Hannah Greg
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Hannah Greg ( Lightbody; 1766 – 1828), with her husband Samuel Greg, was the architect of a paternalistic industrial community in the north of England, a prominent Unitarian and significant diarist. While her husband
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 ...
pioneered new ways of running a cloth mill, she supervised the housing and conditions of the employees, including the education of the child workers. The Gregs, despite family connections to the slave trade, were considered enlightened employers for the time, and though in the 1830s the apprentice system was questioned,
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 ...
maintained it until her death.


Early life and education

Lightbody was born in 1766, she was the daughter of a wealthy Unitarian
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
merchant, Adam Lightbody (1729–1778), and Elizabeth Tylston (1735–1801), who came from a prominent dissenting family. Elizabeth's grandfather was John Tylston, the "good doctor of Chester", who married a daughter of
Philip Henry Philip Henry (24 August 1631 – 24 June 1696) was an English Nonconformist clergyman and diarist. His son Matthew Henry was a notable commentator on the Bible and also a Presbyterian minister. Early life Philip Henry was born at Whitehall, ...
, the ejected preacher, and thus Elizabeth had moved easily within the London and Warrington dissenting circles. She was a member of the Liverpool Library, England's first subscription library, and the Octonian Society. (The name was explained by
Henry Solly Henry Solly (17 November 1813 – 27 February 1903) was an English social reformer.Alan Ruston, âSolly, Henry (1813–1903)€™, '' Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004 , accessed 18 April 2010. William Bever ...
as being a discussion group limited to eight members.) Hannah was the youngest of the three surviving children, all girls. The other three pregnancies had resulted in two still births and one perinatal death. She was eleven, studying in Henry Holland's School in nearby
Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread. Geography and administr ...
, when her father died, leaving her one-third of his wealth, held in trust until she was 21. When she was sixteen, her cousin Thomas Rogers invited her to his home in
Newington Green Newington Green is an open space in North London that straddles the border between Islington and Hackney. It gives its name to the surrounding area, roughly bounded by Ball's Pond Road to the south, Petherton Road to the west, Green Lanes and ...
, then a village a couple of miles north of the
City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
. He had children of a similar age (including
Samuel Rogers Samuel Rogers (30 July 1763 – 18 December 1855) was an English poet, during his lifetime one of the most celebrated, although his fame has long since been eclipsed by his Romantic colleagues and friends Wordsworth, Coleridge and Byron. ...
, later an eminent man of letters), so she could attend Fleetwood House school in Stoke Newington a mile further north (in Dissenting circles it was "a fresh but important aim to educated daughters as well as sons"), and worship with the family at the Unitarian Church on the Green. Thomas Rogers was prominent among the London
rational dissenter English Dissenters or English Separatists were Protestant Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 17th and 18th centuries. A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who disagrees in opinion, belief and ...
s, and the two neighbouring villages were filled with Quakers and non-conformists, including those who started the
Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, also known as the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, and sometimes referred to as the Abolition Society or Anti-Slavery Society, was a British abolitionist group formed on ...
. The Rogers family lived next door to
Richard Price Richard Price (23 February 1723 – 19 April 1791) was a British moral philosopher, Nonconformist minister and mathematician. He was also a political reformer, pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the French ...
, the well-connected minister, where
Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft (, ; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationsh ...
was a visitor. Hannah learnt debating skills and read widely within a critical Unitarian framework. It was probably during this stay near London that her first portrait was painted, now held in the Quarry Bank Mill archive. Her connection to Price may later have been the introduction to his radical circle for her sister-in-law. With Roger O'Connor, Jane Greg sought out contacts in support of the cause the
United Irishmen The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association in the Kingdom of Ireland formed in the wake of the French Revolution to secure "an equal representation of all the people" in a national government. Despairing of constitutional refor ...
.


