249:âIn Leeds, as soon as the intelligence arrived, a salute of 21 guns was fired at the establishment of Messrs Kitson, Thompson and Hewitson, engineers, Hunslet-lane, and all the men immediately turned out and gave three hearty cheers in expression of their joy. Cannon were also fired at several other establishments up to a late hour last night; and at two oâclock the bells of the Parish Church struck up a merry peal. Messrs Taylor, Wordsworth and Co, machine makers, Holbeck, had a large loaf, an indication of the poor manâs loaf, and a flag with the inscription âFree Traders of Holbeck,â exhibited on the top of their works. They also had a large number of cannon firing during the day; and all their workmen are, we are informed, to have a dinner to-day, at two oâclock, previous to which cannon will again be firedâ.
187:âEntirely approving of excursions for the working class, and with the kindest feelings towards the workmen of Messrs Marshall and Messrs Taylor and Wordsworth, we would express our earnest hope that the Sunday spent in Liverpool may not in any respect be spent in a manner unbecoming the day, and that every prudential care will be exercised to keep the younger hands under the guardianship of the more experienced, so that no moral harm may result from an excursion calculated otherwise to be so agreeable and improving. There are many excellent men among the above bodies of workmen, and great responsibility will rest upon them for the issue of this new and somewhat doubtful experiment, of a large body of people being away from home on the Sabbath, and on two whole nights.â
230:
the manufacturers' position; in
January 1827 Taylor Wordsworth and Co had joined many other Leeds manufacturers in publicly lobbying against a planned Bill to legalise the export of machinery, noting that 'great Danger may accrue to the Manufacturing Interests of the Kingdom if such Bill passed into a Law'. Times were hard. A 'calamitous fire' at the company's works in February 1844 didn't help; but the firm had invested in a Leeds Water Works Company 'Fire Plug' (an early sort of hydrant, located in the factory), which averted complete disaster and which the company warmly recommended to others in the newspaper's account. Joshua Wordsworth had been appointed a Director of the Leeds Water Works in 1841.
203:âAbout five o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, a large body of people marched down Meadow-lane road from Holbeck, and effected an entrance into Messrs. Marshall's mills. They stopped the engines at Messrs. Benyon's mill, and all the hands turned out with apparent universal exultation ⌠they proceeded to the shops of Messrs. Maclea and Marsh, where a number entered by the watch-house door, and opened the large gates. Immediately the yard was filled, the engine stopped, the bell rung, and as the men were turning out, the mob began to leave the yard. At this instant, Mr. Read, chief-constable, rode into the yard amongst them; he was quickly dismounted, but beat off the mob with his stick.
167:
improvements to machinery for spinning, and for heckling and dressing flax. By 1831, Taylor
Wordsworth and Co employed about 100 householders, described as the âhighest class of mechanicsâ. They also produced machines to the designs of other inventors: in a court case in January 1836, Joshua Wordsworth noted that Taylor Wordsworth and Co had made âa great many of Mr Kayâs machines; I suppose some hundredsâ, and they were also known to produce woolcombs in conjunction with Samuel Lister of Manningham, Bradford. The firm had a ready market for their machinery on their doorstep, in the shape of
309:
284:ââŚthe premises consist of a number of substantial buildings, mostly four stories in height, and regularly grouped according to the branch of the machine-making department to which such building is allotted. The firm make every description of machinery that is used in the woolen, silk, and flax manufacturing, and in the dyeing and finishing trades, and they have been awarded several gold medals where their machines have been exhibited for the superiority and finish of the machineryâ.
291:. Production continued on the site for many years, but finally the works fell victim to Platts' âgroup rationalisation plansâ. Closure was announced in May 1967, and much of the production was transferred to two other Platts works at Keighley. Midland Mills finally closed in 1981 â the last survivor of the Leeds textile industry. Some of the buildings, however, survive; and as part of the new
22:
278:
Joshua Taylor
Wordsworth (1826-1895, Joshua Wordsworth's only surviving son) and two others, John Whitehead and John Pollard, to carry on the business. In 1856, Joshua Taylor Wordsworth also withdrew; the remaining partners were listed as John Whitehead, John Pollard, Thomas Whitehead, Benjamin Mallinson Pollard and Henry Walton Whitehead.
