Livesey, Hargreaves and Company was an English business involved in the textile industry during the late 18th century.

Business

The company took a lead in the mechanisation of printing cloth using a process that had been developed by Thomas Bell. In 1783, Bell patented a method of printing on fabric from engraved cylinders, and by 1785 he was able to print in six colours by this process. Before that time the printing of fabric had been by hand, and the hand printers had been demanding higher wages. During the 1780s, the firm was the largest

calico Calico (; in British usage since 1505) is a heavy plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than muslin, but less coarse and thick than ...

printer in Lancashire and was "one of the largest cotton manufacturing enterprises in the early stages of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

". The printing process was carried out at their factories at Bannister Hall and at Mosney, both in

Walton-le-Dale Walton-le-Dale is a large village in the borough of South Ribble, in Lancashire, England. It lies on the south bank of the River Ribble, opposite the city of Preston, adjacent to Bamber Bridge. The population of the South Ribble Ward at the ...

, near Preston,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. The firm also had a large mill at

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for to ...

, a factory, warehouse and offices in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, a warehouse in London, and were involved in bleaching cloth at

Hoghton Hoghton is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 802. Brindle and Hoghton ward also includes the parish of Brindle. Hoghton Tower is a fortified manor hou ...

. It also owned a coal mine at Standish to provide fuel for its enterprises, and commissioned work from

handloom A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of ...

weavers working in their own homes (out-workers).

Collapse

The firm went bankrupt in 1788, with debts totalling £1.5 million (equivalent to £ million in ). It is thought that at the time they employed about 800 workers directly, and were providing "bread to 20,000 persons" (this would include direct employees, out-workers, and their dependants). The firm's bank was Byrom, Allen, Sedgwick and Place of Manchester, which had been founded in 1771. By 1780 it was managed solely by William Allen, who made extensive loans to Livesey, Hargreaves and Company; Allen was related by marriage to the Liveseys. Two days after the firm was declared bankrupt, the bank collapsed, and Allen was also bankrupt.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Textile manufacturers of England Defunct manufacturing companies of England Companies based in Lancashire Bankruptcy in the United Kingdom Companies disestablished in 1788 1788 disestablishments in England