Letters find inspired book on county's past

New book Lancashire Cotton Spinners by William Hartley.

AT THE height of the cotton boom, Lancashire had everything going for it.

High rainfall created exactly the kind of damp atmosphere that was essential for spinning, and an influx of people from rural areas ensured there was a ready workforce.

The book Lancashire Cotton Spinners: A Fortune Made In The Mills tells how three families - the Mannocks, Prockters and Holdens - harnessed these resources in one part of the county and worked together to build a cotton fortune.

Using a unique archive of letters found in the attic of a Holden descendent, author and family historian William Mellodew Hartley tells the behind-the-scenes story of how the families combined their financial and personal interests - including marriages into the important Stott and Gartside families - to create businesses that succeeded, and which survived longer than many which faltered as the cotton industry went into decline.

Lancashire Cotton Spinners offers revealing insights into how brave decisions, strong characters, creative manoeuvring and pragmatism can combine to allow an enterprise to generate huge wealth and power.

Mr Hartley, who was born in Oldham, is a descendant of the famous Mellodews from Moorside, a family which manufactured velvet in the area.

Although the mills are now demolished, the legacy of the Mellodew family can still be seen in Moorside today.

Author Mr Hartley began writing his latest book in 2009, when a descendant of the Holden family contacted him after finding letters in an attic. Some of the interesting details include a mystery surrounding a member of the Prockter family who wanted to be buried at St Margaret's Church in Chapel Road, Hollinwood, and a model for Vogue who married one of the last members of the Holden family.

He said: "It was a very small world, these cotton-spinning families. I hope people will enjoy it. It shows how families came from nothing to a very comfortable existence.

"Some of the older readers might remember that one of the families owned a department store at Mumps Bridge, Buckley & Prockters."

Mr Hartley will be visiting the Local Studies Centre in Union Street on April 19 to discuss the book. Details of the event will be released in due course.

Lancashire Cotton Spinners costs £8.99 and is available from our Promotions department - just call 0161 622 2130 for more details.