This is an updated version of my Foster Brothers Mill posting. I would be grateful for any further information anybody might have.
The Early Years of the Foster Clan (1815 – 1911)
William Foster was born on 10th December 1843, son of John Foster (born 1815), a weaver and his wife Ann, née Burrows, of Lane Bottom, Briercliffe. In 1866 he married Sarah Ann Crabtree. In the census of 1871 they had 2 sons John (my great grandfather) and Thomas and lived in South View Terrace in Burnley Road, Briercliffe or Harle Syke, near Burnley. South View is a terrace of 8 houses, although 18 families lived there, and still in existence although the terrace is no longer named. It is the oldest row in Harle Syke and was built in the 1860s. When first constructed it had an open aspect overlooking farmland. South View has no back street and was built with old fashioned stone gutters. The houses had piped water from the beginning but did not have individual toilets. There were originally communal toilets at the top and bottom of the terrace.
William worked as a cotton mill weaver, probably at Harle Syke Mill as this was the first mill to be built in the area in 1855-56 and is only about 100 yards from South View. The other mills in this area were built after this time. It was built by hand loom weavers, mostly from Haggate who decided to set up their own weaving mill to employ both themselves and their families. Could his father John have been one of these men?
By the next census in 1881 the Fosters were still living in South View. William now aged 37 had progressed in his career to become the manager of the cotton weaving shed. John was aged 14 and already a cotton weaver. There were already 6 children: John, Thomas, Alice Ann, Arthur, Willie and James.
By the time of the 1891 census William and Sarah and 8 children (Alice Ann, Arthur, Willie, James, Mary Ellen, Jesse, Elizabeth and Herbert) had moved around the corner to 14 Queen Street. This is a small two up, two down terraced house and 10 people lived in it! William was by now aged 47 and cotton mill manager. They had 10 children in total.
In the census of 1901 they were still living in the same house, William (57) still a cotton mill manager but now only the 5 youngest children were still at home.
The two eldest sons John (my great grandfather) and Thomas had left home before the 1891 census. John was married to Nancy (née Davis) from Garsdale, Yorkshire and their son Harold was a baby. They lived in Burnley Road. Thomas, also a cotton weaver, was married to Margaret Ellen and had a daughter Martha aged 1. They lived in South View. Both brothers were cotton weavers.
In the 1901 census I was able to find John Foster aged 34 married to Nancy aged 32 with children Harold aged 10 and Florence (my grandmother) aged 5. They were living at 25 Duke Street an end of terrace house just around the corner from William. John’s occupation was cotton weaver.
In the same street at number 15, I also found some of the other brothers; Thomas, his wife and his son Willie (Martha had died aged 3). Thomas was a cotton cloth looker. At number 21 the family of Arthur also cotton cloth looker and at number 5 his brother Willie and family, a cotton weaver.
All the mentioned addresses in Harle Syke were incredibly close and within a couple of hundred yards of each other.
The Habergham Mill Years (1912-1966)
In 1912 Harbergham Mill, Coal Clough lane in Burnley was built and run by Foster Brothers. Foster Brothers was not a limited company, thus there were no records at Companies House.
John Foster, my great grandfather, now lived at 247 Coal Clough Lane and his daughter Florence worked in the mill as a bookkeeper. Here she met Stott Sutcliffe, a cotton cloth overlooker (electrician and ex a.b. seaman) of 30 Godiva Street and they married in June 1919. On their marriage certificate John Foster, father of the bride, was listed as cotton manufacturer.
After Florence’s marriage, Doris May Foster the daughter of Thomas Foster and sister of Willie took over the bookkeeping for the mill.
In the cotton slump of the 1920s all the brothers sold out their shares of the mill to Clarkson and Sutcliffe except Thomas. John Clarkson and Fred Sutcliffe were more or less sleeping partners and left Thomas Foster to run the mill. The building was probably then divided in two and shared by Fosters and A Curedale Ltd. The steam engine which ran the looms of both companies was called Susanna Keighly and was situated (looking from the front) on the right hand end of the building. Some of the other brothers used the money they had made, to buy properties on the coast: John to Morecambe and later Bournemouth, Arthur to Southport, William to Blackpool, Jesse also probably went to the coast. James, Herbert and their sister Alice Ann all stayed in Bristol Street just off Coal Clough Lane. It is not known what happened to Mary Ellen and Elizabeth married an Arthur Nuttall.
The following information comes from a list of Cotton Mill Owners by J Howell in Burnley Library: “On February 13th 1920, Thomas Foster formed the company T Foster Ltd.” (Companies House have records of this company being incorporated in 1919).
