Samuel Greg
Encyclopedia
Samuel Greg was a British
entrepreneur
and pioneer of the factory
system at Quarry Bank Mill
.
He was born in Belfast
, Ireland
as the second son of a successful merchant. At the age of eight, he went to live with his uncle, Robert Hyde
, at Ardwick Hall
, Manchester
. His two uncles, Robert and Nathaniel, were linen
merchants and, after completing his education at Harrow School
, Samuel joined the business in 1778. He was a utilitarian.
By 1782, when Robert Hyde died, Nathaniel's alcoholism
had rendered him incapable of taking a full part in the business and Greg took over the enterprise. Seeing the opportunities for manufacturing
opened up by the Industrial Revolution
, he founded the Quarry Bank cotton
spinning
mill at the village of Styal
on the River Bollin
in Cheshire
. Greg was quick to adopt any innovation in the rapidly developing technologies of manufacturing and a partnership with Peter Ewart
enabled him to exploit novel developments in water and steam power.
Already a wealthy man, in 1789, he married Hannah Lightbody, a prominent Unitarian
, and set up a family home at thirty-five King Street, Manchester
. She bore him seven daughters and six sons, among them Robert Hyde Greg
, William Rathbone Greg
and the younger Samuel Greg
. In 1796, the family added Quarry Bank House in Styal while retaining their town house. Greg was active in Manchester's cultural life as a member of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
.
Greg built up a workers' colony of modest but salubrious housing on the Styal estate, not out of any philanthropy
but as an essential element in his vision of the efficient factory system. However, his wife Hannah's religious and social views influenced his approach to the workers' welfare.
In 1832, Greg was attacked by a stag
in the grounds of Quarry Bank House. The injury led to his retirement. By this time, Quarry Bank had become the largest spinning and weaving
business in the UK
. Greg never recovered from the attack and died two years later.
Samuel Greg, the second son of Thomas Greg and Elizabeth Hyde, was born in Belfast in 1758. Samuel's father was a successful merchant and shipowner. His mother's family were also wealthy business people. Her brother, Robert Hyde, was a merchant based in Manchester. He imported linen yarns from Ireland and used weavers in Lancashire to turn it into cloth. The finished cloth was either sold locally or exported to America.
After a private education, Samuel Greg joined Robert Hyde's company in Manchester. In 1780, Hyde became a junior partner in his uncle's company. Two years later, Robert Hyde died, and Greg took over the firm. It was now a substantial business with the stock of cloth valued at £26,000.
By 1783 it became clear to Greg that his business needed an increasing quantity of good quality yarn. To guarantee this supply of yarn he decided to build his own textile mill. He chose a deep, wooded valley near Styal as the site of his first mill. One reason for this decision was that the River Bollin provided Greg with the power to drive his machinery.
Greg was a merchant and lacked technical expertise and employed Matthew Fawkner, to run Quarry Bank Mill when it opened in 1784. The mill had cost £3,000 to build and at first Greg employed 150 men to spin coarse yarn on water frames. The machines were powered by a water-mill of about 20 horse power.
In Manchester most of the textile merchants were Nonconformists. Most of Samuel's friends came from this group and in 1789 he married Hannah Lightbody, the daughter of Adam Lightbody, a Unitarian cotton merchant. Hannah shared her father's religious beliefs, and her liberal and humanitarian views had a considerable impact on her husband.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
and pioneer of the factory
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
system at Quarry Bank Mill
Quarry Bank Mill
Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire, England, is one of the best preserved textile mills of the Industrial Revolution and is now a museum of the cotton industry. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building.-Water mill:...
.
He was born in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
as the second son of a successful merchant. At the age of eight, he went to live with his uncle, Robert Hyde
Robert Hyde
Sir Robert Hyde was an English judge and Chief Justice of the King’s Bench.-Early career:Hyde, who was born at his father's house, Heale, near Salisbury, in 1595, was second son of Sir Lawrence Hyde, attorney-general to Anne, the consort of James I, by his wife, Barbara Castilion of Marsh Benham,...
, at Ardwick Hall
Ardwick Hall
Ardwick Hall was the home of linen merchant Robert Hyde, uncle to British textile mill owner Samuel Greg. It was located in Manchester. A Great Universal Stores warehouse now stands on the spot....
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. His two uncles, Robert and Nathaniel, were linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
merchants and, after completing his education at Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
, Samuel joined the business in 1778. He was a utilitarian.
