One s o c i a l group which was not offen ded by th e Corporation o lig a r c h y was th e m anufacturers. By 1815 th ere were th ree c o tto n sp in n in g firm s in L a n c a ster . By 1834 th e number remained unchanged although th e firm s were d i f f e r e n t and b ig g e r . ^These were th e on ly f a c t o r y - s iz e t e x t i l e works in th e town, and a number o f sm aller u n it s , in e x iste n c e in 1 8 1 5, had d is appeared by 1 8 2 5. A fte r c o t to n }the second most important t e x t i l e manu fa c tu r e was lin e n fo r s a i l c l o t h , b u t, whereas th ere were e ig h t such firm s in 1 8 1 5* th ey were a l l sm all and had co n so lid a te d in to one la r g e - s c a le works by 183^-. The sm all numbers o f employers in v o lv ed and t h e ir lin k s w ith th e West In d ia trade meant th a t th ere was no problem o f absorbing them in t o th e C orporation.
Thomas Mason (1778-18 27) , who e sta b lis h e d th e f i r s t c o tto n sp in n in g m i l l a t White Cross in 1 802, was adm itted a freeman and Common Councilman
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th e v ery same y e a r . H is c r e d e n tia ls were firm ly based on h is p artn ersh ip w ith Thomas Burrow as West In d ia merchants and shipow ners. Thomas Burrow (175^ -1821) i s mentioned in B a ile y 's D irectory o f 178^ as a grocer and l in e n draper and by 1799 was tra d in g e x te n s iv e ly w ith th e West I n d ie s . E n te r in g th e Corporation in 1795,he went on to be Mayor in 1806 and 1815* H is so n , George Burrow (1 7 9 0 -1 8 6 1 ), continued h i s f a t h e r 's West In d ia
t r a d e , in p a rtn ersh ip w ith James Barton N ottage (Mayor 1 8 2 2 ), and, according to S c h o f ie l d , 'handled most o f the d e c lin in g West In d ia trad e im ports o f l a t e r p e r i o d s ' . In 1828 he too went in to c o tto n sp in n in g in th e new firm o f 'Burrow, H iggin & C o.' in th e converted prem ises o f T.H. H iggin & Co. in Moor Lane. George Burrow's economic le a d e r sh ip was reco g n ised in h i s e l e c t i o n a s Mayor in 1828 and again in 1 8 3 3.
Thomas Housman H iggin (1789-1861) had b u i l t th e Moor Lane m il l fo r w orsted sp in n in g about 1819» Like Thomas Mason and George Burrow, T.H. H ig g in had str o n g co n n ectio n s w ith th e West In d ia tra d e and w ith th e
C o rp o ra tio n . H is fa t h e r , John H iggin (1 7 5 2 -18W had succeeded h i s grand f a t h e r as Keeper o f L ancaster C a stle in 1783 and had m arried th e daughter o f Robert Housman o f Lune Bank, S k erto n , a w ealthy West I n d ia merchant. John H iggin was e le c t e d to th e Common C oun cil in 18(& and^in l8l3) was an
Alderman f o r a s h o r t p e r io d .
George Burrow and T.H. H ig g in , l i k e t h e i r f a t h e r s , q u ic k ly s c a le d t h e h e i g h t s o f th e C o rp o ra tio n . Burrow was a Common Councilman by 1 8 1 6 , was t w ic e e l e c t e d Mayor o f th e o ld C o rp oration (1828 and 1833) a n d ,in 1 8 3 5 ,became th e f i r s t Mayor o f th e new. T.H. H ig g in , a lth o u g h a y e a r o l d e r , d id n o t e n te r th e C orp oration u n t i l 1820 and d id n o t become Mayor u n t i l 1 8 3 6 . F am ily and tr a d e l i n k s w ith th e m e r c a n tile o lig a r c h y th u s made f o r e a sy a cce p ta n c e in th e C orp oration o f th e f i r s t th r e e c o t t o n s p in n e r s in L a n c a s te r .
T hree o th e r c o tto n s p in n e r s , w ith o u t such c o n n e c t io n s , had a more d i f f i c u l t t im e . T hese were W illiam J a ck so n , John Greg and R ichard F a r r e r . W illia m J a ck so n (1 7 9 6 -1 87 1 ) was th e son o f a L a n ca ster c o o p e r , and th u s presu m ably w ith th e h e lp o f c a p i t a l d e r iv e d from th e w ine t r a d e , by 1823 had s e t h im s e lf up a s a c o t t o n sp in n e r in p a r tn e r s h ip w ith M ile s Barber i n S t . L eon ard gate and Bulk S t r e e t in L a n c a ste r , and a ls o a t Kirkham. In 1827 t h e p a r tn e r s h ip was d is s o lv e d , and Jack son c a r r ie d on th e b u s in e s s
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by h i m s e l f . U n lik e Greg and F a r r e r ,h e in h e r it e d th e freedom o f th e borough from h i s f a t h e r and was e l e c t e d a Common Councilm an.