Thomas died aged 59 on 6th February, 1929 leaving his wife Margaret Ellen and son William and daughter Doris May. Thomas was buried at Hill Lane Baptist Church and had lived in Carlton Road.
Willie carried on the company with himself as managing director until his retirement in 1957. He then sold his shares to Clarksons who took over the business completely. Willie died on 10th March 1962. His politics were listed as Liberal.
Willie saw the mill through difficult times. Willie’s son Thomas recalls that the mill burnt down one night in the early 1930s and was rebuilt with a proper fire wall between the two companies in the building. The fire had started in A Curedale’s part and spread through the existing partition to Fosters.
According to Barrett’s Directory of Burnley (1914-1953), in 1933 the name had changed to T Foster and Son. Although Thomas does not think that this was the case.
Willie lived at 274 Coal Clough Lane just in front of the mill.
During the war years T Foster Ltd had to move out of Habergham Mill as the site was requisitioned for the war effort and moved to the very old-fashioned Harle Syke Mill. On January 22nd 1946 a party was held at the Arcadian Rooms in Burnley to celebrate the re-opening of T Foster Ltd at Habergham Mill.
T Foster Ltd is listed in a Cotton Trade Directory of the World (date ca. 1955) as below: “Foster (T) Ltd., Habergham Mill, Coal Clough Lane, Burnley. (Private Company.) Constituted: Feb 13, 1920. R/E Pillar No.: G14. Telephone: Burnley 5682. Pay day: Wed. Directors: John Clarkson (Chairman), Willie Foster (Managing), Fred Sutcliffe, Harry Sutcliffe, Reginald Clarkson. Secretary: Gerge Clarkson. Salesmen: W Foster, Geo. Clarkson. Weaving Manager: W. Stoker. Employees: 120. Bankers: Martin’s Bank Ltd., St. James St., Burnley. Cotton Manufacturers. Looms: 416. Cloth widths: 30 to 41 in. Make of Machinery: Pemberton’s; Harling & Todd. Fabrics manufactured: Bag cloths, cambrics, haircords, interlinings, limbrics, muslins (low), pillow cottons, pocketings, printers, shirtings (grey), voiles (mock), wigans. Export: South Africa, French Morocco. Capital – Authorised: £45,000, £1 shares. Subscribed and paid up: £43,600. Loanholders: Nil. Accounts: To Dec 31”
The Weaving Manager Walter Stoker was the son of Alice Ann Foster, Thomas’s sister and husband Walter Stoker. Alice Ann lived in Bristol Street for all her later life. Walter, her son, also lived at the same address for many years. He married Marjory Lee and had a daughter late in life during his retirement near Ormskirk.
On Willie’s death an obituary followed in the Burnley Express on Saturday, March 27th 1962:
‘Ex-head of cotton firm dies A Burnley man who was associated with the cotton industry for the greater part of his life, Mr Willie Foster, of 1 Westbourne Avenue, died in the General Hospital last Saturday, at the age of 66. He was a member of the Manchester Royal Exchange for 30 years. As a school-leaver he joined the firm of Foster Brothers of which his father Mr Thomas Foster, was founder. In 1920 he was appointed secretary of the newly formed limited company T Foster Ltd, whose premises were at Habergham Mill. In 1929 he succeeded his father as managing director and in this capacity he guided the fortunes of the company until his retirement in 1958. The cremation took place at Burnley on Wednesday. Mr Foster leaves a widow and a son.’
Around 1964 his wife, Eleanor, moved from 1 Westbourne Avenue to 24 Bristol Street (a parallel road). Although most of the Foster family had passed away she still had many friends there. She lived there until her death at Burnley General Hospital in 1977. Willie and Eleanor’s son Thomas of Gerrards Cross registered the death.
The mill finally closed in 1966.
The records for the company were destroyed by Companies House on 27.02.1973.
Conclusion
While in the area we also visited the Queen Street Mill, which is a working museum. The noise of the looms was astounding. It is no wonder that people lost their hearing, not to mention the bronchial problems caused through the cotton fibres in the air and the outside air quality which can only be imagined by the blackness of the stone houses compared with those which have today been sand blasted.
I was pleased to see that both Queen Street and Duke Street were just a few hundred yards from open countryside. Even though the houses were small and cramped with so many people, at least they could escape to the countryside. I can imagine, that due to the concentration of mills in the area by the beginning of the 20th century the air quality, even in the country, must have been terrible. Our ancestors were not to be envied and even though they ran a mill themselves they still lived in very modest houses.
_________________ Alison
Plymouth
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