George Courtauld (1761–1823) was a British silk weaver,

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

and founder of George Courtauld & Co (later,

Courtaulds Courtaulds was a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals. It was established in 1794 and became the world's leading man-made fibre production company before being broken up in 1990 into Courtauld ...

Early life

George Courtauld was born on the 19 September 1761 in Cornhill, to Louisa Courtauld, née Ogier, and Samuel Courtauld, I. A member of the

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

community in London, Courtauld was baptised on the 8 October 1761 at the French Church on Threadneedle street.

Career

Apprenticed to a

Spitalfields Spitalfields () is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and situated in the East End of London, East End. Spitalfields is formed around Commercial Street, London, Commercial Stre ...

silk weaver in 1775, George Courtauld first worked on his own as silk throwster.Samuel Courtauld (George Courtauld's son) at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref> Between 1785 and 1794 he made a number of visits to

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In 1794 he established his own textile business at Pebmarsh under the name ''George Courtald & Co.'', which was to become the UK's largest manufacturer of mourning crape. However by 1816 the business was in financial difficulty: that year George's son

Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...

took over the business and built it into the UK's largest manufacturer of mourning crape. Courtauld was an ardent Unitarian, and retired to the United States. Courtauld is buried at Allegheny Cemetery in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Family

George Courtauld married Ruth MintonProceedings of the Huguenot Society of London: Volume 11. Huguenot Society of London. 1917 on 10 July 1789. Their children were: * Samuel Courtauld (1793–1881) *Catherine Courtauld (1795-) * George Courtauld (1802–1861)

References

1761 births 1823 deaths Huguenots British businesspeople British textile industry businesspeople George British emigrants to the United States British people of French descent {{UK-business-bio-1760s-stub