Hannah Greg
Hannah Greg | |
---|---|
Born | 1766 |
Died | February 4, 1828 |
Nationality | Great Britain |
Education | Henry Holland's School |
Spouse | Samuel Greg |
Children | 13 (eleven survived) |
Hannah Greg (née Lightbody; 1766 – 1828), with her husband Samuel Greg, was the architect of a paternalistic industrial community in the north of England, a prominent Unitarian and significant diarist. While her husband Samuel Greg pioneered new ways of running a cloth mill, she supervised the housing and conditions of the employees, including the education of the child workers. The Gregs, despite family connections to the slave trade, were considered enlightened employers for the time, and though in the 1830s the apprentice system was questioned, Quarry Bank Mill maintained it until her death.
Early life and education
Lightbody was born in 1766, she was the daughter of a wealthy
Hannah was the youngest of the three surviving children, all girls.[4] The other three pregnancies had resulted in two still births and one perinatal death. She was eleven, studying in Henry Holland's School in nearby Ormskirk,[5] when her father died, leaving her one-third of his wealth, held in trust until she was 21.
When she was sixteen, her cousin
It was probably during this stay near London that her first portrait was painted, now held in the Quarry Bank Mill archive.[4]
Her connection to Price may later have been the introduction to his radical circle for her sister-in-law. With Roger O'Connor, Jane Greg sought out contacts in support of the cause the United Irishmen.[8]
Marriage to Samuel Greg
Hannah Lightbody returned to Liverpool. Her sisters' husbands Thomas Hodgson and John Pares were investing in a cotton spinning mill in
Greg had been born in Belfast in 1758; being known to be Irish was a further hindrance to progression.[10] His father was a ship-owner who had land in the West Indies, and thirteen children to support. He sent two of his sons, Thomas and Samuel, to live with relatives in England; Samuel Greg was adopted at eight years old by his maternal uncle, Robert Hyde, a textile merchant and manufacturer. Samuel started working for the company in 1778, and was a partner by 1782. Robert soon died and his brother Nathaniel retired. At 24, Samuel had a fortune of £26000. He had a loom shop in Eyam, and built Quarry Bank mill to provide a safe source of yarn. Quarry Bank Mill in Styal (built 1784) was profitable and Greg was in need of a wife.[9]
Hannah Lightbody and Samuel Greg married in 1789, and she left Liverpool to make a life in Manchester. In her marital home of 35 King Street, she learned how to manage a household, and was soon entertaining the members of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society after their meetings.[11] In 1800 the Gregs moved to Quarry Bank House, next to the mill.[12]
She introduced her husband, a
The Greg family also had mills in
Quarry Bank estate
Samuel had leased the Quarry Bank Mill at Styal, and took a farm nearby as a summer house in the country for the children. By 1800, the family was living next to the factory.
The
When the mill was extended, the Gregs laid out a
The children were overseen by Hannah Greg, who delivered the services of a doctor, two teachers and two singing masters; in return, she expected weekly attendance at the
In the 1830s the apprentice system began to be questioned. Hannah died on 4 February 1828[1] but Quarry Bank maintained the system until 1847.[18]
Religion and politics
Hannah's life was shaped by
The Lightbody family worshipped under Dr Yates at the
Hannah had firm beliefs that men could not progress outside their God ordained social class. She belonged to wealthy mercantile middle class which in her eyes was the most fortunate place to be. She believed that she had a duty to look after the education of her workers so they could progress.[20]
When she visited her husband's relatives in Ulster in 1794 she was struck by the poverty of the Irish peasantry. In a letter written during this visit she demonstrates a degree of sympathy with Irish radicalism that she may have imbibed from her sister-in-law, Jane Greg: " ... certain will be the day of retribution - England has not so much to answer for - but the crimes of this country and the crimes of old France are crying and will be visited ... to be Irish has always been sufficient to make anything obnoxious to the English government".[21]
On the eve of the Irish rebellion of 1798, the British commander, General Lake, denounced Hannah's sister-in-law (reputedly a leading United Irish woman)[22] as "the most violent creature possible".[23] Jane Greg found refuge at Quarry Bank from loyalist retribution.[24] She was living with Hannah and Samuel when she died in September 1817.[25]
