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Richard Haworth and Co. was established by Richard Haworth in 1854 as a cotton spinning and manufacturing firm in Cannon Street, Manchester, and Tatton Mill in Salford. Today the company is part of the Ruia Group which comprises a number of companies that import, supply and distribute textiles and hosiery to retailers and hospitality organisations. Richard Haworth Ltd. supplies a range of linens to the hospitality sector.
Richard Haworth and Co was founded in c.1854. Richard Haworth, with Frederick Copley Hulton and James Craven, worked in partnership to begin trading as yarn and cloth commission agents in Cannon Street, Manchester. The partners then established a small weaving shed in Mount Street until, following a growth in demand, they expanded into spinning and leased a large mill at Broughton Bridge.
The company continued to prosper and expand, and by 1872 was working out of three large mills and weaving sheds; Egyptian Mill (1864), Tatton Mill (1870) and Ordsall Mill (1872). By 1900 the mills covered 13 acres and 150,000 spindles produced thread for 4,000 looms. The annual output for cloth reached 30,000,000 yards and the workforce reached 4000.
Richard Haworth died in 1883, and his two partners in 1886. Richard Haworth's sons, G and J Haworth, took control of the company. The company continued to thrive, converting to a limited liability company and, at its peak being considered first class example of how cotton mills should be operated, with the Manchester Guardian writing in 1883:[ citation needed ]
The mills of the firm, erected in various quarters of the city, are celebrated, not alone for their extent, but for the remarkable excellence of their arrangements and for the perfection of their machinery. Extraordinary provision is made in them for the physical comfort, the mental improvement, and the social recreation of the workpeople, in whom Mr. Haworth always evinced the warmest personal interest.
In 1951 Richard Haworth and Co Ltd was advertised for sale. It had grown from a cotton spinning a weaving firm to one offering a whole range of cotton and rayon fabrics under the trademark 'Spero'. By this time the company were working out of a large head office in Manchester and the Ordsall and Tatton mills and weaving sheds, a third location having been destroyed during the Manchester Blitz in 1940.
According to records held at Companies Office Manchester, Richard Haworth Ltd was purchased by Vantona textiles in 1953, and the Title 'Richard Haworth' subsequently purchased by the Ruia Group. The company, Richard Haworth, continues to manufacture and distribute textiles out of Kearsley Mill in Greater Manchester.
Born in March 1820, Richard was the youngest of eight children of George Haworth and his wife. He attended school until, at the age of seven, his father died and by the age of thirteen he secured a full-time job at Messrs Openshaw & Co of Bury, spinners and fustian manufacturers. One day whilst brushing a loom he injured his hand badly when it became caught in the machinery. To some extent this changed the course of his life. [1] He later took a job as a weft lad and utilised his spare hours by attending a night school.
He continued to attend night school, showing an aptitude for mathematics and was transferred to the mill's basic accounts. According to records held in the national archives, [2] when Haworth was eighteen he left to become a bookkeeper at Rylands Mill, Ainsworth, and later in 1843 became the official bookkeeper. During this time he had been developing his own business and decided to devote his time to his own business. His company and mills were recognised for their excellence and in addition to providing employment for thousands of mill workers and workplaces that placed an emphasis on safety, Richard Haworth felt it important to contribute to his local community and had a strong connection to the Wesleyan Methodist body.
"He took an active part in the lay home mission, assisting in the conduct of its services in Angel Meadow and in other of the poorest and most neglected parts of the town. He did a great deal to promote education amongst the middle class of Wesleyans by the establishment of boarding schools at Colwyn Bay and Rhyl." - Manchester Guardian, Obituaries of Richard Haworth 1883
Other achievements and public posts included Treasurer of the Hospital Sunday Fund, Chairman of the Equitable Fire Insurance Company, of which he was one of the original promoters, Chairman of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Accident Insurance Society, Treasurer of the Sunday Closing Fund, Justice of the peace for Manchester, Member of the Withington Local Board, Member of the first School Board in Manchester and Member of the Board of Management of the Royal Infirmary. [3] Richard Haworth married Sarah Sewell in 1839 with whom he had six children; [4] two girls and four boys. One of his sons became a Wesleyan minister at Teddington, Surrey; the other three, Messrs. George Chester Haworth, John Fletcher Haworth, and Fred Haworth, became active partners in the firm of Richard Haworth and Co and took responsibility for the company when Richard Haworth died at the age of 63, in 1883.
