William Sefton, Calico Manufacturer (1789-1852)
By Anne Park
William Sefton was my great-grandfather's cousin. He was born on a farm at Bencock and baptised at the Old Independent Chapel (1). He started life as a weaver and in 1817 married Mary Gillibrand at the Parish Church (2). Only marriages in Anglican churches were legal at this time. He gave his occupation as calico manufacturer, although the Blackburn Directory for 1818 lists him as a warper in Blakey Street. A marriage certificate would allow him to elevate himself prematurely, whilst a directory which brought him trade presumably was more accurate.
By 1820 however, he was a manufacturer. In February 1820 the Blackburn Mall reported a small fire on the premises of William Sefton & Co. in King Street. The fire was discovered at 11.30pm by the watchman and the fire bell rung. The flames were soon subdued and only part of the floor was damaged (3). These two warehouses, numbers 10 & 11 King Street, were used for over a quarter of a century by William Sefton & Co.
In 1824 Baines Directory of Lancashire lists his house as number 12, Paradise Street. This short street at the back of King Street runs from Paradise Lane to Prince's Street.
James Gillies map of Blackburn, surveyed in 1824 for "Baines Lancashire"
George C. Miller, writing in 1958, stated that in "Georgian times Paradise Street was regarded as a select suburban residential area and there are still several handsome houses surviving to remind us of those days. Amongst the residents in 1822 were Henry Hargreaves, attorney, Thomas Shorrocks, heald manufacturer, and William Sefton, calico manufacturer whose residence with its circular fanlight and curiously turned steps, is still an excellent example of the period"(4).
Photograph of 12 Paradise Street, Blackburn
He goes on to say that several 'putters-out' had their warehouses in the vicinity. They termed themselves calico manufacturers and from their warehouses issued warp and weft to local handloom weavers, who brought back the furnished pieces and were paid according to the state of the market.
There were seven other calico manufacturers in King Street in 1824 as well as a cotton spinner and sizer. The Hotel and adjacent Assembly Rooms were on the corner of King Street and Heaton Street. The Hotel (It later became the Employment Exchange) was also a posting house and Blackburn's most affluent citizens held their dinners here. Balls were held in the Assembly Rooms which were lit by crystal chandeliers. Cunliffe's Bank stood next door to the Hotel. Some of the local gentry had their private residences in this street and interspersed between them were the shops of various tradespeople. In 1824 the Blackburn Dispensary was opened at number 87 King Street and was run by John Scaife, surgeon apothecary.
On the 24th April 1826 there was widespread rioting in Blackburn. It was caused by the introduction of power looms. During a period of economic depression many handloom weavers were unemployed. They blamed their misfortunes on the new machinery which could produce cloth more quickly than the handloom.
A mob carrying pikes and sledgehammers destroyed 212 power looms belonging to Messrs. Bannister Eccles & Co. in Jubilee Street. They marched down King Street past William Sefton's on their way to the newly erected King Street Mill of Messrs. Fielden, Throp & Townley, but as the new machines were not yet installed the building was left intact. The Dragoon Guards had to be called in as there was no organised police force.
Another contingent of rioters went to John Houghton's factory in Grimshaw Park. They stoned the troops and destroyed 25 power looms. The mob then paraded the streets of Blackburn boasting that not a single power loom had been left unbroken. The Riot Act was read several times before the Dragoons were ordered to quell the mob. They charged through the crowd striking the rioters with the flat edge of their sabres.
After this incident many people wanted a permanent barracks in the town. A number of prominent citizens living in the town centre signed a petition to implement such a plan, but nothing came of it. William's cousin John Sefton, landlord of the George and Dragon in Northgate, was one of the petitioners but William himself was not a signee (5).
If the economic recession had affected William he recovered. Thirteen years later he bought a house in Richmond Terrace. In 1839 this handsome row of late Georgian-style houses had just been completed on land owned by the Feilden’s. Many prosperous people chose a residence in this area away from the congestion and smoke of the factory chimneys. William was now 50 and one could say that he had arrived. His neighbours included the manufacturers Sir William Forrest, Benjamin Brisely and Thomas Thwaites. There was also a lawyer, a surgeon apothecary, a professor of music and some successful tradespeople. According to the census returns for 1851 they employed servants, housekeepers, nursemaids and governesses(6).
