Martha Crossley was born in Northowram in 1775 at Folly Hall, Ambler Thorn.
This business lasted for twenty years and each partner made £1,200 when it was sold up.
She was keen that the Crossley family should profit-share and that their success should be shared with the poor of Halifax.
[4] Her husband died at the age of 64 at Dean Clough, Halifax, on 17 January 1837.
The find was timely as a play, "Woven in the Fabric", had been written about Martha's life and was staged in that year at the Halifax Festival.