By 1782, when Robert Hyde died, Nathaniel's alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
had rendered him incapable of taking a full part in the business and Greg took over the enterprise. Seeing the opportunities for manufacturing
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
opened up by the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, he founded the Quarry Bank cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
spinning
Spinning (textiles)
Spinning is a major industry. It is part of the textile manufacturing process where three types of fibre are converted into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. The textiles are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. There are three industrial processes available to spin yarn, and a...
mill at the village of Styal
Styal
Styal is a village in Cheshire East, England. It is on the River Bollin, near to the town of Wilmslow.Styal is a commuter village, with access to Manchester. The village is dominated by Quarry Bank Mill and much of its housing is the mill's estate. The mill and the surrounding country park are...
on the River Bollin
River Bollin
The River Bollin is a major tributary of the River Mersey in the north-west of England.It rises in Macclesfield Forest at the western end of the Peak District, and can be seen in spring form, from the Buxton to Macclesfield road. The stream then descends the through Macclesfield and Wilmslow where...
in Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
. Greg was quick to adopt any innovation in the rapidly developing technologies of manufacturing and a partnership with Peter Ewart
Peter Ewart
Peter Ewart was a British engineer who was influential in developing the technologies of turbines and theories of thermodynamics....
enabled him to exploit novel developments in water and steam power.
Already a wealthy man, in 1789, he married Hannah Lightbody, a prominent Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
, and set up a family home at thirty-five King Street, Manchester
King Street, Manchester
King Street is one of the most important thoroughfares of the city of Manchester, England. Once the centre of the north-west banking industry it is now predominantly an affluent shopping area.-History:...
. She bore him seven daughters and six sons, among them Robert Hyde Greg
Robert Hyde Greg
Robert Hyde Greg , was an English industrialist, economist and antiquary.Born in Manchester, the son of Samuel Greg, the creator of Quarry Bank Mill, he was brother to William Rathbone Greg and the junior Samuel Greg. His mother, Hannah, was a descendant of Philip Henry...
, William Rathbone Greg
William Rathbone Greg
William Rathbone Greg was an English essayist.Born in Manchester, the son of Samuel Greg, the creator of Quarry Bank Mill, he was brother to Robert Hyde Greg and the junior Samuel Greg. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh. For a time, he managed a mill of his father's at Bury, and in...
and the younger Samuel Greg
Samuel Greg (junior)
Samuel Greg was an English industrialist and philanthropist.Born in Manchester, the son of the elder Samuel Greg, the creator of Quarry Bank Mill, he was brother to William Rathbone Greg and Robert Hyde Greg. Influenced by the religious beliefs of his mother Hannah, he attended a Unitarian school...
. In 1796, the family added Quarry Bank House in Styal while retaining their town house. Greg was active in Manchester's cultural life as a member of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, popularly known as the Lit & Phil, is a learned society in Manchester, England.Established in 1781 as the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, by Thomas Percival, Thomas Barnes and Thomas Henry, other prominent members have included...
.
Greg built up a workers' colony of modest but salubrious housing on the Styal estate, not out of any philanthropy
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
but as an essential element in his vision of the efficient factory system. However, his wife Hannah's religious and social views influenced his approach to the workers' welfare.
In 1832, Greg was attacked by a stag
STAG
STAG: A Test of Love is a reality TV show hosted by Tommy Habeeb. Each episode profiles an engaged couple a week or two before their wedding. The cameras then follow the groom on his bachelor party...
in the grounds of Quarry Bank House. The injury led to his retirement. By this time, Quarry Bank had become the largest spinning and weaving
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
business in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Greg never recovered from the attack and died two years later.
Samuel Greg, the second son of Thomas Greg and Elizabeth Hyde, was born in Belfast in 1758. Samuel's father was a successful merchant and shipowner. His mother's family were also wealthy business people. Her brother, Robert Hyde, was a merchant based in Manchester. He imported linen yarns from Ireland and used weavers in Lancashire to turn it into cloth. The finished cloth was either sold locally or exported to America.
After a private education, Samuel Greg joined Robert Hyde's company in Manchester. In 1780, Hyde became a junior partner in his uncle's company. Two years later, Robert Hyde died, and Greg took over the firm. It was now a substantial business with the stock of cloth valued at £26,000.
By 1783 it became clear to Greg that his business needed an increasing quantity of good quality yarn. To guarantee this supply of yarn he decided to build his own textile mill. He chose a deep, wooded valley near Styal as the site of his first mill. One reason for this decision was that the River Bollin provided Greg with the power to drive his machinery.
Greg was a merchant and lacked technical expertise and employed Matthew Fawkner, to run Quarry Bank Mill when it opened in 1784. The mill had cost £3,000 to build and at first Greg employed 150 men to spin coarse yarn on water frames. The machines were powered by a water-mill of about 20 horse power.
In Manchester most of the textile merchants were Nonconformists. Most of Samuel's friends came from this group and in 1789 he married Hannah Lightbody, the daughter of Adam Lightbody, a Unitarian cotton merchant. Hannah shared her father's religious beliefs, and her liberal and humanitarian views had a considerable impact on her husband.