James Burton (1784 – 1868) was born in
Clitheroe
Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...
in 1784 and owned several
cotton mill
A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), 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.
Althou ...
s in Tyldesley and Hindsford in the middle of the 19th century.
Burton moved to
Tildsley Banks in 1828 where he entered into partnership with John and Richard Jones at Tyldesley New Mill but the brothers were more interested in
silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
weaving and moved to
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
. By 1838 he owned many properties in the west end of the town, where he lived in Charles Street, and in
Hindsford
Hindsford is a suburb of Atherton in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It is situated to the west of the Hindsford Brook, an ancient boundary between the townships of Atherton and Tyldesley cum Shakerley, and east of ...
across the Hindsford Brook. In 1845 his firm was named Burton, Chippendale and Company but the partnership was dissolved.
James Burton & Sons was the biggest mill-owning business in the area in the middle of the 19th century. Burton built a cluster of cotton mills in Hindsford starting with Atherton Mill in 1839, followed by Lodge Mill in 1853, Field Mill in 1856, and Westfield Mill in 1860, all of which were supplied with water by the Hindsford Brook.
[
Burton was a ]Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
. He represented Tyldesley on the Board of Guardians of the Leigh Poor Law Union. He died in 1868 and is buried in St George's churchyard.[
After his death, his sons, Oliver and Fred continued the business. A fire at the mills caused £15,000 damage in November 1883.][ In 1891 Burton's mills had 157,196 spindles and 570 looms.][
]
See also
* List of mills in Wigan
This is a list of cotton spinning mills, weaving sheds, bleachers and dyers and other textile mills in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. They were in the towns, townships and villages of Ashton-in-Makerfield, ...
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, James
Textile manufacturers of England
1784 births
1868 deaths
Companies based in Lancashire