Charles Roe
Encyclopedia
Charles Roe was an English industrialist. He played an important part in establishing the silk
industry in Macclesfield
, Cheshire
and later became involved in the mining and metal industries.
, the youngest of the eight children of Rev Thomas Roe, vicar of Castleton, and his wife Mary née Turner. His father died when he was aged eight and the family moved to Stockport
, Cheshire. Soon after this his mother also died and Charles went to live with siblings in Macclesfield. According the author of the article in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, it is thought that he was educated at Macclesfield Grammar School
. He then entered the button and twist
trade and became a freeman
of Macclesfield in 1742. In 1743–44 he built a small watermill
on Park Green and in 1748, in partnership with Glover & Co., a larger mill for the production of silk on Waters Green. Roe was mayor
of Macclesfield in 1747–48.
at Coniston
in the Lake District
in 1756 and around the same time at Alderley Edge
, Cheshire. In 1758 he built a copper smelter
on Macclesfield Common using coal from a shallow outcrop outside the town. He entered into partnership with Brian Hodgson of Buxton
, who had coal-mining interests at Disley
. Roe then built brass-wire and rolling mills at Eaton
near Congleton
and at Bosley
. Initially he bought copper ores from the Duke of Devonshire
's mine at Ecton Hill
, Staffordshire
but then extended his own mining interests to Penrhyn-Du in North Wales
in 1763. In 1764 he obtained a 21 year mining lease from the Bayly family for Parys Mountain
in Anglesey
and for a lead mine in Caernarvonshire. In March 1768 a discovery was made of a very large deposit of copper ore, which was known as 'The Great Lode' and which turned the mine into the largest copper mine in Europe.
In 1767 Roe & Co. built a copper smelter on Liverpool
's south shore but following complaints about pollution the works was moved to Toxteth
Park. The company later obtained possession of a colliery at Wrexham
. Both ore and coal were landed at a small purpose built dock below the copper smelting works on Wellington Road, Toxteth. Roe ceased mining at Alderley Edge in 1768 and at Coniston in 1770. In 1774 the Macclesfield Copper Company was formed comprising Roe and 14 other partners. It became one of the three greatest brass companies of the late 18th century.
, with whom he had three children who survived infancy. Elizabeth died in 1750 and Roe then married Mary Stockdale in 1752 with whom he had eight children. Mary died in 1763 and Roe married Rachel Harriott in 1766, with whom he had one son.
Charles Roe was an evangelical
Christian. He invited Rev David Simpson
to Macclesfield and built Christ Church
for him to undertake his ministry. Roe was buried in the family vault in Christ Church. A memorial to his memory is on the south wall of the church.
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
industry in Macclesfield
Macclesfield
Macclesfield is a market town within the unitary authority of Cheshire East, the county palatine of Chester, also known as the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The population of the Macclesfield urban sub-area at the time of the 2001 census was 50,688...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
and later became involved in the mining and metal industries.
Early life and career
Charles Roe was born in Castleton, DerbyshireDerbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, the youngest of the eight children of Rev Thomas Roe, vicar of Castleton, and his wife Mary née Turner. His father died when he was aged eight and the family moved to Stockport
Stockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...
, Cheshire. Soon after this his mother also died and Charles went to live with siblings in Macclesfield. According the author of the article in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, it is thought that he was educated at Macclesfield Grammar School
The King's School, Macclesfield
-Notable former pupils:* Peter Moores, ex-England Cricket Coach* Rev. Thomas Taylor, priest and historian* Alan Beith, politician* Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent of Sky News...
. He then entered the button and twist
Yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...
trade and became a freeman
Freedom of the City
Freedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Rhodesia to esteemed members of its community and to organisations to be honoured, often for service to the community;...
of Macclesfield in 1742. In 1743–44 he built a small watermill
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
on Park Green and in 1748, in partnership with Glover & Co., a larger mill for the production of silk on Waters Green. Roe was mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Macclesfield in 1747–48.
