The family name is tied to a legacy of transforming the area’s fortunes and the wider city, yet they remain relatively obscure.
Glasgow City Archives contain records stating: “The Houldsworths had a knack for adapting to changing times, always staying open-minded. If a trade seemed to falter, they abandoned it. If it showed promise, they pursued it vigorously. Their wisdom and enterprise paid off.”
Henry Houldsworth (1774-1853) and his elder brother, Sir Thomas Houldsworth MP, were sons of a Nottingham farmer.
As young men, they moved to Manchester and founded a cotton spinning company, which became one of Lancashire’s major enterprises.
While selling their products in Glasgow, Henry saw potential for starting a business on Clydeside.
Henry Houldsworth (Image: Glasgow City Archives)
In 1802, Henry came to Glasgow to manage Gillespie’s fine cotton spinning mill on the Kelvin, near Great Western Road Bridge.
Two years later, Henry owned the mill. He ran it until its demolition, but its insufficient river waterpower proved inadequate.
He shifted his focus to Anderston, the industrial center on the Clyde.
READ NEXT: 175 years of Glasgow’s Anderston history in 15 fantastic pictures
Around 1804-1805, he built a new mill in Cheapside Street with a boiler plant and steam engines.
Powered by a 45-horsepower steam engine, it was much more efficient than older water-driven models.
He introduced numerous improvements in cotton spinning, boosting its growth into a major manufacturing sector in Glasgow.
His son, John Houldsworth (1807-1859), joined the family business, partially managing his father’s mechanical operations.
John Houldsworth (Image: Glasgow City Archives)
He became head of spinning and, along with his brother William Houldsworth, became a partner in Henry Houldsworth and Sons.
By 1831, Houldsworth was the second-largest spinner in Glasgow, with only Robert Thomson’s mill at Camphill being larger.
By the 1830s, Anderston, like Finnieston and the Broomielaw, was a thriving district near the north side of the river. Glasgow was evolving into a major port.
In 1836, the establishment of Robert Napier’s shipyard at Finnieston marked a pivotal moment for the city’s future economic direction.
READ NEXT: The intriguing story behind a unique Glasgow landmark visible from the M8
The Houldsworths saw opportunities in the burgeoning iron trade and started the Anderston Foundry and Machine Works in Cheapside Street to manufacture and repair machinery. The works expanded quickly as cotton spinning declined.
In 1836, Henry’s brother Thomas financed the purchase of a vast tract of land in Coltness.
To their delight, it was rich in coal and ironstone, with 2000 acres of workable minerals.
Within a decade, they had increased their blast furnaces to 20. Remarkably, these cotton spinners from the English Midlands became leading ironmasters in Scotland within ten years.
Eventually, they exited the cotton business entirely and sold the Anderston Foundry.
However, Anderston remained significant to them. Henry Houldsworth served as Provost of the Burgh of Anderston, and the last Provost before its 1846 annexation to Glasgow was Henry’s son, John.
Henry predicted that the city would expand westward and that Anderston Cross would become its center. As late as 1886, John’s biographer believed this prophecy might come true.
John was the leading figure in the business long before his father’s death, although his direct involvement in running the concern is unclear.
John Houldsworth was a Glasgow town councillor and senior baillie. He was reportedly about to become Lord Provost when he died.
He was also a wealthy patron of the arts and acquired several paintings that are now among the city’s treasures.
Source link