261:, which was to be built to join Leeds and Harrogate and link them to the GNER main line. And his Will shows that, in addition to many other legacies to his family and partners in Leeds, he also left the sum of ÂŁ1500 to carry on the business of spinning yarns and manufacturing linens âat or near Barnsley ⌠with my present partnersâ.
217:ââŚLeeds is just as tranquil as though no Strike had ever been, and as though no âyeosâ, âbluesâ or bayonetteers had been imported...The bells ring and the shops open, and mill tyranny goes on, and those who have any employment go to it, and those who have none starve quietly and patiently in the streets...â.
229:
to have gone to London in
February 1843, to the Board of Trade, to ask Lord Ripon for the law to be changed to allow the export of English-made flax and tow machines â in view of âthe depressed state of the trade in that important branch of manufacturing industryâ. This was a complete turn-around in
206:
A general rush was made to the gates, and when the greater part had effected their exit, a large body of police arrived, and closed the gates, thus securing a number of prisoners. The people seeing only a few policemen, made an attack upon them with sticks, bludgeons, and stones, but were eventually
140:
Taylor and
Wordsworth both married Drabble girls â Wordsworth had married a Martha Drabble in Tankersley, near Barnsley, in 1803 while Taylor had married a Hannah Drabble in Leeds in 1805; then, following the death of the first Martha in 1810, Wordsworth had married another Martha Drabble in Leeds in
241:
reported in detail on their pro-Repeal activities. In
February 1839 it recorded that the workers of Taylor Wordsworth and Co had subscribed ÂŁ3 to support the Leeds Anti-Corn Law Association; in January 1846 it recorded that Leeds had contributed over ÂŁ9000 to the âQuarter of a Million League Fundâ,
224:
in the late 1830s and early 1840s carried many public notices of auctions of the equipment of bankrupt firms, which showed that they had been using â and so were now dumping on the second-hand market â machinery made by Taylor
Wordsworth and Co, among others. Wordsworth was one of six machine-makers
158:
of 19 May 1821 recorded that it had been awarded a prize at a dinner in London for 'spinning the best 6 gross of worsted yarn of
British Merino wool. But this seems to have been short-lived; later trade directories make no mention of spinning. Another partner in the firm, Benjamin Mallinson, left
153:
Nathaniel
Marshall left the partnership in 1816. One year later, a local Directory gave the firm's name simply as Taylor and Wordsworth, and described it as âflax, woolen and worsted machine makers and manufacturers of patent axle treesâ. The same Directory for 1822 for the first time called the
144:
The early 1800s were an important time for the company. The industrialisation of the cotton industry had begun in the eighteenth century, but in the cloth industry it was only just getting under way. Most cloth was still produced in the workers' own homes. Most machinery was still made of wood,
277:
The company continued to prosper after its foundersâ deaths. The 1851 census recorded 255 men and 109 boys working in the factory. In 1852, a notice in the London
Gazette announced that Joshua Wordsworth's lawyer, James William Hamilton Richardson, was withdrawing from the partnership, leaving
162:
Holbeck been a country area outside Leeds - 'a detached village chiefly inhabited by clothiers, with an interval of many pleasant fields planted about with tall poplars, by which it was separated from the town'. Land records for the period 1819-1824 show Taylor and Wordsworth buying up farming
132:
reported that William Drabble had been declared bankrupt, and advertised all his factory machinery and household furniture for sale by auction. In May 1813 his premises in Water Lane - a factory three stories high, a warehouse and a building used as a saw pit - were up for sale. In June 1814,
252:
The company's prosperity enabled its two founders to develop other interests. A short biography of Joseph Taylor recorded that he was a âmunificent benefactorâ to the causes of religion, education and public charities. Joshua Wordsworth, responding to the public enthusiasm for hydropathy, or
207:
compelled to fall back without again getting possession of the yard. The volley of stones poured upon the police was terrific for a short time ⌠About four o'clock the riot act was read, and two pieces of artillery were paraded into Holbeck. Between thirty and forty prisoners were taken âŚâ
166:
Although Joseph Taylor appears always to have been the senior partner, he is a shadowy figure, with few records surviving to show how he contributed to the firm's success. Joshua Wordsworth appears to have been the engineering part of the partnership. He was granted a string of patents for
145:
and was hand-operated and clumsy. While Taylor's marriage entry from 1805 gave his occupation as âMechanicâ, Wordsworth's, from 1811, showed him as âCarpenterâ. It was the advent of steam power that would transform the prospects of machine makers such as Taylor and Wordsworth.
