JOHN RYLANDS
Longford Works
[Fig. 32]
Longford Works - Rylands & Sons warehouse on Oxford Road, Chorlton - on - Medlock in Manchester. Photograph taken by N. S. Roberts in 1926.
Copyright of the Manchester Library
Longford Works were sold to Reuben Spencer for £44,000 by Thomas Cooke[1]. The Mills offered large – scale fancy clothing, shirts, costumes, corsets, skirts, mantles, underwear, umbrellas, furniture, and beddings[2]. With the acquisition of the Mills, Rylands & Sons became the largest clothing manufacture in Manchester. Further, the company employed over 1200 persons[3].
Additionally, Rylands & Spencer launched Longford Works in Crewe in November 1872[4], a small – scale sewing factory and employed mainly women and girls due to the fact that female labour was cheaper[5].
[1]Farnie, D. A., John Rylands of Manchester (Manchester: John Rylands University Library, 1993), p. 91.
[2]John Rylands Library, Special Collections, RYL/1/3/1, Printed paperback catalogue with various warehouses of Rylands & Sons.
[3]John Rylands Library, Special Collections, RYL/1/3/1, Printed paperback catalogue with various warehouses of Rylands & Sons.
[4]Farnie, D. A., John Rylands of Manchester (Manchester: John Rylands University Library, 1993), p. 91.
[5]Farnie, D. A., John Rylands of Manchester (Manchester: John Rylands University Library, 1993), p. 17.