Charles Swainson of Preston

[1] Charles Swainson was a second-generation Tory cotton lord in Preston, son of a calico manufacturer.

In the catalogue of the Great Exhibition 1851 they offered "Chintzes for dining rooms, libraries, &c."[17] Swainson declined to stand for parliament in the Preston constituency in 1820.

He spoke in 1830 at a borough meeting against the East India Company’s monopoly, and declined to stand for parliament, once more, for the 1831 general election.

[19] In 1841, Swainson accepted a nomination to stand for Preston in the general election, with the sitting Tory MP Robert Townley Parker.

Swainson persuaded Clay to study for the priesthood, and he was tutored by Robert Harris of Preston Grammar School.

His ordination as deacon at Kendal a few weeks later by George Henry Law, an advocate of graduate clerics, was facilitated by influential support.

[21] The pioneer temperance advocate Joseph Livesey was brought up in Walton-le-Dale, moving to Preston to set up a business in 1817 when he had reached the age of majority.