Mining and the metal industry
He started mining copperCopper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
at Coniston
Coniston, Cumbria
Coniston is a village and civil parish in the Furness region of Cumbria, England. It is located in the southern part of the Lake District National Park, between Coniston Water, the third longest lake in the Lake District, and Coniston Old Man; about north east of Barrow-in-Furness.-Geography and...
in the Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
in 1756 and around the same time at Alderley Edge
Alderley Edge
Alderley Edge is a village and civil parish within the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 4,409....
, Cheshire. In 1758 he built a copper smelter
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
on Macclesfield Common using coal from a shallow outcrop outside the town. He entered into partnership with Brian Hodgson of Buxton
Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in Derbyshire, England. It has the highest elevation of any market town in England. Located close to the county boundary with Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, Buxton is described as "the gateway to the Peak District National Park"...
, who had coal-mining interests at Disley
Disley
Disley is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is located on the very edge of the Peak District, in the Goyt Valley, very close to the county boundary with Derbyshire at New Mills, and south of Stockport, Greater...
. Roe then built brass-wire and rolling mills at Eaton
Eaton, Macclesfield
Eaton is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census, the population of the civil parish was 289. Congleton is the nearest large town.-External links:...
near Congleton
Congleton
Congleton is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Dane, to the west of the Macclesfield Canal and 21 miles south of Manchester. It has a population of 25,750.-History:The first settlements in...
and at Bosley
Bosley
Bosley is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 406. The village is on the A523 road about six miles south of Macclesfield...
. Initially he bought copper ores from the Duke of Devonshire
Duke of Devonshire
Duke of Devonshire is a title in the peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the richest and most influential aristocratic families in England since the 16th century, and have been rivalled in political influence perhaps only...
's mine at Ecton Hill
Ecton, Staffordshire
For the village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, see EctonEcton is a hamlet in the Staffordshire Peak District . It is on the Manifold Way, an 8 mile walk- and cycle-path which follows the line of the former Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway....
, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
but then extended his own mining interests to Penrhyn-Du in North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
in 1763. In 1764 he obtained a 21 year mining lease from the Bayly family for Parys Mountain
Parys Mountain
Parys Mountain – in the Welsh language Mynydd Parys – is located south of the town of Amlwch in north east Anglesey, Wales. It is the site of a large copper mine that was extensively exploited in the late 18th century.-History:...
in Anglesey
Anglesey
Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...
and for a lead mine in Caernarvonshire. In March 1768 a discovery was made of a very large deposit of copper ore, which was known as 'The Great Lode' and which turned the mine into the largest copper mine in Europe.
In 1767 Roe & Co. built a copper smelter on Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
's south shore but following complaints about pollution the works was moved to Toxteth
Toxteth
Toxteth is an inner city area of Liverpool, England. Located to the south of the city, Toxteth is bordered by Liverpool City Centre, Dingle, Edge Hill, Wavertree and Aigburth.-Description:...
Park. The company later obtained possession of a colliery at Wrexham
Wrexham
Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
. Both ore and coal were landed at a small purpose built dock below the copper smelting works on Wellington Road, Toxteth. Roe ceased mining at Alderley Edge in 1768 and at Coniston in 1770. In 1774 the Macclesfield Copper Company was formed comprising Roe and 14 other partners. It became one of the three greatest brass companies of the late 18th century.
Personal life
In 1743 Roe married Elizabeth Lankford, daughter of a button merchant of LeekLeek, Staffordshire
Leek is a market town in the county of Staffordshire, England, on the River Churnet. It is an ancient borough and was granted its royal charter in 1214.It is the administrative centre for the Staffordshire Moorlands District Council...
, with whom he had three children who survived infancy. Elizabeth died in 1750 and Roe then married Mary Stockdale in 1752 with whom he had eight children. Mary died in 1763 and Roe married Rachel Harriott in 1766, with whom he had one son.
Charles Roe was an evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
Christian. He invited Rev David Simpson
David Simpson (priest)
Rev David Simpson, M.A. was an Anglican priest who spent most of his career in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England.-Early life and education:...
to Macclesfield and built Christ Church
Christ Church, Macclesfield
Christ Church, Macclesfield is a redundant Anglican church in Great King Street, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It is open to visitors at advertised times. ...
for him to undertake his ministry. Roe was buried in the family vault in Christ Church. A memorial to his memory is on the south wall of the church.