Individual Details
John Hornby
(2 Jul 1763 - 29 Jan 1841)
BIOGRAPHY: Merchant and Cotton manufacturer, of King Street, Blackburn, and of Raikes Hall, Blackbool. Left Kirkham for Blackburn, 1779, to learn the business of a merchant with his brother-in-law, Richard Birley, (q.v.) With part of the capital accruing to him on his father's death (1781), purchased a share in a spinning mill at Scorton, nr. Garstang. Extended this business to Blackburn, in conjunction with Richard Birley. their first warehouse was in Clayton Street, Blackburn, and here they acted as "putters-out" to handloom weavers. About 1809, the partners purchased Derrikin's Field at Brookhouse, Blackburn, and erected a size-house. Their first spinning mill was built on land adjoining in about 1828, and a much larger mill was completed in 1832. From these extended the full Brookhouse Mills organization run by the Hornby family throughout the 19th, and early 20th centuries. Mr. John Hornby's valuation of his estate in 1786 was £3,131, but by 1796 it had increased to £26,242, and was worth c. £200,000 on his death. He was a trustee for the rebuilding of Blackburn Parish Church, 1819, and was a trustee of Blackburn Savings Bank. He was also a leading contributor to the building of Blackpool Parish Church.
Industrial enterprise and endeavour
We have already seen that, by the time Charles Tiplady began recording events in his diary, Blackburn had become a thriving industrial centre. But who were the driving forces behind this success story? It was often the ambition of individual men that shaped the town's commercial and physical growth, establishing family dynasties that were to dominate cotton, engineering and brewing. The lives of three of these men will serve to illustrate that it was personalities, rather than companies, who gave Blackburn's industry that first vital spark.
Hornby is a name synonymous with Blackburn. The family not only produced the first mayor and several Members of Parliament, but also employed a huge workforce at their Brookhouse Mills. But before the industrial revolution, there were no Hornby's in Blackburn - they were a classic 'industrial family' who arrived and thrived with cotton, and John Hornby (1763-1841), as the founding father of the dynasty, was one of the town's first textile entrepreneurs. John's story is not a tale of 'rags to riches', but rather that of a determined young man from a good family of Kirkham merchants. The following extract from the Blackburn Times, chronicles his arrival:
'…he came to Blackburn as a boy of 16 to learn the business of a merchant with Richard Birley [his brother-in-law]'his capital consisted of exactly £25, invested at 5% in the family business. Arrangements were made for him to live with his sister and brother-in-law. He saved £10 out of his first year's allowance and, with gifts and earnings, immediately began to build up his little capital.'
One of the first things he invested in was a local gazetteer, familiarising himself with the area and the arrangement of the cotton trade which, at that time, was still based on the domestic system of handloom weavers producing cloth in their own cottages. Merchants such as John Hornby were essentially middle-men, known as 'putters-out'. They travelled out to the handloom weaver's colonies, providing them with spun cotton (usually on credit), returning later in the month to collect the finished cloth which was then stored or sold on from a warehouse in town. It is important to remember that while the skills of the handloom weaver were in high demand, the relationship between merchant and weaver was an unequal one - the roles of employer and employee were gradually adopted, to the extent that some merchants used their warehouses as handloom 'factories', centralizing production and paying their weavers a wage.
The introduction of mechanised spinning techniques based on the inventions of Hargreaves and Crompton saw the first textile mills constructed in Blackburn. From the profits made as a merchant, John Hornby built one of the earliest spinning mills at Brookhouse in 1828, which initially took its power from the River Blakewater. Powerloom weaving began on the site in 1830. By the time of Hornby's death in 1841, Brookhouse had been transformed into a thriving industrial village, the mills surrounded by streets of cottages built to house the mill workers. Unlike some self-made men of the period, Hornby's benevolence towards his employees and the poor in general seems to have been genuine. Whittle, in Blackburn As It Is (1852) notes:
'He was very charitable to the poor, and he invariably found out where poverty was deserving of assistance - he made a point of upholding and maintaining the wages of the weavers in times of adversity, when the state of trade rendered such protection a temporary loss to the employers.'
Of course, Hornby could afford to be generous. Since 1796 he had lived in a luxurious house on King Street, from where he watched his fortune increase year by year. He died worth a staggering £200,000, having established his family as the premier employer in Blackburn.
