Joseph Howe & Sons Ltd, Denton

Joseph Howe & Sons Ltd

Amelia St, Denton
This company is said to have been founded in 1838 and their hat factory occupied the site between Amelia St and Annan St. It was set back from the east side of Ashton Road by a distance of about 80 feet, the land between the factory and Ashton Road being occupied by the Denton & Haughton Co-operative Society store and hall. Slater's Trade Directories for 1903, 1909 and 1911 show that the company offices were on the north side of Amelia St. As Amelia St was originally in two parts, separated by the grounds of Denton Lodge (aka Peacock Lodge) and some fields, this part was, for a while, sometimes referred to as Amelia St West. This company manufactured hats in fur and wool for ladies and gentlemen in distinct departments.

The south-western corner of the dry-end workshop showing the company name, Mar 1985. In the background are the engine and boiler house with chimney.

The company founder, Joseph Howe I, was born at Carlisle, Cumberland (Cumbria), in 1800/01 and his wife, Esther Baldwin, was born at Brecon, Brecknockshire (Powys), in 1809/10. The couple independently moved to London and this is where they met. They were married at St Mary, Newington, Surrey, on the 13 Dec 1829. The couple's first two children were born at nearby Southwark and both townships lie to the north of the Elephant & Castle district. Robert was born in 1830/31 and William on the 27 Aug 1835. Subsequent children were born at Haughton/Denton, Lancashire. John Hodgson in 1839, Mary in 1841, Joseph Cooper in 1844, Jane in 1847, Thomas Daniel in 1850 and Richard in 1853.

There is corroborative evidence to show that the family roots of Joseph Howe were at Annan, Dumfrieshire (Dumfries & Galloway), Scotland, and it is likely that Joseph's parents were from there. It is interesting to note that there is a small township called Howes, which lies to the west of Annan on the opposite side of the river Annan. Hence, Annan St in Denton takes its name form the town of Annan in Scotland. The 1881 Census shows that Mary Howe, aged 40 years, a Milliner from Annan, Dumfrieshire, was visiting her widowed aunt, Esther Howe nêe Baldwin at Denton. John Hodgson Howe married Amelia Wild at Christ Church, Denton, in 1875. However, it is likely that Amelia St was named after Amelia Wood, the daughter of Robert Wood and Martha Peacock. The 1841 census records that she was then at Denton Lodge (Peacock Lodge) with her uncle, William Cooke Peacock. The lodge was situated at the intersection of Annan St and Lime Grove.

At some time between 1835 and 1838, the Howe family moved from Southwark to settle at Haughton. The 1841 census shows that the family was living on Long Ln (now Ashton Rd) where Joseph Howe I was employed as a Journeyman Hatter and not as a Hat Manufacturer or Hat Master. There is, therefore, a disparity in the actual date of the company’s founding.

A Journeyman was a tradesman who had served his trade apprenticeship and mastered his craft but was not bound to serve a particular master, being originally hired by the day. The name derives from the French word for day, 'jour'. In this context, Journeyman means a time-served craftsman entitled to a man's wages. In earlier days, a workplace was run by a Master who employed Apprentices and Journeymen. In time it was possible for a Journeyman to become a Master in his own right but this would require acceptance by the gild who controlled the craft or trade. This acceptance would also be dependant upon the Journeyman providing a certain amount of capital. In Denton, there seemed to be two methods of managing Journeymen Hatters. By the 1880s the Amalgamated Society of Journeyman Felt Hatters was issuing Travelling Tickets (certificates) to Journeymen, which certified that bearers were members of the Society and that they were entitled to 'be asked for', which meant employed on a daily basis. Once the bearers had commenced work, the masters were required to return the Travelling Tickets to the Society. By the late 1890s, Journeymen were issued with a Travelling Book, which provided more details and a log of employment. The front of the book certified the bearer as a Journeyman and subsequent pages logged his various employments. It recorded the town, relevant dates, pay details and the names of Company Secretaries acting for firms who hired them.

The 1851 census records that the Howe family was still living on Long Ln and that Joseph Howe I was still employed as a hatter. However, the decade that followed 1851 saw a change and by the time of the 1861 census, though the family was still living on Long Ln, Joseph Howe I had become a Hat Manufacturer (Master Hatter) employing 14 men and three boys. Sons, John Hodgson and Joseph Cooper were still living at home and they were employed as Hatters. Daughter, Jane, was also still at home and she was employed as a Hat Trimmer. Son, Robert, had married Elizabeth Taylor at Christ Church (in 1857) and was living on Manchester Road, employed as a Hatter. Son, William Howe, married Mary Ellen Jones at St Mary's Church, Cheadle Hulme, in 1855 and was living on Long Ln, employed as a Hatter.

