Ewood Hall, near Halifax, and 

 finished his education at the Grammar School of Hipperholme, 

 conducted by the Rev. T. Hudson, also near Halifax, which he 

 left in 1802, being then sixteen years of age, and went to assist his 

 brothers, who had succeeded their father in the woollen business. 

 Bacup and its vicinage had then a population of not 

 more than fourteen or fifteen hundred ; and the trade 

 of the few manufacturers of the district was entirely 

 with the Rochdale, Yorkshire and London houses. But, 

 as the goods made by the firm of Peter Heyworth and Sons 

 were for the Portuguese and Spanish markets, Lawrence, who was 

 of an enterprising disposition, soon began to advise his brothers that 

 they should themselves trade direct with Lisbon and Oporto, and 

 so combine the profits of manufacturers and merchants ; he also 

 urged them to send him as their agent to those places. The 

 brothers saw no objection to the plan, but very much doubted the 

 probability of one so young, with (save a little Latin) no knowledge 

 of any language but English, and scarcely any commercial ex- 

 perience, being able to push a trade as an entire stranger amongst 

 foreigners. His mother, however, thought differently, " The idea 



