PMP2000 > Places > Charnwood History

FAMOUS PEOPLE

In addition to JOHN HEATHCOAT and MATTHEW TOWNSEND, CHARNWOOD was the home of several other later entrepreneurs and inventors who did much to advance the knitting industry. Knitting and hosiery was one of the most important industries of the Borough in the 18th and 19th centuries so it is not surprising that several important developments originated in this region. However, as shown by the LUDDITE raid on JOHN HEATHCOTE's factory, not all of these improvements were welcomed by the hosiery workers. Many of the changes led to a reduction in the workforce and severe financial hardship for those who lost their jobs. The industry as a whole did become markedly more profitable - but it has to be said that the profit became concentrated in fewer and fewer hands.

WILLIAM COTTON was born in SEAGRAVE in 1819. He became an apprentice to a firm of hand stocking machine builders in LOUGHBOROUGH and quickly proved to be a skilled and imaginative designer. In 1864, he came up with the radical idea of of altering the positions of the components inside the power loom to greatly improve its speed and smooth running. A common contemporary expression said that COTTON had "turned the needles upside down."

He was granted a patent for his new machine and they were first sold to the the firms of I AND R MORLEY and the NOTTINGHAM MANUFACTURING where they played a significant part in the firms' success. COTTON developed his invention further and later established his own machine shop in LOUGHBOROUGH, first in FACTORY STREET and later in PINFOLD GATE. He went on to register many further patents, all of which had a considerable effect on the knitting industry both locally and nationally. COTTON died in 1887 but the firm of BENTLEY-COTTON went on to design many more machines to manufacture increasingly complex and specialised knitwear.

An associate of COTTON's was ARTHUR PAGET, a member of one of three unrelated LOUGHBOROUGH families of the same name. He was the son of a Leicester surgeon and something of an inventive genius. He came to live in RADMOOR HOUSE in LOUGHBOROUGH and set up a hosiery factory in MILL STREET (now MARKET STREET) in the town. He used this factory as a testing ground for his new ideas, one of which was a new knitting machine which he claimed could knit anything "from a lady's scarf to a drawing room carpet". The frame was a success - just as well, as he had already spent £20,000 developing and perfecting it. One of his other developments was the installation of gas lighting onto knitting frames, so that working time was no longer limited to daylight hours. The only problem with this was the gas mantles themselves, which were so fragile that even the slightest knock could shatter them. Not to be defeated, PAGET collaborated with AJ RIXOM to come up with a more durable mantle. After many experiments and countless coating solutions, they finally hit on collodion, which performed perfectly, giving a strong, durable mantle. This was a major discovery but unfortunately, PAGET could not contain his excitement about it and - before taking out a patent - he told a "friend" all about the new mantle. Within days, he found that he had been beaten to the post and his "friend" had patented he mantle before him!

Another local development came from DANIEL SCATTERGOOD, a native of SHEPSHED, who in 1858 was granted a patent for "the construction of straight hosiery frames to be worked by rotary motion". A few years earlier than this, J HAYWOOD of LOUGHBOROUGH had made the first ever rotary knitting machine in CARTWRIGHT AND WARNER's shop on PINFOLD GATE, the shop at which WILLIAM COTTON had been an apprentice.

CARTWRIGHT AND WARNER became one of LOUGHBOROUGH's most successful knitting companies. RICHARD CARTWRIGHT had been granted a patent to spin imitation mohair from a mixture of wool and cotton, a development which led to a lucrative trade with America. This continued until 1890 when it was badly affected by the MCKINLEY TARIFF on imports. At one point there were three CARTWRIGHT AND WARNER mills in the town with a combined workforce of 2,000.

During the 19th century, LOUGHBOROUGH was outstripping all of it's neighbours, mainly thanks to the efficiency and prosperity of it's hosiery and knitting trades. Other major hosiery firms in the 19th century were PAGET AND WHITE in BEEHIVE LANE; HINE AND PARKER in WOODGATE; PARKERS in CLARENCE STREET and HANDFORD AND MILLER on DERBY ROAD. The NOTTINGHAM MANUFACTURING COMPANY started out with a small factory in FACTORY STREET but moved to MOOR LANE after a serious fire in 1887. (It was this fire which led to the purchase of LOUGHBOROUGH's first steam Fire Engine.)