Manchester and Lancashire mills became the largest, most productive cotton spinning centre in the world, responsible for 32% of global cotton production in 1871. [5] In 1853, the number of cotton mills in Manchester peaked at 108. [6] As the industrial centre began to decline, mills opened up in the surrounding towns of Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, and Bolton. This flourishing cotton manufacturing community came to be referred to as "Cottonopolis". [7]
The British cotton industry reached its peak in 1912, producing eight billion yards of cloth. However, the war of 1914 had an enormous impact on Britain's staple industries; cotton could no longer be exported to foreign markets and, particularly in Japan, countries began to build their own factories. Soon, Japan introduced 24-hour cotton production and by 1933, became the world's largest cotton manufacturer. The demand for British cotton slumped and during this period 800 mills closed.
Despite these fluctuating patterns of manufacturing and trade, the company Richard Haworth built in the 1800s grew to a workforce of 4000 with an annual output of 30,000,000 yards of cloth, surviving until its sale in 1951.
Haworth's impact on the local area and importance in local history was recognised in 2012 by the Working Class Movement Library in Salford. With Lottery funding, the library launched their "Invisible Histories" project, investigating the realities of people's working lives during the period that Salford was an industrial powerhouse in the northwest. The research focusses on 3 historical workplaces, Agecroft Colliery, Ward & Goldstone and Richard Haworth's cotton mill. The study focuses on the Ordsall Lane mill which closed in the 1970s, and acknowledges the companies continued production of textiles. Several individuals who worked at, or had a connection with Richard Hawort's mills gave interviews which described their working experiences at this leading cotton company.
Peter Downing, who was interviewed by the 'Invisible Histories: Salford's Working Lives' team, worked as an apprentice joiner in Richard Haworth's mills and described Ordsall Lane mill as "A busy, busy mill" with "2000 workers there, maybe more, every room fully manned". He described it as "A great working environment, full of life... friendly and sociable". [8]
Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft, woof, or filling. The method in which these threads are inter-woven affects the characteristics of the cloth. Cloth is usually woven on a loom, a device that holds the warp threads in place while filling threads are woven through them. A fabric band which meets this definition of cloth can also be made using other methods, including tablet weaving, back strap loom, or other techniques without looms.
Ordsall Hall is a large former manor house in the historic parish of Ordsall, Lancashire, England, now part of the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester. It dates back more than 750 years, although the oldest surviving parts of the present hall were built in the 15th century. The most important period of Ordsall Hall's life was as the family seat of the Radclyffe family, who lived in the house for more than 300 years. The hall was the setting for William Harrison Ainsworth's 1842 novel Guy Fawkes, written around the plausible although unsubstantiated local story that the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was planned in the house.
Carding is a mechanical process that disentangles, cleans and intermixes fibres to produce a continuous web or sliver suitable for subsequent processing. This is achieved by passing the fibres between differentially moving surfaces covered with card clothing. It breaks up locks and unorganised clumps of fibre and then aligns the individual fibres to be parallel with each other. In preparing wool fibre for spinning, carding is the step that comes after teasing.
The spinning jenny is a multi-spindle spinning frame, and was one of the key developments in the industrialization of textile manufacturing during the early Industrial Revolution. It was invented in 1764 or 1765 by James Hargreaves in Stanhill, Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire in England.
A power loom is a mechanized loom, and was one of the key developments in the industrialization of weaving during the early Industrial Revolution. The first power loom was designed in 1787 by Edmund Cartwright and first built in 1787. It was refined over the next 47 years until a design by Kenworthy and Bullough made the operation completely automatic.
A cotton mill is a building housing spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system.
Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution in Britain was centred in south Lancashire and the towns on both sides of the Pennines. In Germany it was concentrated in the Wupper Valley, Ruhr Region and Upper Silesia, in Spain it was concentrated in Catalonia while in the United States it was in New England. The main key drivers of the Industrial Revolution were textile manufacturing, iron founding, steam power, oil drilling, the discovery of electricity and its many industrial applications, the telegraph and many others. Railroads, steam boats, the telegraph and other innovations massively increased worker productivity and raised standards of living by greatly reducing time spent during travel, transportation and communications.
