Asa Lees
Encyclopedia
Asa Lees was a firm of textile machine manufacturers in Oldham
, Lancashire. Their headquarters was the Soho Iron Works, Greenacres. It was second only in size to Platt Brothers
.
power loom
s to St Petersberg. He abandoned looms to concentrate on manufacturing preparation and spinning machinery. The Soho Cotton mills was converted to a Mule carriage
works.
Asa Lees became a limited company in 1868, four years after Platts and the shares were quoted on the Oldham share market until the 1890s. It never published its accounts, though its dividends were consistently higher than Platts, and remained profitable in 1928 when Platts made a loss. They were conservative in their trading, dealing only with reliable firms. They did not push for exports. They experienced rapid expansion in the 1880s under the management of Robert Taylor (1823–1912) and production peaked in 1906 when they were employing 3000 men.
, Howard and Bullough
, Brooks and Doxey
, Asa Lees, Dobson and Barlow
, Joseph Hibbert, John Hetherington
and Tweedales and Smalley
merged to become Textile Machinery Makers Ltd
., but the individual units continued to trade under their own names until the 1970, when they were rationalised into one company called Platt UK Ltd. In 1991 the company name changed to Platt Saco Lowell.
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
, Lancashire. Their headquarters was the Soho Iron Works, Greenacres. It was second only in size to Platt Brothers
Platt Brothers
Platt Brothers & Co Ltd, was a British company based at Oldham, in North West England. They were textile machinery manufacturers, iron founders and colliery proprietors, and by the end of the 19th century, had become the largest textile machinery company in the world, employing over 12,000 workers...
.
Early history
Samuel Lees founded a roller making works in the 1790s, it was called the Soho Works. His second son Asa Lees (1816-62) inherited the premises. He expanded the business, exporting fustianFustian
Fustian is a term for a variety of heavy woven, mostly cotton fabrics, chiefly prepared for menswear. It is also used to refer to pompous, inflated or pretentious writing or speech, from at least the time of Shakespeare...
power loom
Power loom
A power loom is a mechanized loom powered by a line shaft. The first power loom was designed in 1784 by Edmund Cartwright and first built in 1785. It was refined over the next 47 years until a design by Kenworthy and Bullough, made the operation completely automatic. This was known as the...
s to St Petersberg. He abandoned looms to concentrate on manufacturing preparation and spinning machinery. The Soho Cotton mills was converted to a Mule carriage
Spinning mule
The spinning mule was a machine used to spin cotton and other fibres in the mills of Lancashire and elsewhere from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century. Mules were worked in pairs by a minder, with the help of two boys: the little piecer and the big or side piecer...
works.
Asa Lees became a limited company in 1868, four years after Platts and the shares were quoted on the Oldham share market until the 1890s. It never published its accounts, though its dividends were consistently higher than Platts, and remained profitable in 1928 when Platts made a loss. They were conservative in their trading, dealing only with reliable firms. They did not push for exports. They experienced rapid expansion in the 1880s under the management of Robert Taylor (1823–1912) and production peaked in 1906 when they were employing 3000 men.
Later History
In the recession of the 1930s, Platt BrothersPlatt Brothers
Platt Brothers & Co Ltd, was a British company based at Oldham, in North West England. They were textile machinery manufacturers, iron founders and colliery proprietors, and by the end of the 19th century, had become the largest textile machinery company in the world, employing over 12,000 workers...
, Howard and Bullough
Howard & Bullough
Howard & Bullough was a firm of textile machine manufacturers in Accrington, Lancashire. They were the world's major manufacturer of power looms in the 1860s.-History:...
, Brooks and Doxey
Brooks & Doxey
Brook & Doxey was a textile machinery manufacturer from West Gorton, Manchester in England. It was founded in 1859. It was incorporated in 1920. The company used the Union Iron Works, West Gorton. The company also had a factory in Stockport....
, Asa Lees, Dobson and Barlow
Dobson & Barlow
Dobson and Barlow were textile machinery manufacturers from Bolton. The partnership was founded in 1851 between Benjamin Dobson and Edward Barlow, building on a production facilities extending back to 1790.-Later history:...
, Joseph Hibbert, John Hetherington
John Hetherington & Sons
John Hetherington & Sons was a textile machinery manufacturer from Ancoats, Manchester in England. It was founded in 1830. Thecompany gradually expanded and acquired a number of factory buildings in Ancoats. It established the Vulcan Works on Pollard Street in around 1856 and left these buildings...
and Tweedales and Smalley
Tweedales & Smalley
Tweedales and Smalley was a manufacturer of textile machinery in Castleton, Rochdale, Greater Manchester, in the United Kingdom. It specialised in ring spinning frames mainly for export.-History:...
merged to become Textile Machinery Makers Ltd
Textile Machinery Makers Ltd
In the recession of the 1930s, Platt Brothers, Howard and Bullough, Brooks and Doxey, Asa Lees, Dobson and Barlow, Joseph Hibbert, John Hetherington and Tweedales and Smalley merged to become Textile Machinery Makers Ltd., but the individual units continued to trade under their own names until...
., but the individual units continued to trade under their own names until the 1970, when they were rationalised into one company called Platt UK Ltd. In 1991 the company name changed to Platt Saco Lowell.
The Premises
- Soho Iron Works - Greenacres SD 939053 53.544°N 2.094°W