Richard Harwood (1815 - 1887)

Born 30 Dec 1815 in Deane, Lancashire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Alice (Cunliffe) Harwood — married 1839 in Bolton, Lancashire, England

Descendants

Died 13 Oct 1887 at age 71 in Grosvenor Hotel, London, England

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Biography

Richard Harwood is Notable.

Prominent mill owner; Mayor of Bolton 1863-4; Mayor of Salford 1873-4.

He began his career as a cabinet maker, upholsterer and undertaker at 20, Silverwell Street. He then went into partnership with James Taylor at Brownlow Fold Mills. In 1864 he severed the partnership, the company then becoming Richard Harwood & Son.
He represented Church Ward on the town council,1853-62, and was Alderman for West Ward 1862-74. On 24 May 1869 he was appointed County Magistrate. He was Chairman of the Markets Committee for 7 years and laid the cornerstone of the Fish Market. He cut the first sod for the construction of Bolton Corporation's Wayoh Reservoir at Turton.
He was President of the Mechanics Institute 1867. He established Brownlow Fold Institute. He was a supporter of Luke Boardman's Ragged School and when he became Mayor the children there presented the Mayoress with an embroidered picture of the school that they had made.
He was described as being an "Ardent worker for the cause of the working men" and over 5,000 of them collected money for a portrait of Harwood in his Mayoral Robes, painted by T. Walley. An advocate of Free Trade, he was a frequent speaker on the reform platform and in the Temperance Hall.
He later moved to Pendleton and became a member of Salford Council. He was Alderman and Magistrate for Salford from 1876, serving as Mayor of Salford 1873-76. As Mayor of Salford he was presented with a sword by the Sultan of Zanzibar. A bust of Harwood was placed in Salford Council Chamber in 1878. He was a Unitarian, attending Bank Street Chapel and was Chairman of East Lancashire Unitarian Mission and later North East Lancashire Unitarian Mission. - From Boltonsmayors.org.uk web site.

"Richard... was born in 1816, and he too grew up to help on the farm whilst obtaining his education. Both brothers were ambitious and they did not consider that farm work gave them the scope they needed. Each was destined to found an important firm in our local cotton trade, and each was to become Mayor of Bolton. "In the year 1837, when Queen Victoria ascended the throne... Richard was 21, and he set up in business for himself. He had served his apprenticeship in cabinet making and he rented part of the premises in Bradshawgate now occupied by Messrs. Waddington. In addition to cabinet making, he became a funeral undertaker. He, too, was successful and both brothers soon found the need to move to more convenient premises.
"Richard... moved to premises at the corner of Silverwell St. and Bradshawgate. He, too, had married and they had a family of three sons and a daughter. William, the eldest, died as a young man, but George survived to be Member of Parliament for Bolton for 17 years, and Henry died during the present year. The daughter, Margaret, died at a comparatively young age.
"With the 1850's came a great change in the family's affairs... Richard gave up his Bradshawgate business and entered into a partnership with James Taylor, then of the firm of Taylor and Galloway, brass founders, of Moor Lane and Bank St., and residing in Mawdsley St. and they built a spinning mill in Brownlow Fold, adding a second soon afterwards...
"At Brownlow Fold another change was being planned. The sons of both partners were growing up. Richard Harwood's two eldest sons, William and George and James Taylor's, Charles and Frank, were taken into the firm and it was then found more convenient to dissolve the partnership. Each family took one of the two mills, and the firm of Harwood and Taylor ceased to exist. Unfortunately, about this time, William the eldest of Richard's sons, died and the second son, George was taken into partnership in the new firm of Richard Harwood and Son. 5,000 working men of Bolton subscribed in 1865 to present Richard with his portrait in oils as a token of their esteem.
"[In the 1870s] Richard removed from his former residence at West Bank, Chorley New Rd to Buile Hill, Pendleton and was elected to the Salford Town Council. On account of his experience in Bolton, he was quickly made alderman and in 1873, he became Mayor of Salford, so that in a decade he was mayor of two important Lancashire industrial centres. He continued as Mayor of Salford for three years, being elected unanimously on each occasion. He resigned his aldermancy in Bolton in 1874, having served in the Town Council for 21 years. In 1878 a bust of him was placed in Salford Town Hall and a replica given to him.
"By this time the firm of Richard Harwood and Son had erected a second mill at Brownlow Fold but the old mill was burned down in 1885. It was not rebuilt for some years. Two years later, in 1887, Richard, the head of that firm died at the Grosvenor Hotel, London, at the age of 71. He had been at Menton in the South of France, when an earthquake occurred. He was to have left for England early on that day but unfortunately he was prevented, and he was much affected by the earthquake, suffering from nervousness. He, too, was a keen supporter of Bank St. Chapel, being a trustee and a liberal contributor to its funds. He was president of the Bolton Liberal Association for many years and of the Mechanics' Institution for three years, in addition to his great local government service to both Bolton and Salford.
– Pioneers of the Cotton Trade – The Harwood Family (Bolton Journal and Guardian, Friday, June 23, 1933)

Sources

• International Genealogical Index (FamilySearch.org).
• UK Census, 1871.
• Index to England & Wales General Register of Births, Marriages & Deaths.
• Family registers in notebook passed down in the Burgess/Allen family.
• Bolton's Mayors web site [1]