581 
there also. John Lupton, also a Friend, was many years 
the proprietor of this establishment ; he opened the way for 
the Lister family to come and settle at Barnsley, — his 
nephews, Joseph Lister (my father) and James Lister came 
to him young men ; the latter becoming ultimately one of 
the firm of Jackson, Ellis, and Lister, which, with the 
establishments of Beckett, Greenwood, Taylor, and Dear- 
man, were the principal firms up to the commencement of 
the present century. 
The population has increased at a proportionate rate, since 
Joseph Beckett, in 1772, improved upon the practice of his 
uncles, the Wilsons, whom he succeeded, and instead of 
sending the yarn over the moors to be woven, he induced 
some of the weavers of Cheshire and Lancashire to settle 
at Barnsley, establishing the first loom in an out-house 
belonging to the large building yet' existing in Beckett's 
Square. The population of the town at that period did not 
exceed 2,000; in 1811 it had reached 5,000; in 1831, 10,330; 
in 1851, 14,916; and now it is estimated at 17,000. The 
former staple trade of the town, the wire-drawing business, 
gradually dwindled down, until now it is represented by one 
sole establishment. On the other hand, the linen business 
expanded from its first simple beginnings in checks, ducks, 
and other plain goods, till it embraced fabrics of finer and 
more complicate texture as diapers, drills, and damasks. An 
entirely new branch has opened out of late years — the fancy 
drill manufacture for lighter wear in Southern Europe and 
the tropics. In this branch are embarked the four great 
firms of T. Taylor and Sons, Harvey and Co., C. Tee and 
Son, and Jackson and Hodgetts. The powerful agency of 
steam has been called into requisition, and developed our 
manufacturing capabilities to a vast extent. Within the last 
twenty years the following firms have established large steam 
factories: — T. Taylor and Sons, by far the greatest, employ- 
