Introduction
As historians have often pointed out, the importance of technological innovation in promoting Britain's Industrial Revolution can easily be overstated, especially in terms of the emphasis given to great inventions. Yet, from the late 18th century, the emergence of factory production utilizing new types of powered machinery played a major role in enhancing the country's economic growth, especially in regional economies where manufacturing activity was expanding apace. Prominent amongst the new types of powered machines that were developed and widely adopted during this period were those used in the textile industries, with the spinning mule, invented by Samuel Crompton of Bolton, assuming particular significance.
The mule was amongst the renowned trio of cotton spinning machines developed during the 1760s and 1770s that allowed more than a single thread to be spun at once, thereby greatly enhancing the productivity of spinners. Compared with the other two—James Hargreaves' spinning jenny, a hand-powered machine, and Richard Arkwright's water-frame—the mule could produce much finer thread, greatly facilitating the manufacture of such high-value cloths as muslins and cambrics. Jenny-spun yarn, being relatively soft, was mainly used as weft, whilst the stronger, harder threads spun on the water-frame were used as warp.1 Mule-spun yarn, however, was suitable for either purpose. Thus, whereas the water-frame and jenny complemented each other, the mule was a rival to both, being capable of spinning fine and coarse yarns.2
Documents contained in the Crompton Archive, the contents of which are discussed in the following sections, are highly instructive on the rise to prominence of the mule and on the efforts of its inventor, who did not patent his machine, to secure financial recompense for the economic benefits that it brought.3 They also facilitate research into Crompton's business experiences, and those of his sons, demonstrating the varied range of interests they generated; into other family concerns, including the nature of their relationships and their household expenditure; and into the ways in which Crompton was commemorated. The archive also contains documentation relating to the New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian) Church, of which Crompton became an active member.
The nature and extent of the Archive
The Crompton Archive comprises the papers given to Bolton Museum in 1927 by Mrs. J.J. Irwing of Blackburn, who was married to a descendent of Samuel Crompton, along with material on the Crompton family collected by Thomas Midgeley, a former curator of Bolton Museum, and photocopies of papers relating to Samuel Crompton held amongst the Egerton Manuscripts at the British Library (Egerton Manuscripts 2409).4
Some 1,300 documents are contained in the Archive, most of which are briefly described in the accompanying catalogue (ZCR), and they are distributed chronologically amongst 103 folios. About half the documents date from the lifetime of Samuel Crompton, though relatively few are from the pre-1790 period. The emphasis, therefore, is on the later part of Crompton's lifetime when the mule had become the dominant spinning machine and Crompton had been left a widower, with five sons and a daughter to bring up. Most of the remaining documents cover the years up to 1860 and provide insights into activities associated with Crompton's commemoration, as well as into the business concerns of his sons.
Letters predominate in the archive. Some are between family members, including several written in 1812 by Samuel Crompton to his sons (for example letters in ZCR/17,ZCR/18,ZCR/19,ZCR/20).Crompton was then in London petitioning parliament for a grant in recognition of the economic benefit that the nation had derived from the mule.5 Others are between family members and their business or social acquaintances. They are scattered throughout the archive and include those written by Crompton to such leading entrepreneurs as Robert Peel (ZCR/103/2) and Kirkman Finley (ZCR/15/27) requesting support for his parliamentary petition. Bills and accounts concerning both business and domestic transactions are also well represented in the archive, an example being the half-yearly account for bleaching muslins that John Hopwood sent to Samuel Crompton in June, 1801 (ZCR/5/4). Amongst other items are newspaper cuttings, which mostly relate to Crompton's commemoration, and property descriptions and valuations, including that at Whitehall Bleachworks, near Darwen, with which Crompton became associated in 1813.6 (See ZCR/28/13, for example.)