967:
273:
of 8 August 1846 noted that it was attended by a large procession of the workpeople of the firm, and that Wordsworth had been âa gentleman of great worth and generosity, and zealous in his attachment to Liberal politicsâ. Taylor died in 1848.
179:
in Holbeck in 1836. The two firms appear to have become close, to the point where, by August 1844, they organised a joint âaway weekendâ in Liverpool for their workers, a prospect which caused even the editor of the normally liberal
242:
in support of repeal; Taylor, Wordsworth and Co had contributed ÂŁ100 (around ÂŁ5000 in today's money). When Repeal finally came, in June 1846, the management of Taylor Wordsworth and Co organised a celebration, reported by the
118:, in Water Lane, Leeds. Midland Mills had originally been built for John Jubb, probably the same as the John Jubb who had married a Sarah Drabble in Doncaster in 1774. On 7 November 1812 a notice in the local paper, the
113:
The company was established in 1812, by Joseph Taylor, Joshua Wordsworth and Nathaniel Marshall. They had previously been employed by the brothers, Joseph and William Drabble, as workmen at a machine-making factory,
999:
257:, bought a cold water bath, St Magnus Well, in Harrogate, which he developed by building a large lodging house and bathing rooms. He was also a founding investor in, and later a Director of, the
154:
firm âTaylor Wordsworth and Coâ, and added âand brass foundersâ to the list of its activities; and in 1826, âbrass and iron foundersâ. At some point the firm branched out into spinning: the
994:
124:, announced that âMessrs Taylor, Wordsworth and Marshall, Flax Tow and Worsted Machine-Makers (late Workmen to Mr William Drabble) ⌠have engaged a Commodious Place in
931:âYorkshire - Part the First. Businessmen and Mercantile Interestsâ. Historical Publishing Co, London, Leeds, Bradford and Edinburgh, 1888. Leeds Reference Library
163:
land; some was bought from a cattle dealer, other plots had names such as âOx Closeâ, âParson's Closeâ or were described as âarable meadows and pasture groundâ.
1004:
159:
in 1824. The notice of his departure refers to worsted spinning; so it may be that this was Mallinson's trade, which the firm was not continuing.
940:
196:
616:
344:
65:
583:
636:
827:
540:
863:
388:
Dr Gillian Cookson, âEarly Textile Engineers in Leeds 1780-1850â, Publications of the Thoresby Society, Volume 4, 1994, page 51
605:
594:
572:
190:
Taylor Wordsworth and Co was, inevitably, caught up in the tensions caused by the rapid pace of economic and social change.
32:
519:
Edward Baines, Directory General and Commercial of the Town and Borough of Leeds for 1817, Leeds Central Reference Library
172:
941:
The National Archives, Documents relating to the takeover of Taylor Wordsworth and Co Ltd by Platt Brothers and Co Ltd
237:, to allow the import of cheap foreign grain which would lower the price of bread and permit them to cut wages. The
907:
Birth date given in family papers: death date recorded from the monumental inscription in Chichester churchyard.
