Volume in memory of Sir Elkanah Armitage of Hope Hall, Pendleton (1794-1876)
1859-1884
Archives
Total copies: 1
Volume includes obituaries and accounts of the funeral from various newspapers 1876, letters of condolence 1876-1877, newspaper cuttings about scholarships granted to Manchester Grammar School 1878, 1884.
Place:/Pendleton/Eccles/Lancashire/England
Title:
Volume in memory of Sir Elkanah Armitage of Hope Hall, Pendleton (1794-1876)
Date of work:
1859-1884
Reference number:
GB127.M268
Level of description:
Fonds
Custodial history:
Born in humble circumstances in Failsworth, Elkanah Armitage began work at eight years old as a handloom weaver. After twenty years with the same employer he set up business on his own account. In 1830 he was the first to use the power loom in the manufacture of fancy cotton prints in a small mill at Charlestown, Pendleton, and from this developed the successful firm of Elkanah Armitage and Sons, cotton spinners.
He also took an active part in public life. He was a member of the first Council of the Borough of Manchester, 1838 and remained a councillor till 1865, being twice Mayor, 1846-1847, and 1847-1848. He was seventeen years Chairman of the Waterworks Committee and responsible for the construction of the Woodhead reservoirs. In 1840 he became a borough magistrate and was knighted in 1848 in recognition of his success at keeping the peace in Manchester during the agitations of that year. In 1866 he became High Sheriff of Lancashire. He was also a county magistrate and deputy lieutenant. He was a member of the Anti-Corn Law League and as a Liberal unsuccessfully stood for Parliament in the Salford election of 1857. He was one of twelve trustees of Manchester Grammar School appointed on its reorganisation by the Court of Chancery in 1849 and acted as chairman until 1876. He was also a trustee of the Royal Infirmary and a member of the Central Relief Committee during the Cotton Famine, 1862-1864. In religion he was a Congregationalist, being a member of Grosvenor St and Mosley St Congregational churches and a deacon of Eccles Congregational Church.
Source:
This volume was given to the Library by one of Elkanah Armitage's descendants, Dr A G Armitage of Manurewa, Auckland, New Zealand, May 1977.
Access restrictions:
Unrestricted
Use restrictions:
Unrestricted
Record types:
Manchester Archives and Local Studies
Language:
English
Record number:
7192557