Samuel Crompton and his family
Born in 1753, Samuel Crompton spent much of his early life in the Tonge district, to the north of Bolton. When he was five, his family moved to Hall i'th' Wood, a large house constructed during the 16th and 17th centuries, which was then divided into tenements.7 Soon after the move, Crompton's father died leaving his mother to bring up his two sisters and himself. As was commonly the case in textile Lancashire at the time, the family derived an income from farming and textile production, Samuel being taught to weave when he reached the age of ten. His dissatisfaction with the quality of the yarn at his disposal eventually led him to devise an improved method of spinning and by 1779, he had developed the mule, a machine so called because it borrowed rollers from the water-frame and a draw carriage from the jenny (ZCR/11/4).8
In 1780, Crompton married Mary Pimlott, daughter of a West India trader, who fell on hard times, and for a while they lived in a small cottage at Hall i'th' Wood. However, they soon moved to a farm at Oldhams in Sharples, to the north of Bolton, and, in 1791, to a house in King Street, near to Bolton town centre.9 They had no fewer than eight children, of whom five boys and one girl survived into adulthood. Sadly, Mary died in 1796, followed by their youngest child within three months and their next youngest within two years. 10And Crompton's mother died in 1799 (ZCR/3/5&ZCR/3/6). The King Street house remained Crompton's principal place of residence, though he occasionally occupied a house in Darwen that was built when he and his sons took over the Whitehall Bleachworks. A deeply religious man, Crompton regularly conducted family worship at home and held church choir practices there, using an organ he built to provide accompaniment.11
Using the Crompton Archive
1. The spindle survey
Probably the best-known documents in the Crompton Archive concern the survey of cotton spinning spindles Samuel Crompton undertook in 1811. Since Crompton did not patent the mule, perhaps, therefore, denying himself a considerable fortune, he sought compensation by means of a parliamentary grant. Central to his strategy was a demonstration of the importance that the mule attained. To this end, his survey compared the numbers of jenny, water-frame and mule spindles used for cotton spinning within a thirty mile radius of Bolton, thereby encompassing the area in which Britain's cotton manufacturing was mainly based. That the survey showed a remarkably high proportion of mule spindles ? approaching 90 per cent of the total ? plainly gave him powerful ammunition in making his case.
The Crompton survey area is divided into districts, most of which centre on a major town. For each district, the numbers of jenny, water-frame and mule spindles that were found in cotton factories are given. Spindle figures for individual factories are also recorded, noting the numbers of spinning machines they contained and the spindleage of the machines. Whilst questions have to be asked about the accuracy and completeness of findings, the impression is left that a thorough survey was conducted, with most if not all of the existing capacity, including that of the leading cotton spinning firms, being identified. Comparison with trade directory lists or other sources might be possible in some localities to test whether or not every cotton spinning mill was covered, though any omissions that can be identified may still have contained mules. What should be borne in mind, however, is that domestic spinning, especially on jennies, is not recorded in the survey. Neither are branches of textile production other than cotton manufacturing. Yet even if data were available to fill these gaps, the conclusion that the mule had become by far the dominant textile spinning machine would remain.
G.W. Daniels has analysed Crompton's spindle survey findings at district level to show the size distribution of spinning firms, irrespective of the type of machine being used. Firms that might be seen as small and medium-sized predominate, though by no means all of them would have beenspecialized spinners.12 Additionally, Mary Rose has used the survey data to highlight the marked concentrations of jenny spinning at Wigan and Stockport, suggesting that, in seeking explanation, local economic circumstances need investigation.13
That the survey figures point to marked variation at local level in the preference shown for the mule rather than the water-frame or jenny invites further analysis. Such analysis might be placed in the context of demonstrating and explaining geographical variation within the cotton industry more generally and within the North-west regional economy as a whole. The figures should also prove useful in considering the patterns of growth in local economies, adding to evidence obtained about a range of industrial activity from various sources, including maps, trade directories, parish register and census occupational data and rate books.
2. Business activity
The documents in the Crompton Archive are insufficient to allow a detailed analysis of the business activities undertaken by Samuel Crompton and his sons. Nevertheless, they are informative on the types of business in which they were engaged; their marketing approaches; and their business transactions. They also add to awareness of the impact that variations in the trade cycle could have on business activity and on the reactions of businessmen to them.
