Samuel Greg (6 September 1804 – 14 May 1876) was an English

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

and philanthropist. Born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, the son of the elder

Samuel Greg Samuel Greg (26 March 1758 – 4 June 1834) was an Irish-born industrialist and entrepreneur of the early Industrial Revolution and a pioneer of the factory system. He built Quarry Bank Mill, which at his retirement was the largest textile mil ...

, the creator of

Quarry Bank Mill Quarry Bank Mill (also known as Styal Mill) in Styal, Cheshire, England, is one of the best preserved textile factories of the Industrial Revolution. Built in 1784, the cotton mill is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a ...

, he was brother to

William Rathbone Greg William Rathbone Greg (1809 – 15 November 1881) was an English essayist. Life Born in Manchester, the son of Samuel Greg, the creator of Quarry Bank Mill, and Hannah Greg, he was brother to Robert Hyde Greg and the junior Samuel Greg. ...

and

Robert Hyde Greg Robert Hyde Greg (24 September 1795 – 21 February 1875), was an English industrialist, economist, antiquary, and - briefly - a Member of Parliament. Born in Manchester, he was the son of Samuel Greg and Hannah Lightbody, the creators of Quarr ...

. Influenced by the religious beliefs of his mother Hannah, he attended a Unitarian school in

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 ...

. Further study in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, under

Lant Carpenter Lant Carpenter, Dr. (2 September 1780 – 5 or 6 April 1840) was an English educator and Christian Unitarianism, Unitarian Minister (Christianity), minister. Early life Lant Carpenter was born in Kidderminster, the third son of George Carpenter ...

, and at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

was interspersed with experience in the family firm and completed by the, then obligatory,

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

. Already more interested in the consequences of wealth rather than its creation, in 1830 and 1831 he gave lectures on scientific subjects to the workers at ''Quarry Bank''. On his father's retirement in 1832, he took over management of Lowerhouse Mill in

Bollington Bollington is a town and civil parish in Cheshire, England, to the east of Prestbury. In the Middle Ages, it was part of the Earl of Chester's manor of Macclesfield and the ancient parish of Prestbury. In 2011, it had a population of 8,310. B ...

, Cheshire and used it as a basis for further social experimentation. He published his ideas on the model factory village in ''Two Letters to

Leonard Horner Leonard Horner FRSE FRS FGS (17 January 1785 – 5 March 1864) was a Scottish merchant, geologist and educational reformer. He was the younger brother of Francis Horner. Horner was a founder of the School of Arts of Edinburgh, now Heriot-Wa ...

on the Capabilities of the Factory System'' (1840) and went on to found a number of educational and social institutions in Bollington. However, in 1847, he introduced new machinery in his mills which was so unpopular that it precipitated a strike. In consequence, Greg suffered from a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

and retired to his Bollington home, ''The Mount''. Thereon, he restricted his philanthropy to scientific lectures for the workers of

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

, becoming president of the

Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) was founded in London in 1826, mainly at the instigation of Whig MP Henry Brougham, with the object of publishing information to people who were unable to obtain formal teaching or who pr ...

. Greg wrote the hymn ''Stay, Master, stay'', based on the gospel story of the

Transfiguration of Jesus In the New Testament, the Transfiguration of Jesus is an event where Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant in glory upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels (, , ) describe it, and the Second Epistle of Peter also refers to it (). In these a ...

. Greg married Mary Priscilla Needham in 1838 and she had two sons and six daughters with him. He died in Bollington in 1876 after a long illness. His daughter Bertha married Hugh Ronalds, brother and business partner of Dr

Edmund Ronalds Dr Edmund Ronalds FCS FRSE (18 June 1819 – 9 September 1889) was an English academic and industrial chemist. He was co-author of a seminal series of books on chemical technology that helped begin university teaching of chemical applications fo ...

Bibliography

*Rose, M.B. (1986) ''The Gregs of Quarry Bank Mill: The Rise and Decline of the Family Firm, 1750–1914'' *Stanley, A.P. (ed.) (1877) ''A Layman's Legacy in Prose and Verse: Selections from the Papers of Samuel Greg'' with a biographical memoir

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greg, Samuel Businesspeople from Manchester People from Bollington 1804 births 1876 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 19th-century English businesspeople