INDUSTRIES 



to the returns of the inspectors of factories, there 

 were twenty-three silk factories at work in 

 Lancashire, employing 1,519 men and 3,459 

 women.' 



Another account of the growth of the silk 

 industry in Lancashire is given in Wheeler's 

 History of Manchester : — 



The throwing mill of Mr. Vernon Royle erected in 

 1819—20 was the first to be completed and brought 

 into operation here. It is a very extensive establish- 

 ment, not less than 5,000 persons being dependent 

 for subsistence upon the work which it supplies. 

 The Messrs. Tootal commenced business in 18 16, 



silk handkerchiefs and mixed goods being then almost 

 the only articles fabricated.' ° 



There are now [1836] in the county twenty-two 

 throwing mills, Manchester being their principal 

 locality, employing about 4,000 persons. '° 



The Lancashire silk industry was at the 

 height of its prosperity about 1 860. Since then 

 it has steadily dwindled. What remams of the 

 trade gathers chiefly about Leigh. In 1 90 1 

 only 840 men and 1,497 women were employed 

 in the industry as against 1,823 "^^^ ^"'^ 2,892 

 women in 1891, and 3,390 men and 6,852 

 women in 1 881. 



CALICO PRINTING' 



Although calico printing is a comparatively 

 new industry, the usual doubt exists with 

 regard to the circumstances attending its intro- 

 duction into this county and its early develop- 

 ment here. Almost all writers share the opinion 

 that calico printing was introduced into Lanca- 

 shire during the * sixties ' of the eighteenth 

 century, but Charles Leigh, writing in 1 700, 

 refers to Manchester as follows : — 



As to the present state of the town it is vastly 

 populous, of great trade, riches, and industry, par- 

 ticularly for the fustian manufacture and the printing 

 them} 



It is not certain, therefore, that the printing of 

 textiles was entirely unpractised in Manchester 

 half a century before it is supposed to have been 

 introduced. 



The calico-printing industry previous to its 

 settlement in Lancashire was established in 

 London and Scotland. The reason for its 

 coming to this county cannot be expressed 

 better than in the words of a contemporary 

 Manchester writer : — ' 



Social circumstances have concurred in fixing the 

 printing branch here. A principal one was, that 

 cotton greys and calicoes are manufactured in these 

 parts, and the London printers were supplied from 

 hence by land carriage. The printing them here 

 saves the expense. Besides this advantage the rent 

 for bleaching ground is lower, and there is cheaper 

 living for workmen in the country ; which brought 

 down a succession of capital artists in this branch, 

 who not only instructed others, but also added to 

 their former experience, by printing upon grounds, 

 which the dyers followed with other shades ; and 



' Quoted in Porter, Progress of the 'Nation, i, 261. 



' Wheeler, op. cit. 219. '" Ibid. 222. 



' An account of the fiscal regulations relating to 

 ' prints ' is given in a note above on p. 388. 



^Nat. Hist, of Lane. bk. iii, 15. 



'James Ogden, A Description of Manchester, 1783 

 (W. E. A. Axon's edition, 1887), 85. 



hence there was a communication of nostrums and 

 chemical secrets between printers and dyers, to the 

 advantage of both branches in the perfecting of 

 grounds and giving a firmness, with a clearness to 

 colours. These improvements soon left London 

 with nothing to rival us with but the light airy 

 patterns. 



Excepting Leigh, the writer who gives the 

 earliest date for the introduction of calico print- 

 ing into Lancashire is John Graham : — * 



According to the best information, printing was first 

 introduced here [Bamber Bridge, near Preston] about 

 the year 1760, next at Chadkirk near Stockport, 

 Cheshire, and afterwards at various other places, 

 mostly at ill-selected spots, never calculated to do a 

 good business.' 



Printing was begun by Edward Clayton [at Bamber 

 Bridge] in 1760 ; he was succeeded by his sons, John 

 Clayton & Brothers. They were succeeded by Ralph 

 Clayton, John Clayton, and Edward Clayton, who 

 carried on until May, 1824, when they retired from 

 business. The buildings are all taken down and the 

 land laid out for gentlemen's residences.* 



These works on commencing had been supplied 

 with men from London. 



Baines shares the view of Graham, that the 

 Claytons were the founders of the calico-printing 

 industry in Lancashire, though he gives the date 

 as 1764.' Espinasse is of the same opinion.' 

 Others, however, take another view. Thus, for 

 example, the Hon. George Peel, writing about 



* The Chemistry of Calico Printing from 1 790 to 

 1835 and the Hist, of Printworks in the Manchester 

 District from 1760 to 1846. By John Graham. 

 MS. in the Manchester Library. The author, a 

 brother of Thomas Graham, the famous chemist, 

 was a partner, at the time of writing, in the May- 

 field Printworks of Messrs. Thomas Hoyle & Son, 

 Manchester. A short account of the work will be 

 found in the Manchester Guardian, 2 Jan. 1904. 



'Graham, op. cit. 345. 'Ibid. 346. 



''Hist, of the Cotton Industry, 262. 



'Lane. Worthies (ser. 2), 65. 



395 



