Another explore on Urbanx, Alex76, James and my Leicester road trip, alas a short one as we strayed into an alarmed area and decided a revisit would be best rather than a chat with Sec or the the local law enforcement.
Nathaniel Corah was born in Barlestone, Leicestershire he trained as a framesmith and started producing garments on a knitting frame at his farm. He made an early venture into the textile business but folded with debts and landed him a brief stint at her majesties pleasure.
Upon his release from prison in 1815, he started up a new company trading items of clothes between Leicester and Birmingham. His business plan was fairly simple, he would purchase locally produced textiles at The Globe public house on Silver Street and trade them in Birmingham. His business had expanded and by 1824 he was able to buy a block of buildings in Leicester's Union Street.
His sons John, William and Thomas joined the firm in the 1830s and its name became N. Corah & Sons Ltd. The Leicester based company expanded over the next twenty years and this required moves firstly to a new premises on Granby Street and then to the famous St. Margaret's Works site, which opened on 13 July 1865. The rapid growth of this company saw it workforce grow to over one thousand people by 1866 at St. Margaret's Works.
During the war half of the company’s workforce was called up and those that remained employees had to cope with ever-increasing orders from the military. Throughout the war the factory produced in excess of 20 million items including over 17 million pairs of socks and almost half a million helmets.
The company’s engineering works was also producing roughly 80,000 gun parts and 30,000 components for tank landing craft. However the war was to take a heavy toll in other ways with 36 members of the workforce who were called up losing their lives in the conflict.
The last decades of the 20th Century in Leicester witnessed the continuing decline of the city's once great hosiery and textile industries and in 1989 the company was taken over by Charterhill PLC with the factiry eventually closing in the 90's
Thanks for looking and keep 'em peeled for the re-visit
Kudos to MD for the site info.
Nathaniel Corah was born in Barlestone, Leicestershire he trained as a framesmith and started producing garments on a knitting frame at his farm. He made an early venture into the textile business but folded with debts and landed him a brief stint at her majesties pleasure.
Upon his release from prison in 1815, he started up a new company trading items of clothes between Leicester and Birmingham. His business plan was fairly simple, he would purchase locally produced textiles at The Globe public house on Silver Street and trade them in Birmingham. His business had expanded and by 1824 he was able to buy a block of buildings in Leicester's Union Street.
His sons John, William and Thomas joined the firm in the 1830s and its name became N. Corah & Sons Ltd. The Leicester based company expanded over the next twenty years and this required moves firstly to a new premises on Granby Street and then to the famous St. Margaret's Works site, which opened on 13 July 1865. The rapid growth of this company saw it workforce grow to over one thousand people by 1866 at St. Margaret's Works.
During the war half of the company’s workforce was called up and those that remained employees had to cope with ever-increasing orders from the military. Throughout the war the factory produced in excess of 20 million items including over 17 million pairs of socks and almost half a million helmets.
The company’s engineering works was also producing roughly 80,000 gun parts and 30,000 components for tank landing craft. However the war was to take a heavy toll in other ways with 36 members of the workforce who were called up losing their lives in the conflict.
The last decades of the 20th Century in Leicester witnessed the continuing decline of the city's once great hosiery and textile industries and in 1989 the company was taken over by Charterhill PLC with the factiry eventually closing in the 90's
Thanks for looking and keep 'em peeled for the re-visit
Kudos to MD for the site info.
