(1800-1876) and (1822-1857)
The Taylors and the Learoyds owned woollen mills in West Yorkshire and played prominent roles in the industrial development of Huddersfield and its environs. Their fortunes and those of their mills mirror those of the region in which they were born and the environment that shaped them.
Huddersfield mills
John Taylor lived and worked at Almondbury, about two miles south of Huddersfield centre. There he built a large woollen mill. Newsome Mill was completed in 1827, with the date carved in stone on its elegant arched entrance. Its clocktower, added some years later, became a well-known and much loved local landmark. The family lived in a stone house beside the mill. The firm later expanded with the development of a new mill in Colne Road, Huddersfield.
John Taylor’s mill was not near a river, like most other mills, so water for the steam engines had to be stored in a mill pond. In very dry weather this had to be filled up from barrels of water carried up by horses. The problem was solved when they employed water diviners who found eight springs near the mill. Pipes were installed and they were able to supply sufficient pure water both for the mill and for the local village.
Edward Learoyd’s mill was in central Huddersfield, near the canal. They specialised in making ‘fancy’ woollens and worsteds. These were fashionable high-quality fabrics that involved sophisticated production processes and could command a high price. Both family firms sold their goods abroad as well as in England. The Great Exhition at Crystal Palace in 1851 was an important showcase and both firms won prizes.
The marriage of Emmeline Learoyd and Frederick Nelson Taylor at Huddersfield Parish Church on 30th May 1866 cemented the union of these two mill-owning families. The Taylors’ millworkers had a day’s outing to celebrate the event. Waggonettes were hired to take them over the bleak moorland of Blackstone Edge to the popular resort of Hollingworth Lake. There they played bowls and billiards and munched their way through a substantial tea. Fred and Emmeline were Hilda Cotterill-Davies‘s grandparents.
Life as a millowner was no bed of roses. Accidents and industrial disputes were common and the ever-present risk of fire was a particular concern. Both the Learoyds’ and the Taylors’ mills suffered serious damage from fires, requiring expensive rebuilding and repair of machinery. Despite these hazards, both firms continued in business until the mid-twentieth century. Their demise came when cheaper imports flooded into England from the Far East.
For more information on this story see: Angela Coulter, A Stream of Lives, Matador Press 2021, available from Troubador Bookshop