William Sefton must have been an ardent Nonconformist because he was appointed a deacon of Chapel Street Congregational Church (the Old Independent Chapel). Many prominent men of the town were staunch supporters of nonconformity and William would have known them all. Thomas Dutton, founder of the Salford Brewery, was buried in Chapel Street in 1815. After his death his son and grandson carried on the business. The George and Dragon, tenanted by John Sefton was a Dutton house. Roger Cunliffe, founder of the bank Cunliffe Brookes & Co. was a deacon before his death in 1822 and is also buried in Chapel Street. The Pilkington family also had a vault there. James Pilkington (1722-1837) was a cotton manufacturer and the first chairman of the Blackburn Savings Bank. The bank was established in 1831 by 36 leading gentlemen of the town, William Sefton was one of them (7).
Another leading member of Chapel Street was Bannister Eccles. He was at one time its treasurer and deacon. Incidentally, when his factory was inspected in 1823, a serious infringement of the Factory Act was reported, "Messrs Eccles & Co. profess to work only 72 hours but their engine clock is incorrect, and the people work an hour extra everyday" (8). The well-known attorney and cotton spinner, William Eccles, who had a workforce of 1,000 was a deacon from 1821-27. He was a Member of Parliament for Blackburn just before his death in 1852. William Hoole, classical scholar, had his own academy in King Street. It was attended by the sons of the gentry (John, later Viscount, Morley was one of his pupils). In 1837 he was a deacon and later became a Magistrate and Mayor of Blackburn. There were the kind of men who were 'Chapel' rather than 'Church' during the first half of the nineteenth century.
William Sefton retired when he was 60 and his two warehouses in King Street disappear from the directories. He continued to be listed, under the heading 'gentry and clergy' at number 6 Richmond Terrace until his death in 1852. Six years earlier he had made his will (9). His wife Mary inherited all his furniture and household goods 'absolutely'. She also received an income from his 'rents and profits'. If, however, she was to remarry the income and value of the household goods was to be halved. As he had no children the other half was to be divided between his brothers, Nathan, Thomas and James.
The notice of his death in the Blackburn Standard said that he was 'much respected' (10) and funeral cards were distributed to the mourners. Not surprisingly he was buried in Chapel Street. Sadly, the headstone of his grave has not survived the ravages of time. Only that of his parents, brother and uncle can be seen today.
Memorial Plaque for William Sefton
REFERENCES
Abbreviations:-
LCRO - Lancashire County Record Office
BRL - Blackburn Reference Library
(1) Copy of baptismal registers at the Old Independent Chapel, 1777-1857, BRL G11 BLA
(2) Register of Marriages at the Parish Church, LCRO, PR 3073/1/42.
(3) Blackburn Mail, 2nd February 1820, p.3.
(4) Blackburn Times, 28th March 1958, p. 13.
(5) George C. Miller, Blackburn: Evolution of a Cotton Town, (1951), p. 29.
(6) 1851 Census for Blackburn, BRL HO 107/2259.
(7) J. G. Shaw, History of the Blackburn Savings Bank, 1831-1931, (1931).
(8) Factory Report on Blackburn, 1823, LCRO QSB/2841/29.
(9) Wills at Chester, LCRO, WCW 1852.
(10) Blackburn Standard, 22nd September 1852.
Other sources consulted:-
George C. Miller, Bygone Blackburn, (1950)
Brian Lewis, Life in a cotton town, Blackburn 1818-48. (1985)
Acknowledgements: -
Mr. I. Sutton, Blackburn Reference Library, for allowing me to reproduce the photograph of William Sefton's house in Paradise Street.
Transcribed by Shazia Kasim
Article published in The Blackburn Local History Society Journal 1992. Pages 46-48.
Published November 2025