Marriage to Samuel Greg

Hannah Lightbody returned to Liverpool. Her sisters' husbands Thomas Hodgson and John Pares were investing in a cotton spinning mill in Caton near Lancaster. Pares had gained practical experience on Arkwright's
water frame The water frame is a spinning frame that is powered by a water-wheel. Water frames in general have existed since Ancient Egypt times. Richard Arkwright, who patented the technology in 1769, designed a model for the production of cotton thread; ...
s and was challenging the renewal of the patent. A man named
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 ...
had found a similar site on the
River Bollin The River Bollin is a major tributary of the River Mersey in the north-west of England. It rises in Macclesfield Forest at the western end of the Peak District, and can be seen in spring form, from the Buxton to Macclesfield road. The stream t ...
near
Wilmslow Wilmslow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England, south of Manchester city centre. The population was 24,497 at the 2011 Census. History Toponymy Wilmslow derives its name from Old ...
and had built a mill at Quarry Bank.Sekers (2013a), p. 28 Greg had been born in Belfast in 1758; being known to be Irish was a further hindrance to progression. His father was a ship-owner who had land in the West Indies, and thirteen children to support. He sent two of his sons, Thomas and Samuel, to live with relatives in England; Samuel Greg was adopted at eight years old by his maternal uncle, Robert Hyde, a textile merchant and manufacturer. Samuel started working for the company in 1778, and was a partner by 1782. Robert soon died and his brother Nathaniel retired. At 24, Samuel had a fortune of £26000. He had a
loom shop 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 t ...
in
Eyam Eyam () is an English village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales that lies within the Peak District National Park. There is evidence of early occupation by Ancient Britons on the surrounding moors and lead was mined in the area by the R ...
, and built Quarry Bank mill to provide a safe source of yarn.
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 ...
in Styal (built 1784) was profitable and Greg was in need of a wife. Hannah Lightbody and Samuel Greg married in 1789, and she left Liverpool to make a life in Manchester. In her marital home of 35 King Street, she learned how to manage a household, and was soon entertaining the members of the
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, popularly known as the Lit. & Phil., is one of the oldest learned societies in the United Kingdom and second oldest provincial learned society (after the Spalding Gentlemen's Society). Promine ...
after their meetings. In 1800 the Gregs moved to Quarry Bank House, next to the mill. She introduced her husband, a
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
by upbringing, to the Unitarians who attended
Cross Street Chapel Cross Street Chapel is a Unitarian church in central Manchester, England. It is a member of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, the umbrella organisation for British Unitarians. Its present minister is Cody Coyne. His ...
in Manchester. He accepted her faith. Their non-conformist religious beliefs provided the Gregs with important business contacts, an influential network of Manchester and Liverpool trading and banking families, as many of the major
Industrialists 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 ...
were Unitarian. The Greg family also had mills in
Reddish Reddish is an area in Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. south-east of Manchester city centre. At the 2011 Census, the population was 28,052. Historically part of Lancashire, Reddish grew rapidly in the Industria ...
,
Calver Calver (Old English ''Calf Slope'') is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 710. Overview Calver is a small village situated in the Derwent Valley, Derbyshire. The village ...
, Bowlas,
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. ...
, Lancaster and Caton. In the
Escowbeck Escowbeck House a country manor house on Caton Lane in Quernmore near Lancaster, Lancashire was constructed in 1842 in extensive parkland and countryside. It is situated overlooking the Crook of Lune south of the road from Lancaster to Caton a ...
Estate, in Caton they built their own observatory.