According to his own testimony, Samuel Crompton ceased weaving in 1780 in order to concentrate on spinning (ZCR/6/4). He used hand-driven versions of his mule, which he set up in the various houses he and his family occupied. However, in the early 1800s, with the aid of subscription money raised by John Kennedy and George Lee of Manchester, he began to rent part of a steam-driven factory in Bolton owned by Joshua Wood & Co.14 In 1803, he was operating two mules there, one with 360 spindles and the other with 220, and giving employment to three men, one woman and six children.15 He also operated as a textile manufacturer during this period, presumably putting out to local handloom weavers.16
That Crompton became involved in merchanting as well as manufacturing is evident from a letter he wrote to Sir Joshua Banks in 1807 (ZCR/11/4).Operating from a warehouse at 8, Mellor Lane, Bolton, Crompton received consignments of goods that he sold by contract, charging a 2.5 per cent commission, and by public sale. He also undertook a great deal of business through purchasing goods as a general broker for foreign visitors and export merchants. Some of these merchants were based in Liverpool. They included Penny & Roskell and Swan & Parker, who were ordering muslins, cambrics and ginghams from Crompton during the late 1790s and early 1800s(ZCR/2, ZCR/3, ZCR/4, ZCR/5 & ZCR/6).17 By 1806, Crompton was also selling in London, largely through the agency of William MacAlpine (ZCR/10, ZCR/11, ZCR/12, ZCR/13 & ZCR/14).18 His sons were also helping in the family business by this time.19
Samuel Crompton continued to diversify his business interests during the later years of his life. In 1813, with his eldest son George and youngest son John as partners, he leased Whitehall bleach works at Darwen, between Bolton and Blackburn.20 Given the upturn that occurred in the business cycle at that time, the move was propitious and though the partnership was dissolved in 1819 (ZCR/33/5). Crompton remained in occupation of the works until 1822, his sixty-ninth year of age, perhaps choosing to retire then even though his businesses remained viable.21
As far as financial transactions are concerned, detailed accounts are available for the late 18th and early 19th centuries dealing with payments Crompton made for the rovings he had spun and for the sums he received from muslin and cambric sales. There are also some details of raw cotton purchases he made (ZCR/100/8 & ZCR/100/14). Additionally, there is a remarkable book in which Crompton recorded details of the bills of exchange he received as payment from his customers and which he passed on in settlement of his own debts (ZCR/100/12).
Further investigation of these matters is needed in order to assess more fully Crompton's achievements as a businessman. It is true that he did not emerge as a leading entrepreneur who was able to maximize the advantage that inventing and developing the mule would have brought him. Yet, as Rose points out, he managed to achieve modest prosperity during a period of great uncertainty in the cotton industry.22 Certainly success in business cannot be judged solely on the basis of scale of enterprise achieved. And much depends on the importance that Crompton attached to his working life in relation to other interests he had, including family, music and religion. Moreover, that Crompton diversified his business activities and sought to take advantage of new opportunities that arose, scarcely smacks of entrepreneurial incompetence.
One other dimension of business activity that can be explored using the Crompton Archive concerns management style. During the early 1840s, a time of severe trade depression, George Crompton worked as manager of Ewood Mill, near Blackburn. His employer was William Turner, sometime MP for Blackburn, who at the time resided at Shrigley Hall, near Macclesfield in Cheshire.23 Crompton sent Turner regular reports on the mill's output and other matters, receiving letters from him in return issuing strict instructions about measures he was to take. Living up to his reputation of being 'strict and circumspect in all his commercial relations', Turner wrote in an authoritarian manner, complaining frequently about the quality and cost of production and threatening to close the mill unless economies were achieved. Evidence of this type sheds light on the circumstances in which professional managers were employed, as well as raising questions about the form managerial styles could take and how far they reflected contemporary business cultures, prevailing economic conditions and the personalities of entrepreneurs.24
3. Samuel Crompton's commemoration
Documents in the Crompton Archive are of considerable interest with regard to debate amongst contemporaries about the form public commemoration of eminent people should take and the processes involved in bringing commemorations to fruition. Of particular concern here is the material relating to the compilation of Samuel Crompton's biography and the erection of his statue.
