Samuel Cunliffe Lister, 1st Baron Masham (1 January 1815 – 2 February 1906), was an English inventor and industrialist, notable for inventing the Lister nip comb.

Early life

He was born in Calverley Hall (now Calverley House Farm- not to be confused with the medieval manor of the same name), near

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, the son of Ellis Cunliffe Lister (1774–1853), the first Member of Parliament elected for Bradford after the

Reform Act of 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...

and Mary (née Kay) Lister. In 1854 he married Anne Dearden, daughter of John Dearden; they had five daughters. He started his working life working for a Liverpool firm of merchants.

Industry and enterprise

Lister went on to play a key role in the development of

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

industry during the nineteenth century

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

. The

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry. Industry process Cotton manufacturi ...

transformed Bradford from a small rural town into a rich and famous city. As well as being a successful

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

owner he occasionally diverged to other subjects, such as an air brake for railways. He was fond of outdoor sports, especially

coursing Coursing by humans is the pursuit of game or other animals by dogs—chiefly greyhounds and other sighthounds—catching their prey by speed, running by sight, but not by scent. Coursing was a common hunting technique, practised by the nobility, t ...

and shooting, and was a keen patron of the fine arts. In 1838 he and his elder brother John started as

worsted Worsted ( or ) is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead, a village in the English county of Norfolk. That village, together with North Walsham and Aylsham, for ...

spinners and manufacturers in a new

which their father built for them at Manningham.

Lister's Mill Lister's Mill (otherwise known as Manningham Mills) was the largest silk factory in the world. It is located in the Manningham district of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England and was built by Samuel Cunliffe Lister to replace the original Man ...

(otherwise known as Manningham Mills), and its owner, were particularly well known in the district. The business eventually made Lister one of

's most famous fathers, a multi-millionaire and the provider of thousands of jobs in the city. Lister's Mill changed the identity of the region, and its economy. Lister himself came to epitomise Victorian enterprise. However it has been suggested that his capitalist attitude made trade unions necessary.

Textiles

Lister invented the Lister nip comb which separated and straightened raw

, which has to be done before it can be spun into

yarn Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufact ...

, and in the nineteenth century it was a hot, dirty and tiring job. By inventing the nip comb, Lister revolutionised the

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

. Around 1855 he began work to find a way of utilising the fibre contained in

silk waste Silk waste includes all kinds of raw silk which may be unwindable, and therefore unsuited to the throwing process. Before the introduction of machinery applicable to the spinning of silk waste, the refuse from cocoon reeling, and also from silk w ...

. The task occupied his time for many years and brought him to the verge of bankruptcy, but at last he succeeded in perfecting silk-

combing Combing is a method for preparing carded fibre for spinning. Combing is divided into linear and circular combing. The Noble comb is an example of circular combing. The French comb is an example of linear combing. The process of combing is ac ...

appliances which enabled him to make good quality yarn at a low cost. Another important invention in connection with silk manufacture was a

velvet Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short pile, giving it a distinctive soft feel. By extension, the word ''velvety'' means ...

loom 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 ...

patent that he bought in 1867 to the Catalan inventor Jacint Barrau. The new loom was built at Manningham Mills by Jaume Reixach, Barrau's foreman and Lister's Mill director afterwards, and made him very rich. However, the business was seriously affected by the prohibitory

duties A duty (from "due" meaning "that which is owing"; fro, deu, did, past participle of ''devoir''; la, debere, debitum, whence "debt") is a commitment or expectation to perform some action in general or if certain circumstances arise. A duty may ...

imposed by the United States, making him an early critic of the British policy of

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

Honours

In 1887 he was appointed

High Sheriff of Yorkshire The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere ...

. In 1891 he was made a peer; he took his title from the little Yorkshire town of

Masham Masham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 1,205 at the 2011 census. Etymology In Wensleydale, on the western bank of the River Ure, the name derives from the An ...

, close to which is Swinton Park, purchased by him in 1888. In 1898, Lister was awarded the freedom of the City of Bradford. He died at Swinton Park on 2 February 1906, and was succeeded by his son,

Samuel Cunliffe Lister, 2nd Baron Masham Samuel Cunliffe Lister, 2nd Baron Masham (1857-24 January 1917) was an English baron and industrialist. He was born in 1857, the son of Samuel Lister, 1st Baron Masham, and was educated at Harrow and St John's College, Oxford. Like his father, ...

Lister Park

A statue of him now stands in

Lister Park Lister Park (also known as Manningham Park) is a picturesque public park in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, between Manningham, Heaton and Frizinghall. It has won various national awards. About the park It is situated about a mile outsid ...

, in

Manningham, Bradford Manningham is an historically industrial workers area as well as a council ward of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The population of the 2011 Census for the Manningham Ward was 19,983. History Manningham holds a wealth of industrial hi ...

, West Yorkshire, sculpted by

Matthew Noble Matthew Noble (23 March 1817 – 23 June 1876) was a leading British portrait sculptor. Carver of numerous monumental figures and busts including work memorializing Victorian era royalty and statesmen displayed in locations such as Westminster Ab ...

from a block of white Sicilian

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

and unveiled on Saturday 15 May 1875 by W. E. Forster, then Member of Parliament for Bradford. Lister Park was donated to the people of Bradford by Lister.

Arms

References

External links

* * * Archival material at Leeds University Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Masham, 1st Baron Lister, Samuel 1815 births 1906 deaths Businesspeople from Bradford English inventors Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom High Sheriffs of Yorkshire Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria 19th-century English businesspeople