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Edward Longbottom and family, Dyers of Batley, Business Archive

Archive Collection: MS 327

Details

Type of record: Archive

Title: Edward Longbottom and family, Dyers of Batley, Business Archive

Level: Collection

Classmark: MS 327

Creator(s): Longbottom, Edward()

Date(s): c.1831-1885

Language: English

Size and medium: 30 items in 6 boxes

Persistent link: https://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/5939

Collection group(s): Business Archives

Description

The collection has been divided into four groups: pattern books (numbers 1-4); recipe books (numbers 5-19); day books (numbers 20-27); and miscellaneous items (numbers 28-30).


The pattern books contain pieces of dyed cloth or yarn attached to the pages, each pattern being numbered or named. No recipes are given. The recipe books give lists of ingredients and brief instructions for making dyes. The recipes are usually named or numbered. Sometimes a note refers to a number in one of the pattern books, but often a pattern is attached to the recipe. The customer's name is occasionally noted against the recipe.


Day books (daily records of work done) contain material similar to that in recipe books. The date of making the dye is given, together with the customer's name and recipe. There is frequently a pattern attached, which has been cut from a piece dyed. Costs of labour and materials are often noted.

Biography or history

The Longbottom family were dyers in Hunsworth from ca.1831, before moving to Birstall some time between 1841 and 1844. In 1850, Edward Longbottom prepared to lease land in Howley Park, Morley, from the Earl of Cardigan. The lease gave Longbottom the right to establish a dyeworks and to build necessary water-channels and reservoirs. It appears, however, that the lease was not signed until early in 1851. The firm was still in Howley in 1873, but the address had been changed by then to Howley Beck, Batley. Howley is on the border between Batley and Morley. The latest date mentioned in the firm's books is 1885, when the address is still Batley.


Members of the Longbottom family whose names appear in the books are Edward, Robert, John, and James. The name of Edward occurs in books dated 1837 and 1885, so it is possible that this name may refer to two people of different generations.


From at least 1888 up to 1922, a firm called John and Joseph Longbottom was operating in Bradford Road, Birstall, as "army and pattern dyers", but it is not known whether this firm had any connection with that of Edward Longbottom.

Provenance

In July 1973 Dr K Wilson of the School of History gave the Brotherton Library a collection of dyers' pattern books and other material from the firm of Edward Longbottom.

System of arrangement

The MS 327 catalogue is based on an historic inventory, created in 1973. The arrangement of material does not necessarily represent the original order of the archive and it is considered partly processed by an archivist. When making requests to consult, please be aware that there may be discrepancies between description and physical arrangement. The retrievable unit for this collection is file level.

Access and usage

Access

Access to this material is unrestricted.

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