The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry.
Cottonopolis was a 19th-century nickname for Manchester, as it was a metropolis and the centre of the cotton industry.
The Manchester warehouse which we lately visited, was a building fit for the Town Hall of any respectable municipality; a stately, spacious, and tasteful edifice; rich and substantial as its respectable proprietors, the well-known firm of Banneret and Co. There are nearly a hundred such buildings in Manchester; –not so large, perhaps, for this is the largest; but all in their degree worthy of Cottonopolis.
Regent Mill, Failsworth is a Grade II listed former cotton spinning mill in Failsworth, Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. It was built by the Regent Mill Co Ltd. in 1905, and purchased by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation in 1930. It was taken over by the Courtaulds Group in 1964. On ceasing textile production it was occupied by Pifco Ltd, and then by Salton Europe Ltd who now occupy this site. It was driven by an 1800 hp twin tandem compound engine by Buckley & Taylor. It became a ring mill with 60,000 spindles in 1915, all provided by Platt Brothers.
Oldham Limiteds were the 154 cotton manufacturing companies founded to build or operate cotton mills in Oldham in northwest England, and predominantly during the joint-stock boom of 1873–1875.
Texas Mill was a cotton spinning mill in the Whitelands district of Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, in England. It was built between 1905 and 1907 for the Ashton Syndicate by Sydney Stott of Oldham. It was destroyed in a massive fire on 22–23 October 1971. It had been re-equipped as a ring mill for spinning artificial fibres when it was destroyed.
The Junction Mills were cotton spinning and weaving mills to the west of the Portland Basin in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, in England. They were built between 1831 and 1890 for the Samuel Heginbottom and his sons. The firm went out of business in 1930, and all the buildings have been demolished but the 210 feet (64 m) octagonal chimney, built in 1867, and typical of that period has been preserved in situ.
Bolton Union Mill was a cotton spinning mill in Halliwell, Bolton, Greater Manchester. It was built in 1875 and 1880. It was taken over by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation in the 1930s and brought back into production. Subsequently, it passed to Tootals and Dewhurst Dent in 1964. Production finished in 1967.
Monton Mill was a cotton spinning mill in Eccles, Greater Manchester, England, built in 1906. It was taken over by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation in the 1930s and passed to Courtaulds in 1964. After production ended, it was demolished and replaced with housing; its name is preserved in the street name.
Textile Mill, Chadderton was a cotton spinning mill in Chadderton, Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. It was built in 1882 by Potts, Pickup & Dixon for the Textile Mill Co. Ltd, and closed in 1927. It was taken over by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation in the late 1940s and passed to Courtaulds in 1964 and used for cotton waste sorting. Half of the building was destroyed by fire on 11 July 1950, but the remaining section continued to be used for cotton waste sorting by W. H. Holt and Son until 1988.
Elm Mill, is a four-storey cotton spinning mill in Shaw and Crompton, Greater Manchester, England. It was built in 1890 for the Elm Spinning Company Ltd., and was called Elm Mill until it closed in 1928. It was revived by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation in 1929 and called Newby Mill. LCC and all their assets passed to Courtaulds in 1964. Production at Newby finished in 1970, and it was used for warehousing. Subsequently, now named Shaw No 3 Mill, it became part of Littlewood's Shaw National Distribution Centre.
Kingston Mill, Stockport is a mid nineteenth century cotton spinning mill in Edgeley, Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It was taken over by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation in the 1930s and passed to Courtaulds in 1964. Production finished, it was made over to multiple uses.
Kearsley Mill is a 240,000 sq ft (22,000 m2), late period cotton mill located in the small village of Prestolee in Kearsley, Greater Manchester. A near complete example of Edwardian mill architecture, the building now functions as headquarters for a number of businesses and is still used in the continued manufacturing and distribution of textiles by Richard Haworth Ltd Est (1876), part of the Ruia Group. The mill is a Grade II listed building.
Wear Mill was an integrated cotton works on the Cheadle Heath bank of the River Mersey in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in England. It was started around 1790 and added to, particularly in 1831 and 1884. In 1840, the Stockport Viaduct was built over the river and over Wear Mill.
