"John Smedley (industrialist) John Smedley is the name of four generations of owners of Lea Mills, near Matlock, Derbyshire. The most famous of these was John Smedley (1803-1874), born Wirksworth, Derbyshire. Lea Mills was founded in 1784 by Peter Nightingale (a relation of Florence Nightingale) (former accountant to Richard Arkwright), and John Smedley (father of the better-known son of the same name). It was set up on a hilly site straddling a brook at Lea Bridge, just outside Matlock. The brook was used to both clean yarn and power machinery. The mill specialised in the production of muslin and spinning"
"was recorded as ""Meslach"" and in 1196 it was named ""Matlac"". It is a former spa town that lies on the River Derwent, and has prospered from both the hydrotherapy industry and the cloth mills constructed on the river and its tributary Bentley Brook. It was a relatively inconspicuous collection of villages in ""Wirksworth Hundred"" — composed of Matlock Town, Matlock Green, Matlock Bridge, Matlock Bank — until thermal springs were discovered in 1698. The population increased rapidly in the 1800s, largely because of the popular hydros which were being built. At one stage there were around twenty hydros, mostly"
"George's Bloomsbury's restoration. The Water Tower, Kenilworth The Water Tower is a building in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England. It is understood that the building was constructed as a Windmill in the mid 18th Century by Joseph Lee of Warwick, described as Gentlemen and John Lamb of Warwick, Haberdasher. There is evidence of a sale in 1778 of the Mill as a going concern. The building continued to be used as a working Windmill until 1854 when steam power was introduced. In 1885 the mill machinery was removed and the building converted into a Water Tower. This involved the doubling of the"
"Isaac Wilkinson Isaac Wilkinson (baptised 6 May 1695 - 31 January 1784) was an English industrialist, one of the founders of the iron industry and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. However, his business ethics were precarious and his commercial affairs frequently chaotic. He became much addicted to litigation. Wilkinson was born in Washington, then in County Durham. He was the fifth child of John Wilkinson and his wife, Margaret Thompson. His mother died soon after his birth and his father in 1704, leaving him to be brought up by his elder brother John, a wool merchant. He seems to have"
"Company. It also produced the first iron boat, the Vulcan, in 1821. Several members of the Hawks family were involved in merchant banking, several in Freemasonry, and several in the advocacy of Whig free-trade politics. Notable members included Sir Robert Shafto Hawks (1768-1840); Joseph Hawks (1791-1873), merchant banker and Sheriff of Newcastle; George Hawks (1801-1863), Freemason and Grand Master of the Grand Cross Chapter of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem (Knights Templar), and Mayor of Gateshead; Mary Hawks (b.1829), who was the wife of Richard Clement Moody, the founder of British Columbia; and Colonel Richard Stanley Hawks Moody (1854-1930). The"
"Tasker found business hard, and was forced to bid for work from further afield. In 1813, Tasker and his brother William founded the Waterloo Ironworks in the Anna Valley. The site, built on chalk strata, gave access to coal and iron ore via the Andover Canal, and offered waterwheel power from the Pillhill Brook. The works came into operation in 1815, hence it is named after the great Battle of Waterloo. The brothers entered into a partnership with George Fowle, a relative of Robert's wife, Martha. As the industrial revolution gathered pace, a series of riots began. Started in Kent"
"John Sutton Nettlefold John Sutton Nettlefold (23 September 1792 – 12 April 1866) was a British industrialist and entrepreneur. Nettlefold was born in London. Nettlefold was a Unitarian; he married a co-religionist, Martha Chamberlain (1794–1866). Hers was a family of Birmingham manufacturers and politicians: her brother's son, Joseph Chamberlain (1836-1914), was a radical Liberal and a leading imperialist. They had three sons: Edward John Nettlefold (1820–1878), Joseph Henry Nettlefold (1827 –1881) and Frederick Nettlefold (1833–1913). One of Edward John's sons was named after him, John Sutton Nettlefold, who was a social reformer. In 1823, he opened a hardware store at"
"in favour of William Watson-Armstrong. William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong (26 November 1810 – 27 December 1900) was an English industrialist who founded the Armstrong Whitworth manufacturing concern on Tyneside. He was also an eminent scientist, inventor and philanthropist. In collaboration with the architect Richard Norman Shaw, he built Cragside in Northumberland, the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectricity. He is regarded as the inventor of modern artillery. Armstrong was knighted in 1859 after giving his gun patents to the government. In 1887, in Queen Victoria's golden jubilee year, he"
"George C. Ewing George Clinton Ewing (March/April 1810 – July 16, 1888) was a salesman, wainwright, land agent, superintendent, assessor, selectman, state representative, and most notably one of the chief founders of Holyoke, Massachusetts; he is credited as having first brought the idea of building a dam and industrial city at Hadley Falls to investors in Boston, New York, Hartford, and St. Johnsbury, Vermont in 1846. Ewing was born in Hudson, New York on a day in March or April 1810 to Noble and Miriam (née Wolcott) Ewing. Early in his life, Ewing travelled to many locations, opening wainwright shops"
