William Hulton

Hulton gained a reputation as being tough on crime and political dissent and in 1819 was made chairman of the Lancashire and Cheshire Magistrates, a body set up for dealing with the civil unrest endemic in the area.

[2] In 1819 he summoned the local Yeomanry to deal with a large crowd in St Peter's Square in Manchester which had gathered to hear the political agitator Henry Hunt.

[1] He died at Leamington Priors, Warwickshire on 30 March 1864, and was buried in St Mary the Virgin's Churchyard, Deane, Lancashire on 5 April 1864.

The line ran to the west of his estate from Bolton to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Leigh, enabling him to deliver his coal to market more cheaply.

Until 1831 Hulton paid his workers with tokens or vouchers that could only be redeemed in his company shop, a practice outlawed by the passing of the Truck Act 1831.