Richard Birkin (6 July 1805 – 10 October 1870) was a

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

lace manufacturer.

Early life

Richard Birkin was born in

Belper Belper is a town and civil parish in the local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England, located about north of Derby on the River Derwent. As well as Belper itself, the parish also includes the village of Milford and the ha ...

, Nottinghamshire, on 6 July 1805, the eldest son of Richard Birkin, a calico

handloom weaver A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but th ...

, and started working in Strutt's Mill aged 7.

Career

In 1824, Birkin formed a partnership with Thomas Biddle in Hyson Green, having worked for him for two years. By 1832, they had 50 employees, including Birkin's parents and two sisters. In 1850, his sons Richard and

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

joined the partnership. In 1855, he had built the four-storey Birkin Building, a grade II listed warehouse in Nottingham's Broadway, by Garland & Holland, with

Thomas Chambers Hine Thomas Chambers Hine (31 May 1813 – 6 February 1899) was an architect based in Nottingham. Background He was born in Covent Garden into a prosperous middle-class family, the eldest son of Jonathan Hine (1780–1862), a hosiery manufacturer an ...

as the architect. He retired in 1856.

Personal life

Birkin married had two sons, Richard and

. He was a magistrate, and a director of the Midland Railway Company. He was

Lord Mayor of Nottingham The Lord Mayor of Nottingham is a largely ceremonial role for the city of Nottingham, England. The position was historically Mayor of Nottingham; this was changed to Lord Mayor in 1928. The position is elected every May by Nottingham city cou ...

in 1849/50, 1855/56, and 1861/63. He bought Aspley Hall, Nottingham, for £60,000. He died on 10 October 1870, at Aspley Hall.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkin, Richard 1805 births British company founders

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

Lord Mayors of Nottingham People from Belper 1870 deaths 19th-century British businesspeople