INDUSTRIES 



cestre and heirs two selions of land in Ancoats.' 

 If this Alexander is the same as the one men- 

 tioned above, who received land from Henry of 

 Ancotes, or even a contemporary of his, it is 

 probable that Simon the Dyer carried on his 

 trade in Manchester about the middle of the 

 thirteenth century. The next dyer at Man- 

 chester after Simon and Alexander, to whom we 

 can find any reference, is Ellis Bradshaw, woollen 

 dyer, whose will was proved in 1 6 1 1 .* Two 

 other early wills which interest us at this point 

 are those of Richard Bradshaw, of Bolton, dyer, 

 1 6 14, and Thomas Howse, of Rochdale, dyer, 

 1633.' The first contemporary account of 

 dyeing occurs in 1783.* 



The practice of dressing caused a revolution in the 

 whole system of bleaching and dyeing. Before this 

 era, the lighter drabs and fancy colours might be said 

 rather to hang on the surface, than to be fixed in the 

 substance of the cotton goods ; and there was a neces- 

 sity of varying the practice upon these articles, when 

 they went through the ordeal process of dressing over 

 glowing hot iron. This was kept a secret at first and 

 chiefly employed on blacks or dark colours, for fear 

 of a discovery which might prejudice the operator. 

 Hence it was that the dyers soon found a necessity of 

 accommodating their practice to the operation of 

 dressing, and either dropped the use of such volatile 

 drugs as they found would not stand it, or sent goods 

 in half dye to be dressed, which they finished after- 

 wards. But here they were obliged to drop or 

 simplify the old processes and to invent new, employ- 

 ing the more fixed drugs and other astringents with 

 more powerful menstruums, to discharge the rustiness 



contracted from the fire ; in all which attempts they 

 kept improving, till dressing in the grey took place 

 and goods were brought to a considerable perfection 

 by alternate dressings and bleachings before they were 

 dyed. 



As in the bleaching industry, the most im- 

 portant event in the dyeing industry of recent 

 years has been the growth of the trust move- 

 ment. Several large firms have remained inde- 

 pendent, but most have joined one of the three 

 dyeing ' combines.' The Bradford Dyers' 

 Association, Ltd., was formed in December 

 1898, with a capital of ;{^3,000,ooo, and a de- 

 benture issue of half that amount. Some eight 

 Lancashire firms belong to this Association. 

 The English Velvet and Cord Dyers' Associa- 

 tion, Ltd., was floated in April, 1899, with a 

 capital and debenture issue of about ;^ 1,000,000. 

 Of the eleven Lancashire companies belonging 

 to this Association, the majority have their 

 works in Salford and Pendleton. The last 

 ' combine ' is the British Cotton and Wool 

 Dyers' Association, Ltd., which was established 

 in February, 1900, with a capital issue of 

 ;^2, 000,000 anda debenture issue ofj^i, 750,000. 

 To this Association some twelve or fifteen Lan- 

 cashire firms belong. 



In 1881, 18,378 men and 3,495 women in 

 the county were employed in bleaching, print- 

 ing, and dyeing. In 189 1 the figures were 

 20,903 and 4,263 respectively, and ten years 

 later the figures had further increased to 26,975 

 men and 4,464 women. 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES 



It is surmised that small works for the 

 making of hydrochloric acid and one or two 

 other chemicals were carried on in connexion 

 with apothecaries' shops in Manchester and the 

 surrounding district during the eighteenth cen- 

 tury. It is also fairly certain that there were 

 no chemicals made at St. Helens, at present one 

 of the chief seats of the industry, prior to 1829.^ 

 In Liverpool and Widnes also we can find no 

 evidence of any early works, and it is in reference 

 to Wigan that the first information is forth- 

 coming. 



We cannot give the exact date of the estab- 

 lishment of the Wigan Copperas Works. There 

 is a casual reference to the Lancashire Copperas 

 Works, which we take to be the same, in a 

 letter dated 24 August, 1754, written by Robert 



^ Chet. Soc. Remains, Ixviii, 77. 



* Lane, and Ches. Rec. Soc. ii. 



' Ibid, ii, iv. 



'James Ogden, A Description of Manchester, 1783 

 (W. E. A. Axon's edition, 1887), 83-5. 



' See Josias Christopher Gamble, Chemical 7rade 

 Journ. 1890. 



Nicholson, of Liverpool, merchant, to his brother 

 and partner, James Nicholson. This letter 

 refers to the * little obstruction in the Lanca- 

 shire Copperas Works ' due to the high price of 

 cannel ore. The first date on which the Wigan 

 Copperas Works is mentioned in R. Nicholson's 

 private ledger is 20 May, 1755. Robert 

 Nicholson had then a fifth share in the concern.^ 

 The last entry is on 4 May, 1776, when a divi- 

 dend was paid (the second only in twenty-one 

 years). R. Nicholson died in 1779, and of the 

 later history of the concern we know nothing. 

 The two Nicholsons and their cousins the 

 Lightbodys were also proprietors of the Hurlet 

 Copperas Works, and introduced into Scotland 

 the manufacture of both copperas and alum. 



In 1765 a patent (No. 831) was granted to 

 Holme, Cropper, and the two Nicholsons for the 

 manufacture of alum. Experiments prior to 

 this were made, principally by R. Nicholson, 



' It is not certain who the other partners were. 

 Probably James Nicholson, the Fleetwoods, and the 

 Lightbodys, would also be interested. 



399 