317:
258:
47:
490:
Publications of the Thoresby Society Vol 33: Monuments in St John's Churchyard, Leeds. Leeds Reference Library
43:
292:
102:
968:
Picture of Taylor Wordsworth and Co, circa 1858, Local Studies and History, Central Library, Birmingham
627:
1831 survey, quoted in E P Thompson, 'The Making of the English Working Class', Penguin 1991, page 900
884:
814:
606:
Patent for a Flax-Heckling Machine, 1834, in Andrew Ure, The Philosophy of Manufactures, London, 1835
137:, announcing that they were moving into the Drabblesâ former premises and advertising for workers.
508:
233:
In parallel, many manufacturers, including Joshua Wordsworth, were pressing for the repeal of the
128:, where they intend carrying on the above business in all its branchesâ. On 19 December 1812 the
281:
By 1888, the works are recorded as covering an area of over three acres. The account notes that:
368:
168:
323:
790:
288:
988:
659:
120:
115:
254:
176:
499:
Phyllis Deane, âThe First Industrial Revolutionâ, Cambridge University Press, 1979
194:
had led frustrated and desperate workers into violence. The Chartist newspaper,
105:. It was established in 1812 and survived until it was taken over in the 1930s.
397:
National Newspaper Library, Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5HE; and also online
220:
But the economic situation remained difficult for the manufacturers too. The
234:
98:
191:
650:, 22, no 4 (April 1951), quoted by Dr Gillian Cookson, op. cit., page 47
573:
The Repertory of Patent Inventions, London, 1830, Vol IX, Patent of 1816
133:âMessrs Taylor, Wordsworth and Marshallâ placed an announcement in the
125:
90:
980:
The Age of Machinery: Engineering the Industrial Revolution, 1770-1850
50:. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed.
637:
William Carpmel, Law Reports of Patent Cases, London 1851, page 152
398:
200:, of 20 August 1842 described a protest in Water Lane in Holbeck:
94:
584:
The Repertory of Patent Inventions, London, 1834, Patent of 1832
86:
82:
828:
A Treatise on the Mineral Waters of Harrogate and its Vicinity
329:
You can help by providing page numbers for existing citations.
302:
15:
287:
But in the 1930s Taylor, Wordsworth and Co was taken over by
554:, by Thomas, Dunham Whitaker, 1816. Society of Genealogists
269:
Wordsworth died in 1846: an account of his funeral in the
210:
This was the end of Chartist activity in Leeds. As the
39:
295:
project now enjoy protection and a new lease of life.
81:
was one of the leading producers of machinery for the
1000:
Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom
864:
Herepathâs Journal and Railway Magazine, March 7 1846
364:
362:
927:
925:
465:
463:
265:The Deaths of the Founders, Take-over and Closure
874:Borthwick Institute of Historical Research, York
617:The Repertory of Patent Inventions, London, 1842
595:The Repertory of Patent Inventions, London, 1833
175:, who went on to build another big flax mill,
477:
475:
8:
995:Manufacturing companies established in 1812
345:Learn how and when to remove this message
66:Learn how and when to remove this message
379:Holbeck Urban Village website, as above
