The fourth cotton-spinning company
The fourth spinning company 1808 – c. 1839 (exact date not yet known)
Messrs Routh, Middleton & Co bought the mill 1808. (Alexander Routh, merchant, of Heaton Norris) . In Feb 1824, Alexander Routh was the owner when a factory inspectors’ report described conditions in the mill. 74 employees, several under 9yrs old. (LRO QSP 2841/29)
About 1839 John Weld, son of George Weld of Leagram Hall, painted a picture of “Dam Side” [Austin House] from the Kirk Mill side of the pond. (John Weld’s Leagram Estate “Domestic” paintings, Harris Art Gallery and Museum, Preston)