Their daughter Ellen later recalled that in the wake rebellion her parents were anxious lest her aunt's reputation, and letters she held from Lady Londonderry (Frances Pratt), step mother to Robert Stewart, the Chief Secretary for Ireland) revealing a mutual sympathy for the United Irish cause, might bring suspicion upon Samuel, as "the only Irish gentleman in the town".[26]
As pressure mounted on the Greg household with the suppression not only of Irish rebellion but also of radical dissent in England, Hannah wrote to William Rathbone: "we will hold fast to our Enthusiasm whatever betide, and I believe it is at least one means of holding fast our integrity". The prospect of continuing at Quarry Bank near the peaceful village of Styal may have had "particularly strong appeal".[26]
Children and her legacy
Hannah and Samuel had thirteen children, seven daughters and six sons. Four of their sons,
Elizabeth Greg (1790–1882) married
The extended family were also involved in slavery: some with the triangular trade and some with abolition. Hannah's sister Elizabeth married Thomas Hodgson, who took part in the Atlantic slave trade; their son Adam Hodgson was a founding member of the Liverpool Anti-slavery Society in 1822. Thomas Greg, Samuel's father and his brother John Greg part-owned some sugar plantations in the Caribbean, especially Dominica. The best documented is Hillsborough, which included the ownership of 71 male slaves and 68 female slaves. In January 1814, twenty slaves absconded, and were recaptured and punished with 100 lashes for the males and 50 lashes for the females. The incident was triggered by the death of a slave in the plantation-run hospital; the run-aways believed he had been poisoned.[29]
A former director of the Quarry Bank Mill, and author of a book about Hannah Greg, provided this summary of her philosophy and work.[30]
She was liberal and compassionate by nature, and all her friends were active campaigners to stop the slave trade and to move forward the emancipation of the slaves in the West Indies and America ... In reality, Hannah Greg did not say anything publicly about this because, apart from anything else, Samuel Greg inherited slave plantations. She couldn’t be a public hypocrite so she kept quiet.
See also
References
- Notes
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/59911. Retrieved 3 November 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ The descendants of Philip Henry, M.A. : incumbent of Worthenbury in the county of Flint, who was ejected therefrom by the Act of Uniformity in 1662. London : Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. 1844. p. 40. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
- ISBN 9781108036238.
- ^ OCLC 819519867.
- ^ "Townships: Ormskirk | British History Online". british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-7524-9367-1.
- ^ Sekers (2013a), pp. 24-26
- S2CID 144607838.
- ^ a b Sekers (2013a), p. 28
- ^ Sekers (2013a) pp. 33. 36
- ^ Sekers (2013a) pp. 98-99
- ^ a b Bourne 2007, p. 30.
- ^ Bourne 2007, p. 5.
- ^ Rose 1986, p. 36.
- ISBN 0-19-822684-5.
- ^ Bourne 2007, p. 26.
- ^ Sekers (2013a) pp. 160-161
- ^ Bourne 2007, p. 28.
- ^ Gordon, Alexander. "Yates James (1789-1871)". Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ Sekers (2013a) pp. 34-35
- '^ Catriona Kennedy (2004), What Can Women Give But Tears': Gender, Politics and Irish National Identity in the 1790s (Submitted for the degree of PhD University of York, Department of History), p. 146. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/10974/1/425459.pdf
- ^ National Archives of Ireland, Dublin, Rebellion Papers, 620/30/194. Thomas Whinnery to John Lees, 25 May 1797.
- ^ PRONI, Pelham Manuscripts T755/5, Lake to Pelham, 9 June 1797
- ^ Peter Spencer (1989), A Portrait of Samuel Greg. Styal, p. 24
- ^ William Drennan to Martha McTier September 1817, in Jean Agnew (ed. ), Drennan-Mc Tier Letters, vol. 2, p. 705
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7524-9367-1.
- ^ Spinning the web-Places > The Rural scene > The Greg family
- ^ a b Transcript of interpretive board at Quarry Bank Mill
- ^ Bourne 2007, p. 19.
- ^ The true story behind Quarry Bank Mill the inspiration for the Channel 4 drama
- Bibliography
- Bourne, Matt (2007). Quarry Bank Mill and Styal Estate. The National Trust. ISBN 978-1-84359-258-7.
- Owens, Jessica (2010). Quarry Bank Mill and Styal Estate. GCSE Resources (14-05-2010 ed.). National Trust.[permanent dead link]
- Rose, Mary (1986). The Gregs of Quarry Bank Mill: the rise and decline of a family firm, 1750-1914. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521323826.
- Sekers, David (2013). A Lady of Cotton: Hannah Greg, Mistress of Quarry Bank Mill. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: History Press. p. 280. ISBN 978-0-7524-9008-3.
- Westall, Roy (1994). Wilmslow and Alderley Edge ; Quarry Bank Mill & Manchester Airport. Chichester, West Sussex: Phillimore & Co. ISBN 0-85033-867-0.