Plans to write Crompton's biography were mooted in the year he died. But the project only began to take shape in 1853, the centenary of his birth, when Gilbert French wrote to Crompton eldest son, George, announcing that he intended to publish an article in the local press celebrating the event (ZCR/69/4). Subsequently, French extended the scope of his research to write a detailed biography of Crompton, the first edition of which was published in 1859. Letters between Gilbert French and Samuel Crompton, grandson of the mule's inventor, reveal much about the way in which French prepared his book. They demonstrate that Crompton provided much of the material that French required, making manuscript material available and providing both personal recollection and opinion about events concerning his grandfather. They also show that Crompton acted as a referee, commenting on sections of the script that French sent to him and offering general advice on writing the book, including a warning that the source material at his disposal was not always to be trusted (ZCR/71/22).In evaluating French's portrayal of Samuel Crompton, the letters plainly merit careful consideration.
Other documents in the Crompton Archive, some of which take the form of local newspaper cuttings, highlight differences amongst contemporaries as to whether or not a statue would be the most appropriate form of civic memorial for Crompton. Discussion about the design of the statue is to be found in the documents, along with details of the subscriptions made by those who supported its erection.25 Such material is of considerable value in examining contemporary views about the nature and appearance of the built environment in urban centres, a matter that links with notions of civic pride and rivalry.
4. The New Jerusalem Church
Based on the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), an eminent Swedish scientist and theologian, the first New Jerusalem Church in England was established in London during 1787.26
Members of the sect have been characterised as believing in a trinity
'not of persons but essentials ? love, wisdom, and power; they do not believe in the doctrine of faith alone, but of faith conjoined with good works; they do not believein a vicarious atonement, but in a reconciliation of man to God; they don't believe in a resurrection of the material body, but a resuscitation of the spirit immediately after physical death; they don't believe in a physical destruction of the world by fire, but think that the world as it is now created will continue to exist ? for ever; they have no faith in the Noachian deluge, and say that the sacred record of it refers to an inundation of evil and not of water; finally they believe that there will be marriages in heaven, ? not wedding ring unions, not kissing, courting, and quarrelling amalgamations, but conjunctions of goodness with truth; and they have further an idea that there will be "prolifications" in heaven, not of crying children with passions for sucking bottles and sugar teats, but of truth and goodness. Swedenborg, by whom they swear, believed in three heavens and three hells; they have a similar idea, andfancy that common place sinners, who think one heaven will meet all their requirements, and that one hell will be too much for their nerves, are wrong'.27
Samuel Crompton became an active Swedenborgian, contributing to the cost of building a church for the sect at Bury Street, Little Bolton.28 The Crompton Archive provides little information about this church, but is fuller concerning the Sunday school it founded. An account and minute book for the school has survived, covering the period 1816-53 (ZCR/102/1). As would be expected, the accounts section of the book demonstrates a strong reliance on collection and donation income, as well as a varied range of expenditure, including that on rent, which was paid half yearly; consumable items, such as coal, pens and ink; maintenance of the premises, including whitewashing and caretaking; and singing instruction for the scholars. The minutes section of the book is all too brief, but the book also contains the programme of events for an exhibition of prose and poetry reading given by the scholars in 1818. The readings are written out in full. A second minute book, covering the period January, 1814 to March, 1821, records the names of the teachers at each Sunday school held, along with the numbers of male and female scholars who attended (ZCR/102/2).
The Archive also contains more general literature dealing with the New Jerusalem Church. Of particular interest are the printed minutes of the fourteenth General Conference held by the Church at Derby in 1821. Included with the minutes are edited letters received by the Conference from branches of the Church in various parts of the country. That for Bolton maintained that 'this part of the Lord's vineyard is in a state of prosperity' (ZCR/102/4).
5. Other Matters
(a) Family Relationships
The Archive provides useful material for research into the nature and strength of kinship links. Examples that can be found of the types of support that family members offered one another include the visit Samuel Crompton made to one of his children during the closing years of life (ZCR/44/17); the child care offered to James Crompton by his sister-in-law when his wife died (ZCR/38/3); and the financial assistance given at various times to Bette Dawson (Samuel Crompton's daughter) who apparently made unfavourable marriages and experienced the poverty that widowhood could bring (ZCR/47/14, for example).29 That some of the support offered involved payment being made, or expected, links with discussion amongst historians on the calculative and normative nature of kinship support.30 Family disputes emerge, too, including that between Samuel's sons John and Samuel junior, which impacted on the family business activity (ZCR/24/3).