Industrial enterprise and endeavour
We have already seen that, by the time Charles Tiplady began recording events in his diary, Blackburn had become a thriving industrial centre. But who were the driving forces behind this success story? It was often the ambition of individual men that shaped the town's commercial and physical growth, establishing family dynasties that were to dominate cotton, engineering and brewing. The lives of three of these men will serve to illustrate that it was personalities, rather than companies, who gave Blackburn's industry that first vital spark.
Hornby is a name synonymous with Blackburn. The family not only produced the first mayor and several Members of Parliament, but also employed a huge workforce at their Brookhouse Mills. But before the industrial revolution, there were no Hornby's in Blackburn - they were a classic 'industrial family' who arrived and thrived with cotton, and John Hornby (1763-1841), as the founding father of the dynasty, was one of the town's first textile entrepreneurs. John's story is not a tale of 'rags to riches', but rather that of a determined young man from a good family of Kirkham merchants. The following extract from the Blackburn Times, chronicles his arrival:
'…he came to Blackburn as a boy of 16 to learn the business of a merchant with Richard Birley [his brother-in-law]'his capital consisted of exactly £25, invested at 5% in the family business. Arrangements were made for him to live with his sister and brother-in-law. He saved £10 out of his first year's allowance and, with gifts and earnings, immediately began to build up his little capital.'
One of the first things he invested in was a local gazetteer, familiarising himself with the area and the arrangement of the cotton trade which, at that time, was still based on the domestic system of handloom weavers producing cloth in their own cottages. Merchants such as John Hornby were essentially middle-men, known as 'putters-out'. They travelled out to the handloom weaver's colonies, providing them with spun cotton (usually on credit), returning later in the month to collect the finished cloth which was then stored or sold on from a warehouse in town. It is important to remember that while the skills of the handloom weaver were in high demand, the relationship between merchant and weaver was an unequal one - the roles of employer and employee were gradually adopted, to the extent that some merchants used their warehouses as handloom 'factories', centralizing production and paying their weavers a wage.
The introduction of mechanised spinning techniques based on the inventions of Hargreaves and Crompton saw the first textile mills constructed in Blackburn. From the profits made as a merchant, John Hornby built one of the earliest spinning mills at Brookhouse in 1828, which initially took its power from the River Blakewater. Powerloom weaving began on the site in 1830. By the time of Hornby's death in 1841, Brookhouse had been transformed into a thriving industrial village, the mills surrounded by streets of cottages built to house the mill workers. Unlike some self-made men of the period, Hornby's benevolence towards his employees and the poor in general seems to have been genuine. Whittle, in Blackburn As It Is (1852) notes:
'He was very charitable to the poor, and he invariably found out where poverty was deserving of assistance - he made a point of upholding and maintaining the wages of the weavers in times of adversity, when the state of trade rendered such protection a temporary loss to the employers.'
Of course, Hornby could afford to be generous. Since 1796 he had lived in a luxurious house on King Street, from where he watched his fortune increase year by year. He died worth a staggering £200,000, having established his family as the premier employer in Blackburn.
Events
| Birth | 2 Jul 1763 | Kirkham, Lancashire, England | |||
| Marriage | Abt 1796 | Of Blackburn, Lancashire, England - Alice Backhouse |  | ||
| Death | 29 Jan 1841 | Blackburn, Lancashire, England | | ||
| Burial | Aft 29 Jan 1841 | Blackburn, Lancashire, England | |
Families
| Spouse | Alice Backhouse (1769 - 1827) |
| Child | Elizabeth Hornby (1796 - 1798) |
| Child | John Hornby (1797 - 1809) |
| Child | Daniel Hornby (1800 - 1863) |
| Child | Rev. Robert Hornby (1804 - 1879) |
| Child | Elizabeth Hornby (1804 - 1807) |
| Child | William Henry Hornby Mp Jp Dl (1805 - 1884) |
| Child | John Hornby Esq. M. A. M. P. (1810 - 1892) |
| Father | Hugh Hornby (1719 - 1781) |
| Mother | Margaret Hankinson (1723 - 1804) |
| Sibling | Alice Hornby (1746 - 1812) |
| Sibling | Joseph Hornby D. L. And J. P. (1748 - 1832) |
| Sibling | Robert Hornby (1750 - 1776) |
| Sibling | William Hornby (1752 - 1758) |
| Sibling | Thomas Hornby (1754 - 1758) |
| Sibling | John Hornby (1756 - 1758) |
| Sibling | Thomas Hornby (1759 - 1824) |
| Sibling | William Hornby (1761 - 1824) |
| Sibling | Rev. Hugh Hornby M. A. (1765 - 1847) |
| Sibling | Elizabeth Hornby (1771 - 1771) |