All posts by Phethean Genealogy

The Cry of the Children

Family History

Daily News, London, England; 26 Dec 1898, Mon, Page 5

THE CRY OF THE CHILDREN – WITH THE LITTLE “KNOTTERS” IN A BUSY HIVE.
SHALL THE AGE BE RAISED? WHAT SOME OPPONENTS SAY. MONTH BY MONTH IF AT ALL

(BY OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ) FARNWORTH.

Farnworth is supposed to be more or less ” in the country”. You wouldn’t think it for a moment. The Isle of Dogs wears quite as rural an appearance, and the small allotments down by the Millwall Docks are much less modest about their vegetation than this distant suburb of Bolton. I have spent a goodlv portion of to-day going through a couple of large mills, with Mr. Rowland Tinker H.M. Inspector of Factories acting as my ” guide, philosopher, and friend.” What is more, I have come expressly with the object of talking with those who are professedly opposed to the age of half-timers being raised. I first visited Messrs. John Phethean and Co. (Limited).

Mr. John Phethean himself courteously conducted me through the mill, and gave me a free hand to speak to any of the operatives I liked, and to put to them any questions I desired. It is perfectly evident that Mr. Phethean is conscientiously opposed to any change, and has profound belief in the strength of his case. But it should be made clear that the work of this firm, the manufacture of quiltings, toilets &c, is more or less of a special character, and though throughout Lancashire a very large number of half-timers are engaged in it, it only forms a fractional part of the whole cotton trade.

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Grandmother behind the settee- or how I tracked down Elizabeth Hall, 1796.

Family History, , , , ,

From a very early age I can remember frequent visits to my paternal grandparent’s rambling house in the small town of Reepham in Norfolk. Although born and bred Boltonians, work in the embryonic electricity supply industry had brought my grandfather and family from Bolton eto Norfolk some time in the late 1920s, where the family remained for the rest of their lives. 

The house, once one of the many inns in Reepham, was a strange affair, with a back staircase leading to empty upper rooms that nobody used, complete with Victorian treadle sewing machine and china wash sets on stands, and a “back sitting room” that was rarely if ever used.  But behind the ancient settee in that room lay a mystery. Wedged firmly between settee and wall was an oil painting – not one of your little ones but to me, as a five year old, an enormous one!  “That’s Grandma” my mother joked. But who’s grandma? Not mine, as she was usually to be found sitting beside the coal fire in the everyday sitting room.  I was too young to ask and somehow rather scared of the subject. It was a dark, dirty and very gloomy portrait of an elderly woman in dark clothing against a dark background. 

Elizabeth Hall by George Eccles
Elizabeth Hall, 1796
Continue reading Grandmother behind the settee- or how I tracked down Elizabeth Hall, 1796. →

Chronology of the Phethean mill at Cawdor Street, Moses Gate, Farnworth

Family History, ,

I have carried out an examination of various old Ordnance Survey maps and archive material and have deduced this early chronology of the mills at Moses Gate. There is little evidence of John Phethean’s early business premises in Bolton. The earliest record at present is from 1866 where a weaving shop in Bullock Street, Bolton existed.

1850 – no mills at all except for one in the triangle between Bolton
Road, Egerton St and Gladstone Road

1872 Correspondence submitted to  Farnworth Board regarding bad state of Cawdor Street by J Phethean & Co.  Response by Clerk that the situation would be resolved by paving Cawdor Street. ( Bolton Evening News, Tuesday July 2nd 1872). Presumably by this date the company had a presence in Cawdor Street.

1884 ” A fire of alarming proportions broke out at two o’clock on Saturday morning at the mill of Messrs. Phethean & Sons, Farnworth near Bolton. The fire broke out in the storeroom, which had £10,000 worth of stock in it. This room was gutted, also the spinning room, but the rest of the premises were saved. Fifty spinners are thrown out of work, and damage 0f £20,000 was caused”
Liverpool Mercury, Monday, October 6, 1884; Issue 11462

1891 Egerton Mill standing – located between Egerton St and Thynne St. From an 1891 trade directory, Egerton Mill was run by Philip & Thos Bateman; John Phethean & Co Ltd just at “Cawdor Street” in the same document.