(b) Household consumption
In part, evidence on household consumption in the Archive is found in probate inventories, including that of Samuel Crompton's mother, which was taken in 1799 (ZCR/3/5). Additionally, there are accounts and bills relating to the ownership and purchase of goods for household and individual use. An example of the former is a listing made by Samuel Crompton of 'my Dear Wife's cloths', which included three printed and one black gown, two red-flannel under petticoats, five muslin aprons and one of cloth and a silk and satin bonnet with feathers (ZCR/100/7). Amongst the latter is that for Samuel Crompton's footwear repairs and purchases between October, 1812 and July 1814 (ZCR/27/12). Evidence of this type plainly has use value in analyzing family consumption patterns, both in terms of the nature and extent of consumerism, as well as, at a more general level, in examining the impact that increasing demand had on the rise of industrialization.
(c) Parliamentary lobbying
That Samuel Crompton sought to obtain his parliamentary grant before the passage of the 1832 Reform Act, when his home town gained the right to return its own MPs, he had to rely on supportive MPs from elsewhere in Lancashire, who were by no means numerous, to present his case. Used in conjunction with the Report on Crompton's Petition, which records the statements leading industrialists made to a parliamentary committee set up investigate Crompton's claims, letters in the Archive provide considerable detail on the lobbying process in which Crompton engaged.31 They include mention of the problems of finding a member of parliament to present his petition (ZCR/17/7, for example); the establishment of a parliamentary committee to judge Crompton's claim (ZCR/18/4-13); and the various types of delay that arose, including the murder of Spencer Perceval, chancellor of the exchequer, when he was about to propose to parliament that Crompton should receive a grant (ZCR/19/17).32 Using this material as case study evidence, matters that can be investigated include the contacts that had to be made with influential people in order to help with formulating and presenting a case to parliament; the procedures that parliament adopted before sanctioning any grant; and the type of highly frustrating and dispiriting problems that could be encountered during a lengthy lobbying process.
(d) Transportation
Documents within the Crompton Archive provide insights into the preferences businessmen could have for road rather than canal transportation during the Industrial Revolution era. Although more costly, road carriage could offer much speedier transit, a matter of importance when high-value orders for small quantities of goods had to be met quickly. Of particular interest in this respect is that the decision to use road transport could be urged on industrialists by those whom they were supplying; the decision was not necessarily the choice of the industrialist, who might have sought to minimise transport costs. Thus, during the early 1800s, the Liverpool merchants who traded with Crompton were placing urgent orders with him for small bundles of muslins and cambrics, which they wanted sending by stagecoach (ZCR/2/3).
Conclusion
Evidence derived from materials contained in the Crompton Archive supports research into various aspects of social, cultural and political history, especially in relation to the Industrial Revolution period. As is to be expected, the evidence enables some themes to be explored more fully than others, with that concerning the business practices of the Cromptons being of particular value. The letters relating to the Cromptons' commercial activities have been utilized by historians, though deeper analysis of their more general business interests is certainly possible. As far as the other themes that have been discussed are concerned, the Archive provides evidence that has yet to be exploited, but that will undoubtedly repay the attention of those interested in them.
Apart from their general value in historical research, the documents in the Crompton Archive permit further analysis of Samuel Crompton's achievements. Michael Rose has done much to challenge the perception of Crompton as a failure and an embittered man and more might usefully be attempted to strengthen this view. In part, a fuller assessment of Crompton's career in business might be offered, drawing out more on his approach as a businessman, including his attempts at diversification, his marketing strategies and his attention to account keeping. And these matters need to be considered in relation to his wider interests in life, especially his family concerns and his religious and musical activities. It is all too easy to assume that Crompton sought to aspire to a leading position in business, exploiting the advantages he could derive from the mule to the full and seeking to benefit from economies of scale. Yet whether, in common with numerous other businessmen, he actually did want to do so rather than remaining a small-scale producer is a debatable proposition.33 Earning a satisfactory income rather than seeking to maximize earnings, thereby allowing ample leisure time, was an ambition that has often been remarked on with regard to the Industrial Revolution era.34 And that such an ambition was rife amongst the handloom weaving fraternity, even if it did diminish with time, may not have been an insignificant cultural influence on him.
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References:
1.The warp thread is fixed in the loom and the weft thread is fed through using a shuttle.
