1854 July events or tourist attractions in Alexandria

[thisisharriet]

Many thanks to Rena and Istrice for these links.  The Leven Alexandria site magic - brilliant!

Rena - the link you sent took me to a wonderful page about Leven red turkey dye companies. 
I can't see anything that might take me from that page to a list of people working in the mills, which is what you clearly planned to attach.  Any chance you could have another look for the list you mention? - it sounds very promising.

Wakes Weeks - I had thought of this earlier but had forgotten to follow it up.  Amazing - I have just found a link to a list from a 1978 (!) newspaper which shows his town (Radcliffe) having a two week holiday at the start of July - which is when he died in Leven.  Almost too good to be true if they kept the same fortnight for 125 years?  But I will definitely now follow this date up in the various newspaper search systems.

[Rena]

Many thanks to Rena and Istrice for these links.  The Leven Alexandria site magic - brilliant!

Rena - the link you sent took me to a wonderful page about Leven red turkey dye companies. 
I can't see anything that might take me from that page to a list of people working in the mills, which is what you clearly planned to attach.  Any chance you could have another look for the list you mention? - it sounds very promising.

Wakes Weeks - I had thought of this earlier but had forgotten to follow it up.  Amazing - I have just found a link to a list from a 1978 (!) newspaper which shows his town (Radcliffe) having a two week holiday at the start of July - which is when he died in Leven.  Almost too good to be true if they kept the same fortnight for 125 years?  But I will definitely now follow this date up in the various newspaper search systems.

QUESTION:  "Why might a 54-year-yr-old Baptist grocer from Lancashire have been in Alexandria in July 1854?"

Unbeknownst to you, many Scottish weaving companies also had offices and factories in MANCHESTER, LANCASHIRE and as you have now given us the town of RADCLIFFE, we can see your ancesxtor lived only EIGHT MILES from MANCHESTER. Maybe he had a personal invitation?

Unfortunately you misunderstood why I suggested you read the webpage.  Your original question gave no clues re paternal or maternal surnames but the page did unusually contain many names related to weaving, which MAY have assisted you.

I have now re-read the piece and picked out some names for you to see if there is any connection to your family:-

One of these was John Wylie, a colourist who mixed and prepared dyes for yarn and cloth. Having worked in Turkey red manufacturers in Lancashire as well as Scotland, Wylie is credited with introducing to John Orr Ewing and Co. a method of dyeing which meant that Turkey red goods could be produced all year round. The new method, known as the ‘Steiner Process’, after the Lancashire-based German entrepreneur of the same name, whose firm was also the main rival to the Vale producers, allowed indoor drying of processed cloth. This meant that the previously seasonal production cycle – which only permitted full output during the summer when outdoor drying was possible – was smoothed to one of continuous production.

John Matheson
Robert Alexander
John Todd
James Barr
John Hyde Christie,


Best regards, Rena

[thisisharriet]

Thank you so much, Rena, for all your work on this.
Yes I had totally misunderstood you but I do appreciate that there are quite a few names in that Turkey Red document, and you have kindly listed them for me.
I put 'my' man's name in the very first post on this thread: he was Joseph LAYCOCK.  Not my ancestor, just a distant collateral of a family that is of vague interest.  His wife was an ENTWISTLE.
His children all seem to have worked and died in the Manchester area, and yes most of the sons did rather well for themselves in the Manchester textile business.   
I hadn't realised that there were such very tight links and integration between the Scottish textile centres and Manchester, although I knew that the skilled printers and other technicians moved around a lot between the various UK textile centres - eg the 1851/61 Censuses for Bonhill show plenty of evidence of this for dyers and engravers.
I don't know a lot more about him than that he was born c1800, married 1822, and had a lot of children mainly born to the west of Bolton Lancs, and in 1851 was a grocer in Radcliffe - and died on a known date in 1854, with a will dated in Radcliffe in mid-1851, proved in England 1854.   
So, just to be tidy, I checked for a death reg in E&W. 
Surprise - no death reg.  Which naturally whetted my appetite!
So started chasing for him, and a kind forum member found me a newspaper listing of his death in Alexandria.  Quite a shock.   
Thanks for your keen support with my search for a reason why he was in Leven in July 1854.
Harriet

[Rena]

His children all seem to have worked and died in the Manchester area, and yes most of the sons did rather well for themselves in the Manchester textile business.   
I hadn't realised that there were such very tight links and integration between the Scottish textile centres and Manchester, although I knew that the skilled printers and other technicians moved around a lot between the various UK textile centres - eg the 1851/61 Censuses for Bonhill show plenty of evidence of this for dyers and engravers.

Harriet

We have something in common as my father's line was historically in the Scottish weaving trade, even in Bonhill at one time. Additionally, his father born 1860s was an engineer initially working up in Scotland for the Scottish Caledonian line, then I found him down in Manchester

My research has shown that it was possible that a man with a trade could gain promotions and eventually become employers themselves, if they so wished.  I think being a member of a church allowed different social layers of people to mingle and get to know each other, especially as the parish children would mingle at the parish school.  It must be natural for an employer to promote one of his parish employees to the ranks of manager.   

[thisisharriet]

Rena - How interesting that you have an ancestor who worked in Bonhill.
I agree that social networks such as chapel membership were absolutely key to job-hunting and building of careers. 
Harriet