"ports also did trade with the Baltic and Low Countries. Another reason was through an act of industrial espionage in 1709 by a weaver known as James Blake who gained access to the workshops of a damask linen factory in Edinburgh by pretending to act like a simpleton in order to find out and memorise the formula. On his return to his home town in 1718, Blake established a damask linen industry in the town. The largest of these factories was St Leonard's Mill which was established by Erskine Beveridge in 1851. A warehouse and office block was later added"
"was born in North Staffordshire in 1735. His parents are believed to be William Clowes and Maria Whitlock. He also had an older brother called William, who was involved in coal mining at Whitfield, Norton and Sneyd Green, and it was through him that he met another partner in the business called Charles Bagnall. In late 1762 he married Bagnall's sister Elizabeth, and the marriage was witnessed by another canal engineer, Hugh Henshall. Elizabeth died less than eight weeks later, and was buried on 19 February 1763 at Norton. Construction of the Trent and Mersey Canal began in 1766, and"
"the Boston and Maine Railroad. The Boston and Maine Foundry was built in 1854 and was later reincorporated as the Smith and Anthony Stove Company. The Boston Ice Company cut and shipped ice from Lake Quannapowitt starting in 1851. The Rattan Works (which made wicker furniture) was established in 1856 by Cyrus Wakefield. This later grew into the Wakefield Rattan Company and at one time had a thousand employees. In 1868 Cyrus Wakefield donated land and money for a new town hall, and in thanks the town voted to change its name from South Reading to Wakefield. The town hall,"
"only $1,221. Henry Melville Whitney Henry Melville Whitney (October 22, 1839 – January 25, 1923) was an American industrialist, the founder of the West End Street Railway Company of Boston, Massachusetts, and later the Dominion Coal Company Ltd. and the Dominion Iron and Steel Company Ltd. of Sydney, Nova Scotia. He was also president of the Metropolitan Steamship Company, long an important transportation link between Boston and New York City. Henry Whitney was born on October 22, 1839 in Conway, Massachusetts to Brigadier General James Scollay Whitney (1811–1878) and Laurinda Collins. Henry's well known younger brother was the financier William"
"sons: George Hawks (1766–1820) of Blackheath, Sir Robert Shafto Hawks (1768–1840), and John Hawks (1770–1830). The Hawks Company built Hawks Cottages in the 1830s in the Saltmeadows district of Gateshead for its workers. The Hawks works covered 44 acres by the end of the 1830s, and employed between 800 and 900 persons. At the time of the visit of the British Association to Newcastle in 1863, it employed 1500 people, and owned 92 marine engines and 58 land engines, which together provided 5000 horse power, and 33 puddling furnaces. The family's New Greenwich ironworks at Gateshead was the town's largest"
"Charles Wakefield, 1st Viscount Wakefield Charles Cheers Wakefield, 1st Viscount Wakefield, GCVO, CBE (12 December 1859 – 15 January 1941), was an English businessman who founded the Castrol lubricants company, was lord mayor of London and was a significant philanthropist. Wakefield was born in Cheshire, the son of John Wakefield, and his wife Margaret, née Cheers, and was educated at the Liverpool Institute. Wakefield patented the Wakefield lubricator for steam engines in the 1890s. In 1899 he founded the Wakefield Oil Company, but subsequently changed its name to Castrol. The name Castrol was chosen because of the castor oil that"
"Holbrook Gaskell III Sir Holbrook Gaskell (12 November 1878 – 31 March 1951) was a chemical industrialist in Widnes, Lancashire, England. He was born on the 12 November 1878, the son of Holbrook Gaskell II, Esq., of Frodsham, Cheshire and the grandson of Holbrook Gaskell, founder of Gaskell, Deacon & Co. He was educated at Rugby School and Trinity College, Cambridge. He became chief engineer of the United Alkali Company in 1914. After the outbreak of the First World War, he became responsible for designing and constructing plants to manufacture caustic soda and chlorine via the electrolysis of brine. He"
"and for the building of a manufacturing city""; this tract was at Bodwell's Falls. In 1845 Abbott Lawrence, Nathan Appleton, Patrick T. Jackson, John A. Lowell, Ignatius Sargent, William Sturgis and Charles S. Storrow incorporated as the Essex Company with a charter to develop water power for planned textile mills along the Merrimack River by building a dam at the preferred site. In addition to being a company director, Storrow was the lead engineer for the Essex Company and is credited as the designer and engineer of the dam. Previous to incorporating as the Essex Company, the group of men"
"waterwheels. It was connected by road to the Bridgewater Canal for transporting raw cotton from the port of Liverpool. The site consisted of three farms or folds. Samuel Greg leased land at Quarrell Hole on Pownall Fee from Lord Stamford, who imposed a condition that 'none of the surrounding trees should be pruned, felled or lopped´; maintaining the woodland character of the area. The factory was built in 1784 by Greg to spin cotton. When Greg retired in 1832 it was the largest such business in the United Kingdom. The water-powered Georgian mill still produces cotton calico. The Gregs were"
"Isaac Wilson (English politician) Isaac Wilson (16 February 1822 – 22 September 1899) was an English industrialist and Liberal politician. Wilson was born in Kendal, Westmorland, the son of Isaac Wilson and Mary Jowitt. He was related to the Pease family and in 1841 went to Middlesbrough where he managed a pottery in Commercial Street. Later, with Edward Gilkes, he established the Tees Engine Works at the corner of Commercial Street and Grey Street. The firm manufactured locomotives and other products for railway engineering on Teesside and in 1865, merged into a larger concern known as Hopkins, Gilkes & Co."