By 1871, Annan St had been built and three dwellings were occupied by members of the Howe family. The three heads of household were, William Howe, a Hat Manufacturer, Joseph Cooper Howe, a Hat Manufacturer, and Esther Howe, widow of Joseph Howe I. Sons, John Hodgson, a Hat Manufacturer, and Thomas Daniel, a Hatter, were living with their mother. Son, Joseph Cooper, had married Mary Ann Woolfenden (a Hat Manufacturer's daughter) at Christ Church, Denton, in 1869.

The 1881 census provides house numbers and as these were odd numbers this meant that the dwellings were on the left-hand side (north side) of Annan St. William Howe was at No. 5, John Hodgson was at No. 7, Joseph Cooper was at No. 9 and the widowed Esther Howe was at No. 11. These four houses were in the form of a terrace at the bottom of Annan St near Denton Lodge (Peacock Lodge).

Joseph Howe I, the founder of the business, died at Denton on the 30 Dec 1868, aged 67 years, and his wife, Esther, died at Denton in 1885, aged 75 years. Joseph Howe II was born at Denton on the 26 Jun 1862 and baptised at St Lawrence’s Church on the 11 Apr 1865. He is the son of William Howe JP and Mary Ellen Jones who were married at St Mary’s Church, Cheadle, in 1855. Joseph Howe II married Ellen Mary Elizabeth Whittaker at the Church of St John the Evangelist, Cheetham, Manchester, in 1892. There was no issue. In 1911 the couple were resident on Annan St, Denton. He died at Blackpool, Lancashire, on the 12 Jun 1932, aged 69 years.

Left: Joseph Howe I (1800/01-30 Dec 1868), founder of the hatting business of Joseph Howe & Sons Ltd.
Right: William Howe JP (27 Aug 1835–3 Sep 1922), son of Joseph Howe I and a partner in the business.
Credit: F Oliver.

Summary of events from 1890 until closure in 1976
In 1890 John Hodgson Howe and Richard Howe retired and Thomas Daniel Howe died at Southport on the 11 Sep 1891, aged 41 years. William Howe and Joseph Howe continued to develop the business until 1912, when William Howe retired. Joseph Cooper Howe (b.1844) was then the remaining partner in the business and he introduced his three sons into the business – Joseph Woolfenden Howe (b.3 Oct 1874), James Howe (b.1877) and Thomas Edwin Howe (b.31 Dec 1879). It was at this time that the business was turned into a limited company under the title of Joseph Howe & Sons Ltd. Joseph Cooper Howe died at Denton on the 3 Nov 1920, aged 76 years, and his son James Howe died at Lytham, in 1922, aged 45 years. The remaining two brothers, Joseph Woolfenden Howe and Thomas Edwin Howe then carried on the business. Joseph Woolfenden Howe died at Audenshaw in 1956, aged 81 years and Thomas Edwin Howe died at Manchester in 1952, aged 72 years.

Thomas Edwin Howe.

On the 23 Nov 1976 a resolution was passed to voluntarily wind up Joseph Howe & Sons Ltd. By this time the company chairman was Thomas Stewart Howe who was born at Denton on the 22 Apr 1910. He is the son of Thomas Edwin Howe (b.31 Dec 1879) and Sarah Ann Cheetham (b.2 Nov 1879) who were married in Ashton-under-Lyne in 1907. In 1911 and 1939 this family was resident on Hyde Rd, Denton. Thomas Stewart Howe married Audrey Arline Eastwood at St Ann’s Church, St Ann’s Square, Manchester, in 1940.

William Howe JP had the honour of being the first Chairman of the newly formed Denton Urban District Council in 1895-6 and he was a Lancashire County magistrate. Joseph Cooper Howe was a member of Denton Urban District Council and one of the overseers of Denton. Thomas Daniel Howe was one of the founders of Denton Cricket Club and Richard Howe, his younger brother, was a Denton cricketer who played for Lancashire at one time. Joseph Woolfenden Howe was president of the British Felt Hat Manufacturers in 1922 and he also did important service on the Higher Education and Library Committee for Denton.

