Bagley & Wright

The business, which was active from 1867 until 1924, 'caught the wave' of the cotton-boom that existed following the end of the American Civil War in 1865 and experienced rapid growth in the United Kingdom and abroad.

[8] [1][permanent dead link‍] The three oldest children were working as cotton piecers, the middle three were at school and Benjamin and William junior were of pre-school age.

With six dependent mouths to feed, the family would have found life a struggle and the fact that Sarah at age 11 was still at school suggests that the parents were committed to their children's betterment.

The presence of cotton spinning, coal mining, and iron founding can be seen in the jobs that the Wright and Bagley families were involved with in 1861.

In many cases the entrepreneur would rent a floor of a mill which was served by line shafting powered by a steam engine somewhere else in the building.

[10] By 1863, Bagley and Benjamin Wright had left their positions at Dan Coll's factory and had set up a partnership with Samuel Milne, a major figure in Oldham's cotton spinning industry.

His first employment was in the jenny gate but he graduated to minder and overlooker before taking a management role in the Bagley & Wright concern.

In the second half of the 19th century, Wesleyanism in particular and Methodism in general, were seen as the religion of choice for the upwardly mobile middle classes because of the encouragement that it gave its adherents to better themselves through work and enterprise.

[13] In November 1875, Bagley and Benjemin Wright withdrew from John Marsden and Company to enable them to concentrate on their partnership with Samuel Milne.

However, whereas Benjamin and Joseph were "new kids on the block", Jakeh was "old money", his family having been involved with the cotton industry from the early 19th century.

When he was elected to the Chadderton Board of Health his employment was listed as 'gentleman'; a clear indication that he did not need to work to maintain his income.

[18] Competition from other United Kingdom-based spinning companies as well as an increasing flow of imported yarn and finished cloth made it essential to secure supplies of raw cotton and markets for the spun thread.

In 1886, Bagley & Wright bought out the business and trade mark of Messrs. William Clapperton who were sewing thread manufacturers in Paisley, Scotland.

In addition to the growing strength of workers groups like the Operative Cotton Spinners Association, competition from abroad was increasing due to the export of automated textile machinery; something that had been unlawful until 1843.

Sometime between 1881 and 1891, Benjamin and Ann moved with their family to recently built houses on Queens Road,[18][24] overlooking Belgrave #1 Mill across Alexandra Park.

The heading of the memorandum lists the company's mills as: Wellington, Industry, and Belgrave in Oldham and Wood Top Shed in Burnley.

In the archives of Burnley library is a reference written on Bagley & Wright notepaper in 1895 for a Mr. John Watson who “has been in our company for over five years as an overlooker & have always been found him a steady hand & competent workman”.

In 1895, the company's sewing cotton business was still expanding and a considerable investment was made in the extension of the Belgrave Mill to provide greater manufacturing capacity.

[10] In 1895 several British producers of sewing cotton yarn opened discussions on how they might combine their assets and markets to protect themselves from increasing competition from overseas.

There is evidence that the Mill stabled horses to be used in pulling wagons of bobbins onto the main tramway line and down to the canal or onwards to the station at Milnthorpe.

[27] In 1895 the company's sewing cotton business was still expanding and a considerable investment was made in the extension of the Belgrave #1 Mill to provide greater manufacturing capacity.

As an example, the 1901 Kelly's Directory of Oldham shows the following: (1) Bagley & Wright Limited, cotton manufacturers and doublers, Belgrave Mill, Honeywell Lane.

Solicitors and accountants working on behalf of the shareholders stated that the use of a reserve fund for the payment of a dividend could be illegal under English law.

[4] To improve management efficiency the meeting decided that the Board membership should be reduced to 12 with half of this number being ordinary shareholders unconnected with either the individual ESCC enterprises or the ATCO mills.

Whenever there was a turndown in the market for sewing thread, the overheads due to running numerous mills, each with its own management and administrative structure, was a liability.

[32] Contemporaneously with this policy of concentration, output was centralised by the connection of the ESCC with Messrs. Coats, and the system of common sales established in 1906 through a newly formed organisation called the Central Thread Agency.

The net profits of the ESCC greatly increased following that step, though, for the most part, this was due to improved market conditions.

The records provide an interesting insight into the wealth of the people on the list because it gives the amount of money for which each person has been assessed to contribute to the Poor Rate of the Borough.

In 19th century England and for several decades after the end of Victoria's reign, an Englishman of wealth and standing could, if required to defend him/her-self in a court of law, request that the jury was constituted from peers on the grounds that they would not be adversely prejudiced.

In addition to his widow and seventeen members of his close family, the cortege included Ralph Bagley and his wife, representatives of Trinity Wesleyan Church and major cotton industrialists from the town.