West St, Denton
The Lancashire Machine-made Felt Hat Co Ltd was incorporated on the 11 Jan 1865. By a special resolution passed and confirmed on the 5 Aug and 26 Aug 1867 respectively and with the consent of the
Board of Trade on the 1 Oct 1867 the name of the company was changed to The Lancashire Felt Co Ltd.
It was established by a number of independent hat manufacturers for the purpose of
producing machine-made felt bodies (felt hoods) because the production of hand-made ones was unable to keep pace with the requirements of the participating hat manufacturers.
The premises fronted West St, which was off the south side of Manchester Rd, parallel with it, and alongside the London and North Western Railway (Stockport & Guide Bridge Line).
Initially the site occupied about two acres of land and there were two brick-built works and yards. Additionally, the company built houses for its employees.
The first book of company minutes starts on the 19 Sep 1866 and the directors present at the first meeting were John Taylor (Chairman), George Marlor, Edmund Evans Mollady and Thomas Bayley.
- John Taylor was a partner in the hat manufacturing company of Taylor Brothers based on Taylor St, Denton.
- George Marlor was a partner in the hat manufacturing companies of James Marlor & Sons and Charles Marlor & Brothers based on Taylor Ln, Denton.
- Edmund Evans Mollady was a partner in the hat manufacturing company of Mollady & Sons based in Warwick and on Howard Ln, Denton.
- Thomas Bayley was resident in Stockport and the 1871 census records that he was then a retired factory manager. On the 5 Dec 1866 Thomas Bayley and John Taylor petitioned to record an invention of ‘certain improvements in the manufacture of hats, or coverings for the head, and in apparatus connected therewith.’
The first general manager of the company was Richard Pinter, who was also a director. He was born in Austria in 1849/50 and he died at Denton in 1916, aged 66 years. He was resident on Manchester Rd. The first company secretary was Joseph Graham.
A pay check issued by the Lancashire Felt Co Ltd.
Pay checks, made of brass, ensured the correct pay of employees when ‘checking’ in and out of the workplace. They often had a hole in them for hanging on a board at the works entrance.
Eventually they were replaced by time recorder clocks, also known as ‘clocking in machines’.
By 1957 the company was manufacturing tufted carpets, known as Lantuft carpets, and carpet underfelts and in 1963 its name was changed to Lancaster Carpets Ltd. This company was still in business in 1983 but subsequently it closed and the site was cleared in 1988 for the construction of a Sainsbury’s Superstore, which was under construction by 1989.