369:Holbeck Urban Village website â History
358:
171:, owned by the leading industrialist,
509:The London Gazette for 1816, page 562
7:
791:National Archives Currency Converter
563:Yorkshire Deeds Registry, Wakefield
481:Dr Gillian Cookson, op. cit., p. 54
14:
541:The Law Advertiser, 15 July 1824
307:
20:
1005:Textile machinery manufacturers
469:Parish Register, Leeds St Peter
1:
399:British Newspapers 1800-1900
457:Parish Register, Tankersley
46:the claims made and adding
1021:
813:Richard Vickerman Taylor,
883:Richard Vickerman Taylor,
225:who were reported by the
830:, London, 1846, page 115
259:Leeds and Thirsk Railway
79:Taylor Wordsworth and Co
316:This article cites its
952:Yorkshire Evening Post
815:The Worthies of Leeds
293:Holbeck Urban Village
103:Industrial Revolution
757:, 25 September 1841
101:during the British
898:, 3 September 1852
721:, 17 February 1844
697:, 25 February 1843
685:, 3 September 1842
660:Temple Works Leeds
424:, 19 December 1812
31:possibly contains
781:, 17 January 1846
769:, 9 February 1839
709:, 27 January 1827
552:Loidis and Elmete
412:, 7 November 1812
355:
354:
347:
322:does not provide
76:
75:
68:
33:original research
1012:
982:(Boydell, 2018)
955:
949:
943:
938:
932:
929:
920:
914:
908:
905:
899:
893:
887:
881:
875:
872:
866:
861:
855:
849:
843:
837:
831:
824:
818:
817:, 1865, page 430
811:
805:
799:
793:
788:
782:
776:
770:
764:
758:
752:
746:
740:
734:
728:
722:
716:
710:
704:
698:
692:
686:
680:
674:
673:, 31 August 1844
668:
662:
657:
651:
645:
639:
634:
628:
625:
619:
614:
608:
603:
597:
592:
586:
581:
575:
570:
564:
561:
555:
549:
543:
538:
532:
526:
520:
517:
511:
506:
500:
497:
491:
488:
482:
479:
470:
467:
458:
455:
449:
443:
437:
431:
425:
419:
413:
407:
401:
395:
389:
386:
380:
377:
371:
366:
350:
343:
339:
336:
330:
311:
310:
303:
71:
64:
60:
57:
51:
48:inline citations
24:
23:
16:
1020:
1019:
1015:
1014:
1013:
1011:
1010:
1009:
985:
984:
976:
974:Further reading
964:
959:
958:
950:
946:
939:
935:
930:
923:
915:
911:
906:
902:
894:
890:
882:
878:
873:
869:
862:
858:
850:
846:
838:
834:
825:
821:
812:
808:
800:
796:
789:
785:
777:
773:
765:
761:
753:
749:
745:, 27 March 1841
741:
737:
729:
725:
717:
713:
705:
701:
693:
689:
681:
677:
669:
665:
658:
654:
646:
642:
635:
631:
626:
622:
615:
611:
604:
600:
593:
589:
582:
578:
571:
567:
562:
558:
550:
546:
539:
535:
527:
523:
518:
514:
507:
503:
498:
494:
489:
485:
480:
473:
468:
461:
456:
452:
444:
440:
432:
428:
420:
416:
408:
404:
396:
392:
387:
383:
378:
374:
367:
360:
351:
340:
334:
331:
328:
324:page references
312:
308:
301:
267:
169:Marshall's Mill
151:
111:
72:
61:
55:
52:
37:
25:
21:
12:
11:
5:
1018:
1016:
1008:
1007:
1002:
997:
987:
986:
975:
972:
971:
970:
963:
962:External links
960:
957:
956:
944:
933:
921:
919:, 20 June 1856
917:London Gazette
909:
900:
896:London Gazette
888:
876:
867:
856:
854:, 7 March 1846
844:
832:
819:
806:
804:, 27 June 1846
794:
783:
771:
759:
747:
735:
723:
711:
699:
687:
675:
663:
652:
640:
629:
620:
609:
598:
587:
576:
565:
556:
544:
533:
521:
512:
501:
492:
483:
471:
459:
450:
448:, 11 June 1814
438:
426:
414:
402:
390:
381:
372:
357:
356:
