Author Topic: Alexander Hennah Martin  (Read 696 times)

Offline Fordyce

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Alexander Hennah Martin
« on: Wednesday 04 April 18 18:07 BST (UK) »
In the late 1860s, Alexander Hennah MARTIN became a partner in Gibb, Martin & Smith of Govan, powerloom cloth manufacturers. They operated out of Greenhaugh Weaving Factory, Govan. Is anything known about this firm?

Alexander Hennah MARTIN came up from Bradford abt 1867 where he had been working for S Bottomley & Sons at Buttershaw as a mechanic. He returned there after a stint as a grocer in Leeds. There is a story that his son 'burnt his father's business to the ground' and was sent in disgrace to New Zealand, although whether the arson occured in Glasgow or Leeds I don't know.

Prior to all this, he worked for James BOTTOMLEY, North Brierley, Bradford during the 1850s. James BOTTOMLEY could either be the senior partner in S Bottomley & Sons worsted spinners and manufacturer or my gtgtgdfather James BOTTOMLEY who owned his own eponymous company, a stuff and fancy goods manufacturer, in partnership with his son Cornelius BOTTOMLEY who is my gtgdfather.

Of all the myriad of Bottomleys in Bradford & Halifax, only Cornelius BOTTOMLEY came up to Glasgow, in 1861, being henceforward a power loom tenter. The circumstances might have been innocent but he might have been involved in dodgy dealings after his father dissolved his business partnership with him, then went bust, then gave his son all the remaining stock, ending up in York Gaol before going on trial for illegally disposing of goods after insolvency (all this taking place before more modern bankruptcy laws were introduced in 1869).

Alexander Hennah MARTIN might have been involved in all this. Did he work for Cornelius' father? Did he follow Cornelius to Glasgow?

I've found plenty of facts of his movements to Glasgow and back but nothing on the background and motives as to why he moved. It is said that Cornelius BOTTOMLEY had patents on machine improvements but I haven't found any, but I have found that Alexander Hennah MARTIN had several such patents, both in England and Scotland. Is anything known about him and his business doings in Glasgow/Govan?


Offline DonM

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Offline Fordyce

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Re: Alexander Hennah Martin
« Reply #2 on: Thursday 05 April 18 16:09 BST (UK) »
Thanks DonM. That was a great help.

I've found that Charles Kennedy McQuarrie was sequestered 31-7-1884; he emigrated in 1884 to US with his family and eventually became a farmer in Florida. In 1881 he was a Clerk & Accountant. The sequestration announcement shows that Greenhaugh Weaving Co was based in Helen St, Govan; C K McQuarrie as a partner - but I don't know the other partners' names.

Glasgow street map of 1893 (sheet VI.9.8 ) shows Govan Weaving Factory (cotton) in Helen St - so I conclude that's where Greenhaugh Weaving Co was based. Greenhaugh St is a stone's throw away.

Then I found that Alexander Hennah Martin retired 31-12-1873 and Gibb, Martin & Smith became Gibb & Smith. When Smith died in 1875, the firm became just Gibb & Co. John Gibb died in 1890. He had presumably retired and the firm was renamed from Gibb & Co to Greenhaugh Weaving Co with McQuarrie and others at the helm, only for it to founder.

Cornelius Bottomley was in Bridgeton on the other side of town until some time after 1882. For some unexplained reason, by 1890 he had moved to Govan, at 36 Robert St, working as a tenter, by now in his late 50s. This address is literally under the shadow of Govan Weaving Factory, so he must have been working there. But this is years after Alexander Hennah Martin had left the area to eventually return to S Bottomley & Bros back in Bradford. And also years after Greenhaugh Weaving Co folded.

I am aware that any one factory could have multiple firms operating within, but this does look like one manufacturing company going through several changes in ownership. What rose from the ashes of Greenhaugh Weaving Co?

That's quite an advancement in my findings! Now I need to digest what all this implies.