John Greg (1 8 0 1 -1 8 8 2 ) was a younger son o f Samuel G reg, a n o th er West I n d ia m erchant and p la n t e r who had s e t up a s a c o t t o n sp in n e r w ith bran ch es
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a t S t y a l , B o ll in g t o n , Bury, Caton and L a n c a s te r . On Samuel G r e g 's death h i s s o n s c o n tin u e d to run th e fa m ily b u s in e s s j o i n t l y , but by 18^0 each so n had bought o u t th e m i l l which he had fo rm erly managed. John G reg 's s h a r e c o n s t i t u t e d th e m i l l s a t Caton and L a n c a s te r . Greg was n o t a freem an, had no c o n n e c tio n s w ith th e C o rp o ra tio n f a m i l i e s , and, a s a U n ita r ia n in r e l i g i o n , was u n a b le to h o ld m u n icip a l o f f i c e u n t i l th e r e p e a l o f th e C o r p o ra tio n A ct in 1828. As a R a d ic a l in p o l i t i c s and w ith c o n n e c tio n s w ith le a d in g M anchester m a n u factu rers, ( h i s w if e was a daughter o f John Kennedy), he had more in common w ith th e r u le r s o f t h a t c i t y th an w ith th e Tory A n g lic a n members o f th e L a n c a ster C o rp o ra tio n . F i n a l ly , he was
d eb arred from e n t e r in g th e Common C o u n c il even a f t e r 1828 by h i s r e s id e n c e a t E scow beck, C aton, o v e r th r e e m ile s from th e borough boundary. When th e
A ct o f 1835 en a b led o u t s id e r s to tak e o f f i c e , p ro v id ed th e y met th e p r o p e r ty q u a l i f i c a t i o n s w ith in th e borough, Greg was a b le to sta n d f o r e l e c t i o n . In 1835 th e refo rm ers took advantage o f G reg 's p r e v io u s d i s s o c i a t i o n from th e o ld C o rp o ra tio n , and he was a t once e l e c t e d Town C o u n c illo r and Alderman.
The t h ir d c o tto n s p in n e r , R ichard F arrer (1 7 8 1 -1 8 6 1 ) i s a more o b scu re f i g u r e . He appeared in th e 183^+ d ir e c t o r y a s a p a rtn er o f Burrow and
H ig g in , but i t i s p o s s i b l e th a t he had worked h i s way up from a m an agerial p o s i t i o n . U n lik e Greg, he was a freeman (1 8 2 9 -9 )» but he n ev er h e ld o f f i c e under th e o ld C o rp o ra tio n . Perhaps he to o was barred on p o l i t i c a l or
r e l i g i o u s g rou n d s, fo r he was e l e c t e d a Town C o u n c illo r under th e new reg im e in 1 8 3 6 .
John Armstrong was a fo u r th t e x t i l e m anufacturer who by th e 1 8 3 0 ' s was a la r g e em ployer o f lab ou r and y e t rem ained o u t s id e th e S e l e c t Body. H is f a t h e r , John Armstrong (1 7 ^ 9 -1 829( was a merchant and t a llo w c h a n d ler who, a lth o u g h a U n ita r ia n , took an a c t iv e p a rt in l o c a l a f f a i r s a s a Com m issioner
ft j'. O Ur If] ft T O f tilO f f l l I f t i ' l
f o r Land Tax, a L ie u te n a n t in th e R oyal L a n ca sh ire V o lu n te e r ^ a n d an
o r i g i n a l s u b s c r ib e r to th e L a n ca ster C anal. L ike th e R a w lin so n s, h i s Quaker c o n te m p o r a r ie s , John Armstrong s e n io r was a b le to occupy a p o s i t i o n o f
l o c a l p r e s t i g e , through m arriage in t o th e lan d ed g e n tr y , w ith o u t any conn e c t i o n w ith th e L a n ca ster C o rp o ra tio n . H is son co n tin u e d t h i s t r a d i t i o n , a lth o u g h e s t a b l i s h i n g h im s e lf a s a s i l k sp in n e r a t G a lg a te r a th e r th an a s a la n d ed s q u i r e . In 1823 he m arried th e daughter o f Abraham Crompton, a U n ita r ia n m anufacturer who had r e t i r e d to S k er to n . Thus Armstrong ju n io r g r a d u a lly came to ta k e up a s im ila r p o s i t i o n v i s —a—v i s th e town and th e C o r p o ra tio n a s G reg. T h eir economic a s s e t s were both a s much c o n c e n tr a te d o u t s i d e th e town a s i n s i d e , and b oth a lr e a d y cou n ted a s n o t a b le s a s a
r e s u l t o f fa m ily c o n n e c tio n s . L ik e G reg, Armstrong became a le a d in g member o f th e new Town C o u n cil o f 1835*
Most o t h e r l a r g e em p lo y ers o f l a b o u r i n t h e p e r i o d 1800 t o 1835 were members o f t h e C o r p o r a t i o n e x c e p t w here t h e y were d e b a r r e d on r e l i g i o u s g r o u n d s . Of t h e i r o n f o u n d e r s , J o h n H e a to n (17 -1 8 2 9 ) and R i c h a r d R o s s a l l (1 7 9 3 -1 8 3 7 ) w ere b o t h Common C ouncilm en f o r a t i m e , a l t h o u g h W illia m
W hewell (1 8 0 6 -6 2 ) was n o t. The n o v e lty o f th e tra d e i n L a n ca ster and i t s f l u c t u a t i n g p r o f i t a b i l i t y may p ro v id e two rea so n s fo r th e s m a ll r o l e p la y ed by i t s l e a d e r s .
The fa m ily i d e n t i f i e d w ith L a n ca ster c a b in e t making, th a t o f G illo w ,