Quarry Bank estate

Samuel had leased the
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 ...
at Styal, and took a farm nearby as a summer house in the country for the children. By 1800, the family was living next to the factory. The
cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses 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. Although some were driven b ...
was partly staffed by "parish apprentices", a system with similarities to indentured servitude. It dated back to the
Elizabethan Poor Law The Poor Relief Act 1601 (43 Eliz 1 c 2) was an Act of the Parliament of England. The Act for the Relief of the Poor 1601, popularly known as the Elizabethan Poor Law, "43rd Elizabeth" or the Old Poor Law was passed in 1601 and created a poor la ...
, and came to be used as a way to care for illegitimate, abandoned, and orphaned children (
foundlings Child abandonment is the practice of relinquishing interests and claims over one's offspring in an illegal way, with the intent of never resuming or reasserting guardianship. The phrase is typically used to describe the physical abandonment of a ...
). In the early years of 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 ...
, entrepreneurs began to resist the restrictions of the apprenticeship system. Many of the parish apprentices at Styal were selected from the
workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse' ...
s of Liverpool, London and Newcastle under Lyme. The Gregs saw themselves as enlightened employers; in 1831 they employed 351 "free hands" and 100 children, some local and some from urban workhouses. When the mill was extended, the Gregs laid out a model village, a precursor to Robert Owen's
utopian socialist Utopian socialism is the term often used to describe the first current of modern socialism and socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen. Utopian socialism is often de ...
experiment at
New Lanark New Lanark is a village on the River Clyde, approximately 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometres) from Lanark, in Lanarkshire, and some southeast of Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1785 and opened in 1786 by David Dale, who built cotton mills and hou ...
a decade later. They built workers' cottages for the waged adults and an apprentice house for the indentured children. In developing the community, they built
Norcliffe Chapel Norcliffe Chapel is in the village of Styal, Cheshire, England. It is a Unitarian chapel, and is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. The chapel was built in 1822–23 by a mill ow ...
, which still serves as a Unitarian place of worship. The children were overseen by Hannah Greg, who delivered the services of a doctor, two teachers and two singing masters; in return, she expected weekly attendance at the Anglican parish church. After the children's thirteen-hour shift, Hannah provided them with lessons in reading, writing and arithmetic. When she was in Styal she delivered the lessons to the girls, and preached to them on Sundays. The Greg children were expected to take part in the teaching, as it was part of her dissenting belief that people should mix together, be frugal and accept their responsibilities to others. In the 1830s the apprentice system began to be questioned. Hannah died on 4 February 1828 but Quarry Bank maintained the system until 1847.


Religion and politics

Hannah's life was shaped by
British Unitarianism The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (GAUFCC or colloquially British Unitarians) is the umbrella organisation for Unitarian, Free Christians, and other liberal religious congregations in the United Kingdom and Irelan ...
, a denomination of English Dissenters who have always valued education for girls as much as for boys. Dissenters suffered under various legal disabilities well into the 19th century, being barred from many professions and public appointments, which meant that their energy often went into trade and business instead. Many became wealthy as factory owners and helped to shape the Industrial Revolution. Another injustice of the time was that, before 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 ...
, Parliament had not changed with the growth and urbanisation of the country. Manchester, one of the greatest economic engine in Britain, had no MPs. The Lightbody family worshipped under Dr Yates at the Kaye Street Chapel (which moved to
Paradise Street, Liverpool Paradise Street is a street in Liverpool, Merseyside in the Liverpool One shopping area. It lies south of Whitechapel and north of Duke Street. The street contains many stores and restaurants including McDonald's, USC, Urban Outfitters, Sport ...
in 1791). Hannah had firm beliefs that men could not progress outside their God ordained social class. She belonged to wealthy merchantile middle class which in her eyes was the most fortunate place to be. She believed that she had a duty to look after the education of her workers so they could progress. When she visited her husband's relatives in Ulster in 1794 she was struck by the poverty of the Irish peasantry. In a letter written during this visit she demonstrates a degree of sympathy with Irish radicalism that she may have imbibed from her sister-in-law, Jane Greg: " ... certain will be the day of retribution - England has not so much to answer for - but the crimes of this country and the crimes of old France are crying and will be visited ... to be Irish has always been sufficient to make anything obnoxious to the English government". On the eve of the
Irish rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group influenced ...
, the British commander,
General Lake Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake (27 July 1744 – 20 February 1808) was a British general. He commanded British forces during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and later served as Commander-in-Chief of the military in British India. Background He was ...
, denounced Hannah's sister-in-law (reputedly a leading United Irish woman) as "the most violent creature possible". Jane Greg found refuge at Quarry Bank from loyalist retribution. She was living with Hannah and Samuel when she died in September 1817. Their daughter Ellen later recalled that in the wake rebellion her parents were anxious lest her aunt's reputation, and letters she held from Lady Londonderry (Frances Pratt), step mother to Robert Stewart, the Chief Secretary for Ireland) revealing a mutual sympathy for the United Irish cause, might bring suspicion upon Samuel, as "the only Irish gentleman in the town". As pressure mounted on the Greg household with the suppression not only of Irish rebellion but also of radical dissent in England, Hannah wrote to William Rathbone: "we will hold fast to our Enthusiasm whatever betide, and I believe it is at least one means of holding fast our integrity". The prospect of continuing at Quarry Bank near the peaceful village of Styal may have had "particularly strong appeal".


