Taylor, Lang and Co
Taylor, Lang and Co of Castle Iron Works, Stalybridge produced looms and other equipment for the cotton industry.
Business founded by Thomas Milburn
1883 Death of John Lang.
1914 Textile machinists. Specialities: mixing and blowing-room machinery, self-acting mules for coarse, medium and fine counts; also waste spinning mule. [1]
1883 TAYLOR, LANG, AND CO., STALYBRIDGE.
DEATH OF MR. JOHN LANG, OF STALYBRIDGE.
'Mr. John Lang, of the firm of Taylor and Lang, died at his residence, in Astley-street, on Monday, at the age of 71 years. His name has been so long identified with the progress of the town, that a memoir of the deceased gentleman, coupled with an account of the progress of the firm of which he was a partner, cannot fail to be interesting. As far back as January 10, 1852, Mr. James Taylor, whose name stands at the head of the firm, but who has been dead some years, was employed as foreman to Mr. Asa Lees, at Oldham. On the date mentioned there was a great lock-out, and Mr. Taylor was consequently thrown out of work. He was, however, a man of considerable resource, and with 21 other persons connected with the iron trade he combined for the purpose of commencing business on their own account in Stalybridge as machinists. Each of the partners deposited £30 or more, and those who could find above that sum received interest. The works, which have assumed such gigantic proportions within the last twelve months, were thus commenced in 1852, with a capital of over £600. Each partner was a practical working man, conversant with some branch of mechanics, and it was agreed that their wages should be 15s. a week until a certain position had been achieved by the firm. The firm devoted themselves to the manunfacture of mules and scutchers, and became noted for that class of machinery.
'Somewhere about the year 1860 several partners left, and the firm was recognised under the name of Taylor, Lang, and Co., and lost its original name of "The Amalgamated Shop.” There were fourteen members when that change took place, and two subsequently died, leaving before the death of Mr. Taylor a dozen members, worth in plant, &c., about £30,000. In 1889 the firm employed 200 hands, but since then it has developed to such an extent that 400 are now in the service of the firm, several of whom at times find employment in Russia and India fixing cotton spinning machinery.
'When ‘the firm first commenced they occupied a three storey building with a small wood shanty at the back that gave employment to one blacksmith, and behind that there was a small foundry, forming an irregular building on the north side of which there was a row of cottages, which were pulled down as the firm advanced, and the site was added to the foundry. Necessarily a more limited selection of produce was made then than at present time, when the firm numbers among its customers concerns as distant as the Imperial Spinning Co., and the Albert Edward Spinning Co., in Hindostan. What constitutes the old premises is now used as fitting shops, and will in the course of a few weeks, when the the transfer of machinery has taken place, be used as storerooms. The contrast between the old and new shops is remarkable, the former being low and ill-ventilated, while the recent additions are of the most airy and comfortable description. At the present time the firm rent a shop in another part of the town, but the recent addition to their works renders it unnecessary they should continue it.
'The growth of the firm originally was very rapid, and four years after its commencement the addition of the opening and scutching department was made, and the firm now turns out Buckley's Patent Openers, which they manufacture in large quantities. Three engines of inferior power were used to carry on the old works, but they have been superseded by a pair of high and low pressure horizontal engines to drive all the mills with ropes made of cotton, in place of the ordinary mill banding. The advantage of this system is that machinery can be driven with from one to six ropes. as may be required, each rope falling into a hollow in the drum, the same as the cartouche on the wheel of a bicycle. In the department we have just mentioned there is another speciality—a machine called a cotton pulling and mixing mixing by which a bale of cotton of 500lbs is opened in five minutes with one man feeding. In 1874 the firm built what is now used as a planing machine room, but it was originally intended it should be used as a foundry. The new engine-house is particularly striking in appearance, the ceiling is panelled and highly decorated in stencil, while the walls are treated with dados and a stencil design, giving it, with the tints which are used, a decidedly aesthetic appearance, more like the interior of a well-decorated chapel than an engine-house. The firm have been anxious to lay their money out as much as possible in the town, and have consequently laid down a Wainwright's engine, with Fernihough's boilers. The whole of the new additions to the foundry have been made by Mr. N. Ives, J.P.
'Passing the engine-house, the new additions begin to reveal themselves in all their magnitude, and the enormous elevation on the canal side begins to be accounted for. The first shop entered is 145 ft. by 60ft., and there are two storeys above that, each of similar dimensions, one of which is used for mule fitting, another for iron turning, and the highest for reserve purposes. Beyond this is the loading place, which follows the other floors, and here thee is every necessary for conveniently placing the packed machinery in the care of the carriers with a minimum of manual labour. The saw mill and packing case department beyond is 170 ft. by 40ft., and is a lofty and airy workplace, in which there is a log saw frame, which cuts heavy beams as they are received from the docks at the rate of 9,000 feet a day. The packing department is necessarily a very important one, and an enormous amount of timber is used for the protection of the mules which go abroad, and substantial as the cases are transshipment frequently makes sad havoc of them before they reach our Indian possessions. On passing through that shop an extensive yard space is discovered at the back, which will permit of still further extensive additions to the premises when they are necessary. The shop in which the first process in the manufacture of the mule carriages is conducted is 170 ft. long by 50ft. wide, and over that there is another storey of exactly the same size, where they are finished and the wood portion is added to them. In this room there are carriages of 150 feet long, and the firm has a contract on hand to supply them ten feet longer still. There is an excellent arrangement in this room in the ceiling for the drying of the timber used in the shop. It has always been the custom for the firm to make the coffins in the joinering department for the deceased members of the firm, and on the occasion of our visit there was a sad reminder of the encroachments of death in the presence of a coffin with brass mounts, bearing on it a brass plate with the simple inscription, “John Lang, died January 29, 1881[?], in his 71st year." Mr. Lang had taken no active pact in the working of the firm for some years, but in his day he was celebrated for his ability in the erection of machinery.
'The iron and brass foundries have been much enlarged in past years, and the cleanness of the castings and the expedition with which they can be turned out is creditable to the workers in that department, who are described as a particularly efficient and steady body of men, and it is well known that if there are any men who possess the capability of erring more than their neighbours it is moulders. The drying room is an interesting establishment, and the hydraulic lift for communicating with the platform at the top of the cupola is equally so, as in fact are all the modern improvements with which the firm has provided themselves with which to execute their commissions in the least possible time.
'In 1872 the business was made into a limited liability company, of the workmen only, and it remains so still, governed by a Board of Directors. We have referred at some length to the progress of the firm, as Mr. Lang's death has occurred when the firm is about to enter upon a new era of increased resource, and we hope increased prosperity, in which the town must necessarily share. The interment took place on Friday afternoon at St. Paul's Church, Stayley, at which there were about forty of the directors of the firm and workpeople. The procession started from the deceased gentleman’s residence in Astley-street and proceeded to the Church, where the obsequies were solemnised by Canon Brown with assistance. Amongst those present were Messrs J. Storrs, A Birchall, Whitehead Lawton, engineer, Tidewell, J. Taylor, J. Harrison.'[2]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ 1914 Whitakers Red Book
- ↑ Stalybridge Reporter - Saturday 3 February 1883