2.For further details of the technical features of the mule, and its development, see, for example, H. Catling, The Spinning Mule (Newton Abbot, 1970), chs. 2-6; G. Timmins, 'Technological Change' in M.B. Rose (ed.), The Lancashire Cotton Industry Since 1700 (Preston, 1996), pp.43-4; D.A. Farnie, 'Crompton, Samuel (1753-1827)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004).
3. For discussion on the patent issue, see M.E. Rose, 'Samuel Crompton (1753-1827), Inventor of the Spinning Mule: A Reconsideration', Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, vols.75 & 76 (1969), pp.17-18; G.J. French, The Life and Times of Samuel Crompton (1970 reprint of 1860 edition), ch.VI.
4.The British Library catalogue entries relating to the Egerton Manuscripts can be seen at . For further details of how the Archive was acquired, see H.C. Cameron, Samuel Crompton (London, 1951), pp.9-11.
5.Reproductions of these letters can be found in chapter 7 of G.W. Daniels, The Early English Cotton Industry (Manchester, 1920)
6.See the section below on Business activity for further details.
7.The house is now a museum. For details, see http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/HTML/index.asp.
8.See also French, Crompton, pp.13-16 and 36-40.
9.French, Crompton, pp.57-61, 76-9 & 98-9
10.French, Crompton, pp.105-6.
11.French, Crompton, pp.117-125 & 183.
12.G.W. Daniels, 'Samuel Crompton's Census of the Cotton Industry in 1811', Economic History, II (1930-3), pp.107-10.
13.M.B. Rose, 'Introduction: The Rise of the Cotton Industry in Lancashire to 1830' in M.B. Rose (ed.), Cotton Industry, pp.25-6.
14.Illustrations of the mill are given in T.Midgley, Samuel Crompton 1753-1827: A Life of Tragedy and Service (Bolton, 1927), pp.34-6.
15.French, Crompton, pp.112-14.
16.M.E. Rose, Crompton, p.18. He was still described as a cotton spinner and manufacturer in 1818. See The Bolton Directory for 1818 (Manchester, 1818), p.19.
17.Swan & Parker were linen drapers at Castle Street in 1790. See The Universal Directory of Trade, Commerce, and Manufacture, vol.3 (London, 1790), p.723.
18.For a detailed discussion on Macalpine's selling techniques and his business association with Samuel Crompton, see M.M. Edwards, The Growth of the British Cotton Trade, 1780-1815 (Manchester, 1967), pp.151-8.
19.French, Crompton, pp.144-5.
20. Whitehall Bleach Works is the name given in the Crompton archives, but it was also known as SpringVale or Holmes Works. See M. Rothwell, Industrial Heritage: A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Darwen (1992), pp.10-11.
21.French, Crompton, pp.182-7.
22.Rose, Crompton, p.20.
23.For details of Turner, see G.C. Miller, Blackburn: The Evolution of a Cotton Town (Blackburn, 1951), pp.412-4
24.For contextual discussion and further references, see J.F. Wilson, British Business History, 1720-1994 (Manchester, 1995), pp.26-9.
25.For a photograph of the unveiling of the statue, see Midgley, Crompton, p.46.
26.For details of the development of the church in Bolton, see P.N. Dale, Many Mansions: The Growth of Religion in Bolton, 1750-1850 (Bolton, 1985), pp.49-52.
27.A. Hewitson, Our Churches and Chapels ? in Preston (Preston, 1869), pp.55-9.
28.French, Crompton, pp.120-1.
29.For his unfavourable opinion of Bette Dawson, see French, Crompton, pp.145 & 197.
30.The classic text dealing with this theme is M. Anderson, Family Structure in Nineteenth Century Lancashire (Cambridge, 1971).
31.This report is reprinted in French, Crompton, pp.271-9.
32.See French, Crompton, pp.160-1. French relates that Perceval was willing to argue that a sum of £20,000 should be awarded to Crompton.
33.For contextual discussion and further references, see Wilson, Business History, pp.57-9.
34.On this issue, which incorporates discussion of the St. Monday holiday, see especially D. Reid, 'Weddings, Weekdays, Work and Leisure in Urban England; The Decline of St. Monday Revisited', Past and Present, 153 (1996), pp.135-63.