Children and her legacy

Hannah and Samuel had thirteen children, seven daughters and six sons. Four of their sons, Robert Hyde (1795–1875), John (1801-1882), Samuel Jr. (1804–1876) and William Rathbone (1809–1881), entered the business. Robert Hyde was also interested in astronomy and politics and was elected MP for Manchester in 1839. John was responsible for the Lancaster and Caton mills and eventually Bollington Mill. He served as alderman and mayor of Lancaster. Samuel Jr. took charge of Bollington Mill and unsuccessfully experimented with profit sharing; disillusioned, he became a preacher. William Rathbone was responsible for Hudcar Mill, Bury and then took over the troubled Bollington Mill; retiring from the business in 1850, he became Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office, and an avid essayist and pamphleteer.Spinning the web-Places > The Rural scene > The Greg familyTranscript of interpretive board at Quarry Bank Mill Elizabeth Greg (1790–1882) married
William Rathbone V William Rathbone V (17 June 1787 – 1 February 1868) was an English merchant and politician, serving as Lord Mayor of Liverpool. Life The notability and prosperity of the Rathbone family of Liverpool was tied to the growth of that city as a ma ...
, of the Liverpool mercantile family. She founded the first public wash-houses in the United Kingdom in the wake of the 1832 Liverpool cholera epidemic. Later she helped William Forster in formulating the 1870 Education Act. The extended family were also involved in slavery: some with the
triangular trade Triangular trade or triangle trade is trade between three ports or regions. Triangular trade usually evolves when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come. It has been used to offset ...
and some with abolition. Hannah's sister Elizabeth married Thomas Hodgson, who took part in the Atlantic slave trade; their son
Adam Hodgson Adam Hodgson (1788–1862) was an English merchant in Liverpool, known also as a writer and abolitionist. Life He was the son of Thomas Hodgson, a Liverpool merchant, and his wife Elizabeth Lightbody (1758–1795). His father Thomas (1737–181 ...
was a founding member of the Liverpool Anti-slavery Society in 1822. Thomas Greg, Samuel's father and his brother John Greg part-owned some
sugar plantations in the Caribbean Sugar plantations in the Caribbean were a major part of the economy of the islands in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Most Caribbean islands were covered with sugar cane fields and mills for refining the crop. The main source of labor, unti ...
, especially Dominica. The best documented is Hillsborough, which included the ownership of 71 male slaves and 68 female slaves. In January 1814, twenty slaves absconded, and were recaptured and punished with 100 lashes for the males and 50 lashes for the females. The incident was triggered by the death of a slave in the plantation-run hospital; the run-aways believed he had been poisoned. A former director of the Quarry Bank Mill, and author of a book about Hannah Greg, provided this summary of her philosophy and work.The true story behind Quarry Bank Mill the inspiration for the Channel 4 drama
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She was liberal and compassionate by nature, and all her friends were active campaigners to stop the slave trade and to move forward the emancipation of the slaves in the West Indies and America ... In reality, Hannah Greg did not say anything publicly about this because, apart from anything else, Samuel Greg inherited slave plantations. She couldn’t be a public hypocrite so she kept quiet.


See also

* Factory Acts *
List of textile mills in Cheshire This is a list of the silk, cotton and other textile mills in Cheshire, England. The first mills were built in the 1760s, in Styal by Samuel Greg using the Arkwright system and were powered by the water of the River Bollin. There were significan ...


References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * * * *


External links


Quarry Bank Mill and Styal Estate information at the National TrustNational Trust: Collection of primary source documents relating to the Gregs and Quarry Bank MillInformation and Photos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greg, Hannah 1766 births 1834 deaths English Unitarians People from Liverpool Businesspeople from Manchester 19th-century English businesspeople 19th-century English businesswomen