286 History of the 



was spun ready for the loom, had to undergo the process of sizing 

 before being " gaited up." This was also a domestic process, and 

 an important one, requiring the supervision of an experienced hand. 

 A large cistern or pan containing the size was placed upon the fire, 

 and the material being boiled to the proper consistence, the warp 

 was immersed in it. After remaining for a time, it was taken out 

 again, stripped of the superfluous liquid, and carried into the open 

 air to be dried. 



Forty or fifty years ago, when the woollen trade was in the 

 ascendant in the district, and before modern skill had displaced 

 with machinery the slower modes of manipulation, the face of the 

 country on a fine day presented a very different appearance to 

 that which it assumes at the present time. Standing upon the 

 slope of one of the hills, the spectator would have seen stretching 

 along the edges of the highways and lanes, and skirting the fields 

 on every side, long wavy wreaths, varying in shade from hodden 

 gray to almost snowy white, motionless in the still air, or answering 

 in undulations to the wind that stole briskly down the valley. These 

 were the warps which the weavers had stretched out to dry after 

 sizing ; the yarn being made to rest on wooden stakes about four 



partnership. After having been in trade for some time, John, the eldest, 

 removed to Liverpool in order to devote attention to the concerns of the firm 

 there ; while James continued to reside at Rochdale. They were successful 

 in their undertakings, and became wealthy merchants, owning their own 

 trading ships. 



The following additional particulars of the family are extracted from Greg- 

 son's "Fragments of Lancashire," pt. 2. p. 198. — "John Hardman, of 

 Liverpool, merchant, who married Miss Cockshutt, and was M.P. 1754 for 

 Liverpool; and James Hardman, who married Jane Leigh, of Oughtrington, 

 gave for the estate at AUerton (near Liverpool) ;£^7,700. ;£^400 per acre has 

 subsequently been paid for this land, which was divided between Mr. Clegg 

 and Mr. Roscoe. Before and since Mr. Clegg and Mr. Roscoe's purchases, 

 several suits have been instituted at Lancaster by various claimants. The 

 source of these litigations has been the circumstance of no provision or future 

 settlement having been made of the estate in contemplation of the death of 

 Mr. James Hardman's children, who all died before they came of age. Mr. 

 James Hardman. surviving his brother, died November 22, 17S9; and Mrs. 

 Jane Hardman, February 12, 1795. " 