353:
352:
335:September 2012
315:
313:
306:
300:
297:
289:Platt Brothers
266:
263:
184:some concern:
150:
147:
110:
107:
93:industries in
74:
73:
28:
26:
19:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1017:
1006:
1003:
1001:
998:
996:
993:
992:
990:
983:
981:
973:
969:
966:
965:
961:
954:, 11 May 1967
953:
948:
945:
942:
937:
934:
928:
926:
922:
918:
913:
910:
904:
901:
897:
892:
889:
886:
880:
877:
871:
868:
865:
860:
857:
853:
852:Leeds Mercury
848:
845:
841:
840:Leeds Mercury
836:
833:
829:
826:Adam Hunter,
823:
820:
816:
810:
807:
803:
802:Leeds Mercury
798:
795:
792:
787:
784:
780:
779:Leeds Mercury
775:
772:
768:
767:Leeds Mercury
763:
760:
756:
755:Leeds Mercury
751:
748:
744:
743:Leeds Mercury
739:
736:
732:
731:Leeds Mercury
727:
724:
720:
719:Leeds Mercury
715:
712:
708:
707:Leeds Mercury
703:
700:
696:
695:Leeds Mercury
691:
688:
684:
683:Northern Star
679:
676:
672:
671:Leeds Mercury
667:
664:
661:
656:
653:
649:
648:Leeds Journal
644:
641:
638:
633:
630:
624:
621:
618:
613:
610:
607:
602:
599:
596:
591:
588:
585:
580:
577:
574:
569:
566:
560:
557:
553:
548:
545:
542:
537:
534:
531:, 19 May 1821
530:
529:Leeds Mercury
525:
522:
516:
513:
510:
505:
502:
496:
493:
487:
484:
478:
476:
472:
466:
464:
460:
454:
451:
447:
446:Leeds Mercury
442:
439:
436:, 15 May 1813
435:
434:Leeds Mercury
430:
427:
423:
422:Leeds Mercury
418:
415:
411:
410:Leeds Mercury
406:
403:
400:
394:
391:
385:
382:
376:
373:
370:
365:
363:
359:
349:
346:
338:
326:
325:
319:
314:
305:
304:
298:
296:
294:
290:
285:
282:
279:
275:
272:
271:Leeds Mercury
264:
262:
260:
256:
250:
247:
245:
244:Leeds Mercury
240:
236:
231:
228:
223:
222:Leeds Mercury
218:
215:
213:
212:Northern Star
208:
204:
201:
199:
198:
197:Northern Star
193:
188:
185:
183:
182:Leeds Mercury
178:
174:
173:John Marshall
170:
164:
160:
157:
148:
146:
142:
138:
136:
131:
127:
123:
122:
121:Leeds Mercury
117:
116:Midland Mills
108:
106:
104:
100:
96:
92:
88:
84:
80:
70:
67:
59:
49:
45:
41:
35:
34:
29:This article
27:
18:
17:
979:
978:G. Cookson,
977:
951:
947:
936:
916:
912:
903:
895:
891:
879:
870:
859:
851:
847:
842:, 4 May 1844
839:
835:
822:
809:
801:
797:
786:
778:
774:
766:
762:
754:
750:
742:
738:
733:, 8 May 1841
730:
726:
718:
714:
706:
702:
694:
690:
682:
678:
670:
666:
655:
647:
643:
632:
623:
612:
601:
590:
579:
568:
559:
551:
547:
536:
528:
524:
515:
504:
495:
486:
453:
445:
441:
433:
429:
421:
417:
409:
405:
393:
384:
375:
341:
332:
321:
286:
283:
280:
276:
270:
268:
255:hydrotherapy
251:
248:
243:
238:
232:
226:
221:
219:
216:
211:
209:
205:
202:
195:
189:
186:
181:
177:Temple Works
165:
161:
155:
152:
143:
139:
134:
129:
119:
112:
78:
77:
62:
53:
30:
109:Early years
56:August 2012
989:Categories
299:References
40:improve it
235:Corn Laws
99:Yorkshire
44:verifying
214:put it:
192:Chartism
885:op.cit.
318:sources
239:Mercury
227:Mercury
156:Mercury
135:Mercury
130:Mercury
126:Holbeck
91:worsted
38:Please
149:Growth
141:1811.
95:Leeds
320:but
89:and
87:wool
83:flax
42:by
991::
924:^
474:^
462:^
361:^
246::
97:,
85:,
348:)
342:(
337:)
333:(
327:.
69:)
63:(
58:)
54:(
36:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.