Oldham Limiteds facts for kids
Oldham Limiteds were 154 cotton manufacturing companies. They were started to build or run cotton mills in Oldham, a town in northwest England. Most of these companies were formed during a big business boom between 1873 and 1875.
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History of Oldham's Mills
Oldham started making cotton later than some other towns. It didn't have many huge mills owned by single families, like those in Manchester or Bolton. Instead, Oldham had many smaller companies. These often worked out of "room and power mills," where they rented space and machinery.
Oldham was very keen on the co-operative movement early on. In the 1850s, many groups like friendly societies and co-operative stores grew there. These groups, along with new laws like the Limited Liability Act 1855, made it popular for people to start "limited liability companies." This meant investors would only lose the money they put in, not all their personal savings.
The first company of this kind was the Oldham Building and Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Skilled workers formed it. They wanted to share profits and have more equal incomes. Owning shares in these companies was like sharing in the profits. By 1875, about 75% of mill workers owned shares in these "limiteds." This was a huge number, about 20% of Oldham's entire population!
Sun Mill: A Pioneer Company
Sun Mill in Chadderton was built between 1860 and 1862. It was started by members of the Oldham Industrial Co-operative Society in 1858. Following ideas from the Rochdale Pioneers, William Marcroft set up the company. It had a democratic structure. This was meant to help workers co-operate and have control. The idea of "limited liability" was also part of this co-operative spirit.
Sun Mill was designed to hold 60,000 spindles. This was three times more than the average mill at the time. The company later became the Sun Mill Co. Ltd. They expanded the mill to 142,000 spindles. Sun Mill is seen as the very first of the Oldham Limiteds. Its shareholders were skilled workers. Even though they didn't run the company much, they received a good profit share, often over 12%.
The Big Boom of 1873–75
Workers actively invested in these companies during two big growth periods. The first was from 1870 to 1873, and the second was the huge boom from 1873 to 1875. Many new companies were actually older, struggling private businesses that became "limiteds." When this boom ended, about 100 new companies had been created.
An average worker earned about £1.75 a week back then. A share in a company could cost £5.00. Workers would buy shares in their own mill. They might also buy shares in another mill to spread out the risk. These companies got money from both shares (equity) and loans, usually about half and half. Workers were almost guaranteed to earn more from their share profits (always over 5%) than from a savings bank.
Shares were even traded in local pubs! Oldham also had its own stock exchange. Workers wanted their mills to be profitable so they could get the biggest profits. In 1875, there was a change in how textile workers were paid. This change went smoothly because the share profits were a big reason for workers to agree. Wages went up, and mills made up the cost by using cheaper cotton. William Ewart Gladstone, a famous politician, said in 1867 that working people had become "small capitalists" who employed other workers.
Oldham Counts: What They Mean
Lancashire was known for making very fine, thin cotton yarn. But when the Oldham Limiteds grew, they focused on spinning coarse, thicker yarn. The "count" of cotton tells you how thick or thin it is. It's based on how many 840-yard lengths of yarn weigh 1 pound.
- 1-40 is called a coarse count in the UK.
- 40-80 is a medium count.
- 80 to 160 is a fine count.
So, an "Oldham count" means a cotton yarn with a count between 1 and 40. This means it was a thicker, coarser yarn.
Future of Investment
There were two more booms for these companies, in 1883–84 and 1889–90. In total, from 1858 to 1896, Oldham started 154 "limiteds." This was more than twice as many as in Bolton. The only other place where this type of company was so popular was in the Irish linen trade.
Voting in these companies was fair: one person, one vote. If the company leaders weren't doing well, the shareholders could even fire the whole board!
However, a period of economic trouble from 1890 to 1896 tested this system. The stock market dropped for 48 months. Trade unions, which hadn't been very strong in Oldham, started to offer more security than owning shares. The leaders of the Oldham Limiteds became less open, and the original co-operative ideas faded away.
Keeping the share profits high became the main goal. This meant mills didn't invest enough money in new machines or improvements. The good times ended around 1926. Because Oldham had focused on coarse cotton, it was hit harder than other towns by competition from new industries in India and Japan.
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