John Heathcoat and Co
of Tiverton, Devon, Lace Manufacturers
See John Heathcoat, the inventor of the first machine which ever made a piece of lace.
1808 Heathcoat, Lacy and Boden established a lace mill in Loughborough.
1815 Heathcoat started operating in a textile mill in Tiverton
1816 During the Luddite Riots against the use of machinery, the Loughborough factory was attacked and the lace machines broken up. Heathcoat moved the lace business to Tiverton. Heathcoat was joined by John Farey in the entreprise.
Many patents
c.1850 Started making their own Silk Filatures in Italy. This is the only firm who can claim to produce silk nets in all the various stages of manufacture from the cocoon to the finished article.
1948 John Heathcoat and Co (Sales) Ltd was incorporated as a subsidiary
1969 The business was still owned by family trusts; the textile interests of the company were acquired by Coats Patons who bought c.70 percent of the shares; the non-textile interests, accounting for about 13 percent of profits, remained with the existing shareholders [1].
1991 John Heathcoat and Co (Sales) Ltd was renamed as John Heathcoat and Co Ltd[2]
See Also
Sources of Information
- A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland, edited by A. W. Skempton, Mike Chrimes