P. and T. Bateman Limited.

At an Extraordinary General Meeting of the above named Company, duly convened, and held at 4, Chatham-street, Piccadilly, Manchester, on the 17th day of April, 1891, the following Special Resolution was’ duly passed; and ‘at a subsequent Extraordinary General Meeting of the said Company, also’ duly convened, and held at the same place, on the 5th day of May, 1891, the said Special Resolution was duly confirmed, namely:— ” That the Company the wound up voluntarily, under the provisions pf the Companies Acts, 1862 and 1867 ; and that Mr. John Craig, of Bolton, Bank Sub-Maniager, be and he is hereby appointed Liquidator fpr the purposes of such winding up.” |

Dated the 7th day of jMay, 1891.

JNO. CRAIG, Chairman.

The London Gazette 12 May 1891

1891 Purchase of P. and T. Bateman Limited.

NOTICE is hereby given, in pursuance of section 142 of the Companies  Act, 1862, that a General Meeting of the Members of the above named Company will be held at the .offices of Messrs. Orford and Sons,  Solicitors, Fountain Street, Manchester on the 21st day of October, 1891, at one o’clock in the afternoon, for the purpose of having an account laid before them, showing the manner in which the winding up of the Company has been conducted; and the property of the Company disposed of, and of hearing any explanation that may be given by the Liquidator; and also of determining, by Extraordinary Resolution, the manner in which the books, accounts, and documents of the Company, and of the  Liquidator thereof, shall be disposed of, and that at such Meeting the following Resolutions will be submitted for consideration :—

  1. ” That the account submitted to this Meeting, and showing the manner in which the winding up has been conducted, and the property of the Company disposed of, be received and adopted.
  2. ” That the books, accounts, and documents of the Company, and of the Liquidator thereof,* be handed over to- Messrs. John Phethean and Co.Limited, the purchaser,of the Company’s Mills at Farnworth.”

Dated this 16th day of September, 1891.

JNO. CRAIG, Liquidator

1909 Egerton mill seems to have been rebuilt slightly to the west; is now between Phethean St and Thynne St. Phethean St and Thorne St seem to have been built over the site of the older mill (or part of it).

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John Phethean & Co Ltd

Family History

Extracts from the Company documents of John Phethean and Company Limited – Part 1

Memorandum of Association of John Phethean and Company Limited.

3 Nov 1885

……..

(3a)To carry on the business of Spinner, Doublers and manufacturers of cotton or other fibrous materials et etc and of buying and selling cotton or other materials and yarn or cloth or other manufactured articles.

(3b) To purchase on such terms and conditions as may be arranged all or any part of the assets and liabilities of any Company, firm, or person engaged in any business within the objects of this Company and in particular to purchase and undertake the business now carried on by the Trustees under the Will of the late Josiah Phethean, trading at Farnworth and Manchester both in the County of Lancaster, As “ John Phethean & Co., “ as Spinners, Doublers and Manufacturers and all or in any part of the property and liabilities of the said Firm in connection therewith.

We the persons whose names and addresses are submitted are desirous of being formed into a Company in pursuance of this Memorandum of Association and we respectively agree to take the number of shares in the Capital of the Company set opposite to our respective names. Dated third day of November 1885:

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What happened to John Phethean & Co. Ltd.?

Family History

I am working through the last years of John Phethean & Co Ltd from documents at the National Archives, which I am gradually adding to this site.

This is what happened to the company post 1924:

1924 Offices: 30, George Street, Manchester; Cawdor Street, Farnworth, near Bolton. Spinners and manufacturers of Alhambra, honeycomb, tapestry, Grecian fancy quilts and honeycomb, toilet covers, plain and raised sheets, cotton blankets and blanketings.
Spinners at New Mills, near Stockport.
Bleach Works: Birch Vale, near Stockport.
Mills: Farnworth, near Bolton.

1929 Joined 6 other manufacturers to form the Quilt Manufacturers company, which became part of Vantona Textiles. The Quilt Manufacturers company was incorporated to acquire and amalgamate 7 of the leading companies in quilts, bedspreads, covers, etc :

Jabez Johnson, Hodgkinson and Pearson Ltd incorporating George Mort and Co
Jonathan Dearden and Co, owners of James Lomas Ltd
T. Taylor Ltd
James Kippax and Son Ltd
John Phethean and Co Ltd
Henry Bond and Co Ltd
Eccles Quilts Ltd

Continue reading What happened to John Phethean & Co. Ltd.? →