Thomas Warren ( fl. 1727–1767) was an English bookseller, printer, publisher and businessman. Warren was an influential figure in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

at a time when it was a hotbed of creative activity, opening a bookshop in

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

, Birmingham around 1727. From here he founded and published the '' Birmingham Journal'' – the town's first known newspaper; he edited and published

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

's first book – a translation of

Jerónimo Lobo Jerónimo Lobo (1595 – 29 January 1678) was a Portuguese Jesuit missionary. He took part in the unsuccessful efforts to convert Ethiopia from the native Ethiopian church to Roman Catholicism until the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1643. Aft ...

’s ''Voyage to Abyssinia''—and with Joshua Kirton sold

Francis Godwin Francis Godwin (1562–1633) was an English historian, science fiction author, Anglicanism#Anglican divines, divine, Bishop of Llandaff and Bishop of Hereford, of Hereford. Life He was the son of Thomas Godwin (bishop), Thomas Godwin, Bishop of ...

's ''

The Man in the Moone ''The Man in the Moone'' is a book by the English Divine (noun), divine and Church of England bishop Francis Godwin (1562–1633), describing a "voyage of utopian discovery". Long considered to be one of his early works, it is now generally tho ...

''. He also financed the

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 ...

established by John Wyatt and

Lewis Paul Lewis Paul (died 1759) was the original inventor of roller spinning, the basis of the water frame for spinning cotton in a cotton mill. Life and work Lewis Paul was of Huguenot descent. His father was physician to Lord Shaftesbury. He may have ...

in 1741. This was the world's first mechanised cotton-spinning factory, and was to pave the way for

Richard Arkwright Sir Richard Arkwright (23 December 1732 – 3 August 1792) was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the spinning frame, known as t ...

's later transformation of the cotton industry during the

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 Paul-Wyatt cotton mill was not a financial success, however, and Warren declared bankruptcy in 1743.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Thomas People of the Industrial Revolution People from Birmingham, West Midlands Spinning Year of birth missing British textile industry businesspeople 1767 deaths English booksellers English newspaper founders 18th-century British newspaper founders