The Thompsons - Mill Owners and Merchants
The first of the three Thompson owned mills was built by William Thompson and
his brothers at Calverley near the River Aire. This was Low Mill erected in
1796.
In 1798 Francis Thompson, youngest of the seven Thompson brothers, went to the
USA. selling not only family made cloth but also any other woollen or cotton
cloth which was given to him. A Quaker aged 30, he made Quaker friends in both
Philadelphia and New York. He returned home in 1801 but went back accompanied by
his nephew Jeremiah.
In 1808 Jeremiah came back to England. The older generation were dying so he and
his brother William took over the business as Jeremiah and William Thompson,
Woollen Manufacturers and Merchants. William was the resident partner managing
the production of pieces and supplementing the Rawdon supply by buying goods
privately or in cloth halls.
But in 1808 another interesting connection was to be established with a visit to
the Thompsons by Samuel Marsden. This clergyman had been born in Farsley in
1764. He was the son of a small farmer, but fortunate enough in those days to
get an education which led him to St. John’s College Cambridge where he
studied for the ministry of the Church of England. In 1793 he was appointed
chaplain to the penal settlement of Botany Bay in New South Wales.
It was here that the farmer’s son established a farm with a particular
interest in rearing sheep and this soon began to prosper. Coming back to England
in 1808 he brought some wool with him, which is described by William Thompson as
"the first wool ever to come from the colony". In a letter William
states that after Samuel Marsden had dined with his father they went down to
Park Mill and there he was asked to make "a piece of black cloth" from
the wool Marsden had brought with him and turn it into a suit for the owner to
wear. Marsden was so impressed with this that he wore it when visiting George
III. The king admired it so much that he asked to have a coat made from the same
cloth.
The story goes on that His Majesty was so impressed with the importance of wool
to the colony of New South Wales that he made a gift of five or six of his best
merino sheep at Windsor to Samuel. The latter reports in a letter that he landed
"four and two lambs" in Australia.
Disappointingly the details noted above of Marsden’s visit and the kings gift
of sheep have not been confirmed by the Royal Archives at Windsor. Their records
indicate that in 1804 six of George III’s flock of merinos were sold to a
Captain John MacArthur, who managed to get them to Australia, and he is
generally credited with founding the Australian wool trade. The archives do
state, however, that it is perfectly possible that Samuel visited George III in
1808 and may have bought or been given some sheep but they have no record of
these events. Ref.26
An article in the Airedale and Wharfedale Observer of Friday 30th.
December 1904 states that in 1811 the first consignment of wool reached England
and was sold in London.
The Thompsons also traded with the USA. In 1817 we find Francis and Jeremiah
Thompson establishing, along with Isaac Wright another Quaker, and Benjamin
Marshall whose wife was a Quaker, the Black Ball Line, the first of the New York
to Liverpool packets. John Cox, author of "Quakerism in the City of New
York 1637-1930", describes Jeremiah Thompson as the largest importer of
cotton into Liverpool at one time. Living there, Jeremiah was Clerk of New York
Monthly Meeting 1814-1824. He had been transferred from Knaresborough Monthly
Meeting in 1801. Back in Yorkshire the Thompsons were described in the Leeds
Mercury as employing " a vast number of families" (1827).
In 1833 we find the Thompsons of Larkfield, Park and Low Mills being interviewed
by factory commissioners, seeking information on working conditions in the
mills.
All three mills were steam driven and all employed children under ten years of
age, though these were a minority. None of the Thompsons sanctioned corporal
punishment, but J.R. and J. Thompson at Low Mill are adamant that an eleven hour
day was "never found to injure the health of any children employed by us".
Low Mill is now called Woodbottom Mills.The mill pond is all that remains of
Park Mill and Larkfield Mill has gone and is built upon.