"club. Charles Wakefield, 1st Viscount Wakefield Charles Cheers Wakefield, 1st Viscount Wakefield, GCVO, CBE (12 December 1859 – 15 January 1941), was an English businessman who founded the Castrol lubricants company, was lord mayor of London and was a significant philanthropist. Wakefield was born in Cheshire, the son of John Wakefield, and his wife Margaret, née Cheers, and was educated at the Liverpool Institute. Wakefield patented the Wakefield lubricator for steam engines in the 1890s. In 1899 he founded the Wakefield Oil Company, but subsequently changed its name to Castrol. The name Castrol was chosen because of the castor oil"
"The main part of this structure was erected in 1814 by John Watkinson as a woolen factory. Pamecha Creek was a prime source of water power in Middletown; a mill had occupied this site since the 1650s. Following Watkinson's death in 1836, this building was occupied by another woolen business, known as The Pamecha Manufacturing Company. In 1849 William Walter Wilcox, a young and aggressive factory worker, went into business with Ira Penfield, his employer. Together they continued manufacturing Penfield's recently patented grommet (a small metal device used in the raising and lowering of sails) in the basement of this"
"Gateshead on 23 February 1755 - the works passed to the eldest son, William Hawks (bap. 1730, d. 1810), who, with his first wife, Elizabeth Dixon, established the Hawks' industrial empire. William (d.1810) formed a partnership with Thomas Longridge (bap. 1751, d. 1803), in 1770, and shortly afterwards acquired a plating forge at Beamish, County Durham, which was the first of four separate metalworking sites operated by Hawks and Longridge along Beamish Burn. In the 1780s, a forge at Lumley, in County Durham, and slitting and rolling mills, on the River Blyth in Northumberland, were acquired by the company. By"
"Henry Melville Whitney Henry Melville Whitney (October 22, 1839 – January 25, 1923) was an American industrialist, the founder of the West End Street Railway Company of Boston, Massachusetts, and later the Dominion Coal Company Ltd. and the Dominion Iron and Steel Company Ltd. of Sydney, Nova Scotia. He was also president of the Metropolitan Steamship Company, long an important transportation link between Boston and New York City. Henry Whitney was born on October 22, 1839 in Conway, Massachusetts to Brigadier General James Scollay Whitney (1811–1878) and Laurinda Collins. Henry's well known younger brother was the financier William Collins Whitney"
"Waterside Ironworks. The enterprise was started by Robert Ransome (1753-1830), a brass and iron-founder in Norwich before moving to Ipswich in 1789 where he started casting ploughshares in a disused malting at St Margaret's Ditches in Ipswich, with capital of £200 and one employee. As a result of a mishap in his foundry, a broken mould caused molten metal to come into contact with cold metal, making the metal surface extremely hard – chilled casting – which he advertised as 'self sharpening' ploughs, and received patents for his discovery. In 1809 Robert Ransome made his eldest son, James Ransome (1782–1849),"
"seldom 'strayed from the banks of the Tyne'. He died unexpectedly at the age of 59. William Clarke (industrialist) William Clarke (1831–1890) was an important British industrialist. He is best known as the co-founder of Clarke Chapman in Gateshead, once one of the largest employers on Tyneside. Educated locally, Clarke undertook his apprenticeship with Longbridge's Iron Works in Bedlington and at Armstrong, Mitchell & Co. in Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1864, he set up a small engineering business on the South Shore in the same area as Hawks and Abbots iron foundries. Within a year, he had taken a partner,"
"After Wilson's death aged 77, Nunthorpe Hall was occupied by Joseph Albert Pease MP. Wilson was fiercely anti-drinking but is commemorated by the former J.D. Wetherspoon Isaac Wilson public house in Middlesbrough. Isaac Wilson (English politician) Isaac Wilson (16 February 1822 – 22 September 1899) was an English industrialist and Liberal politician. Wilson was born in Kendal, Westmorland, the son of Isaac Wilson and Mary Jowitt. He was related to the Pease family and in 1841 went to Middlesbrough where he managed a pottery in Commercial Street. Later, with Edward Gilkes, he established the Tees Engine Works at the corner"
