John Owens (1790 – 29 July 1846) was an English merchant and philanthropist, whose bequest helped found part of the University of Manchester.
The range of products had expanded to include umbrellas and various cotton goods made using the outwork system and almost entirely exported to the Americas.
The cheap cotton products ceased to be manufactured but the countries to which it exported now included China, India and the Middle East.
[2] He was a Liberal in politics and a Congregationalist by religion, although in his later life he stopped worshipping in chapel[citation needed] and instead attended the nearby Anglican St Saviour's Church.
[1] Whyte says that both Samuel Wilson Warneford, "a grasping, avaricious, bigoted reactionary" whose riches did much to develop higher education at Queen's College, Birmingham, and Owens - "a parsimonious, work-obsessed, easily offended bachelor, who gave little to charity in his lifetime" - were "disagreeable men, with deep pockets and few friends".
Historian Brian Clapp also believes there is probably no truth in claims that Owens had intended to leave his entire estate to Faulkner, since the final document left a considerable proportion to other people.