Grave of William Howe JP,
Denton Cemetery, 4 May 2009.

1896 IN MEMORIAM MARY ELLEN, THE BELOVED WIFE OF WILLIAM HOWE, HAWTHORN VILLA. BORN APRIL 20^th 1835, DIED JUNE 16^th 1896. ALSO THE ABOVE WILLIAM HOWE J.P., BORN AUGUST 27^th 1835, DIED SEPTEMBER 3^rd 1922. ALSO LUCY THEIR BELOVED DAUGHTER BORN JULY 11^th 1858, DIED OCTOBER 25^th 1931. ALSO ANNIE, THEIR BELOVED DAUGHTER BORN SEPTEMBER 18^th 1867, DIED OCTOBER 25^th 1942. HOWE

The 1871 census confirms that Annan St had been built by this time and it is understood that the first phase of the hat factory was built in 1868. The various buildings were of brick construction and ultimately they consisted of a group of two and three-storey workshops. The wet-end processes, such as planking, were housed in single-storey workshop, with roof lights similar to a weaving shed, which was situated on the Amelia St side. The dry-end processes, such as trimming and finishing, were housed in a two-storey workshop along Annan St. The boiler house and chimney were located on the Annan St side, behind the Co-operative store and hall.

An interesting aspect of this group of buildings, from an industrial archaeological perspective, is the dry-end workshop on Annan St. This two-storey building was about 150 feet long by 30 feet wide (two bays) and it was deliberately built so that if the hatting business failed then it could easily be converted into a row of terraced houses. At ground floor level the windows alternated with round-headed and square-headed windows and at first floor level they were all square-headed windows. The round-headed windows on the ground floor were built in such a manner that there were breaks in the brickwork bonding below their cills. This meant that these particular windows could easily be opened up and converted into doorways. In the event, the business was successful, so no such conversion to a row of terraced houses occurred.


The hat factory of Joseph Howe & Sons Ltd seen from Annan St. This view of the dry-end workshop shows the alternating round-headed and square-headed windows on the ground floor.	Annan St, Mar 1985. The dry-end workshop is on the left and the residence of Joseph Howe (a descendant of the founder) in the early years of the 20th century was the second of four houses just visible at the bottom of the street on the left.
	An exhibition of hats presented by Joseph Howe & Sons Ltd.


The ruinous factory wall on the south side of Amelia St, with the Denton & Haughton Co-operative store and hall in the background, Apr 2008. The doorway and windows have gauged brick arches. The wall has two distinct phases of construction. The unpainted wall on the right is of compound construction. From ground level up to window cill level a Flemish Header Bond was used. It has one course of Flemish Bond, that is alternating stretchers and headers, followed by one course of headers, followed by one course of Flemish Bond, and so on. That is, there is a row of headers every second course. The white-painted wall on the left is English Garden Wall Bond. It has a course of headers followed by five courses of stretchers and then a course of headers, and so on. That is, there is a row of headers every sixth course.	A doorway in the ruinous white-painted factory wall, Apr 2008. This view shows the English Garden Wall Bond with a row of headers every sixth course.

In 1966, five hat manufacturers joined together to form Associated British Hat Manufacturers Ltd (ABHM Ltd). These were Christy & Co Ltd (Stockport), Joseph Wilson & Sons Ltd (Denton), Battersby & Co Ltd (Stockport), J Moores & Sons Ltd (Denton) and T & W Lees (Stockport). Joseph Howe & Sons Ltd was among those hat companies that remained independent but in a declining market it could not compete and this was the cause of its closure in 1973. The buildings were then used as industrial units for a while but in due course these too either stopped trading or moved away. The entire site was demolished in 2004 leaving only the ruinous remains of a wall along the south side of Amelia St, a section of office wall on the northern side of Amelia St and the lower courses of the workshop along Annan St.

Joseph Howe & Sons Ltd was voluntarily wound up by the passing of a resolution at a company meeting held on the 23 Nov 1976. The company chairman was Thomas Stewart Howe. John Geoffrey Holcroft was appointed as the liquidator and simultaneously he was appointed as the liquidator for Carrington-Bevan Ltd, hat manufacturers. The registered address for both companies was Amelia St, Denton, and Thomas Stewart Howe was also the chairman of Carrington-Bevan Ltd.