"Frederic Muspratt Frederic Muspratt (2 February 1825 – November 1872) was a chemist and industrialist who established a chemical factory in Widnes, Lancashire, England. He was born in Liverpool, the third son of James Muspratt and his wife Julia Josephine née Connor. His father was also a chemical industrialist who had established factories in Liverpool, St Helens and Newton-le-Willows. Richard was sent by his father to study chemistry under Justus von Liebig at the University of Giessen in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany. In 1852 with financial support from his father he set up a factory in Wood End, Widnes, manufacturing alkali by"
"Armstrong Whitworth Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles and aircraft. In 1847, the engineer William George Armstrong founded the Elswick works at Newcastle, to produce hydraulic machinery, cranes and bridges, soon to be followed by artillery, notably the Armstrong breech-loading gun, with which the British Army was re-equipped after the Crimean War. In 1882, it merged with the shipbuilding firm of Charles Mitchell to form Armstrong Mitchell & Company and"
"after him and his family members, ""Hughson Street"", ""Rebecca Street"" (wife) and ""James Street"" (son). In 1898, The ""Five Johns"", (John Patterson, John Dickenson, John Morison Gibson, John Moodie, Sr. and John Sutherland), form ""The Cataract Power Co. Ltd."" introducing electric power to Hamilton in 1898. On August 25, 1898, power was sent twenty seven miles from ""DeCew Falls"", St. Catharines, using water from the old Welland Canal. New industries, such as the forerunners of the Steel Co. of Canada (Stelco) and Canadian Westinghouse, were attracted here by the cheaper, more efficient power. One time this Company controlled hydro power"
"William Clarke (industrialist) William Clarke (1831–1890) was an important British industrialist. He is best known as the co-founder of Clarke Chapman in Gateshead, once one of the largest employers on Tyneside. Educated locally, Clarke undertook his apprenticeship with Longbridge's Iron Works in Bedlington and at Armstrong, Mitchell & Co. in Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1864, he set up a small engineering business on the South Shore in the same area as Hawks and Abbots iron foundries. Within a year, he had taken a partner, Abel Chapman and later the two were joined by Charles Parsons to create Clarke Chapman. The"
"in honor of the founders' deceased business partner) became an important manufacturing center along the Merrimack River in the early 1820s. It was seen as an attractive site for the construction of a planned industrial city, with the Middlesex Canal (completed in 1803) linking the Merrimack to the Charles River, which flows through Boston, and with the powerful 32' Pawtucket Falls. The already existent Pawtucket Canal, designed for transportation around the Pawtucket Falls on the Merrimack, became the feeder canal for a 5.6-mile long system of power canals based around the falls. Unlike many other mill towns, however, Lowell's manufacturing"
"James Wimshurst James Wimshurst (13 April 1832 – 3 January 1903) was an English inventor, engineer and shipwright. Though Wimshurst did not patent his machines and the various improvements that he made to them, his refinements to the electrostatic generator led to its becoming widely known as the Wimshurst machine. Wimshurst was born in Poplar, England, and was the son of Henry Wimshurst, a shipbuilder of Ratcliffe Cross Dock. Wimshurst was educated at Steabonheath House in London and became an apprentice at the Thames Ironworks until 1853 with James Mare. In 1865, he married Clara Tribble. In 1865, after Wimshurst"
"make it less of a ""freeway"" and more pedestrian friendly. ""Wentworth Street"", is named after Sir John Wentworth, lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, from 1792 to 1808. The first Westinghouse manufacturing operation outside of the United States was established in Hamilton, Ontario in 1897 on ""Sanford Avenue"", one year after ""The Dominion Power and Transmission Company"" was formed in Hamilton. This marked a new industrial era for Hamilton. It was then incorporated in 1903, (1903–1997). Company founder George Westinghouse set up a factory to build air brakes for the booming rail industry. Eventually the company was producing from its Hamilton plants"