James Duckworth
Encyclopedia
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Sir James Duckworth (14 February 1840 – 1 January 1915) was a self-made English
businessman from Rochdale
in Lancashire
who rose from poverty to found a large chain a grocery shops known popularly as "Jimmy Duck's" and entered politics as a Liberal
. He served three times as Mayor of Rochdale, and was elected twice as a Member of Parliament
(MP) for constituencies near Manchester
.
in Rossendale
. His father Ralph was a poor weaver who had been the youngest of fourteen children, and found work in Rochdale. In his autobiography, Duckworth recorded that three weeks after his birth his mother carried him in her arms to join her husband, "begging her way over Ashworth Moor".
Ralph's father died when James three years old, who as the eldest of three sons was set to work at the age of six-and-a-half as a doffer in a cotton mill
. He worked half-time until the age of eleven, when he began full-time work,
(The doffer's job was at the end of the spinning process, replacing bobbin
s which had filled with thread with empty ones).
Fifty years later, he described his experiences to the House of Commons
, when he spoke in favour of the Education of Children Bill, which raised the minimum working age to 12. In a speech which was widely circulated, he attributed his own good health and six-foot stature to the "survival of the fittest
", noting:
By the age of fourteen he was earning 15 shillings per week and was the main support of his family. At seventeen, he joined the Royal Marines
, but served only for about eight months. In his teens he attended a night school, but irregularly, and did not study seriously until he was 20, when he began to attend evening classes and to study arithmetic, writing, grammar, composition and elocution.
When the Lancashire Cotton Famine devastated the local economy in 1862, Duckworth had a wife and child to support. Having considered emigration to the United States
, he escaped unemployment with a job in the warehouse of a wool merchant, and later described this as the turning point in his career.
He later he became town missioner in Heywood
, but his health collapsed and he had to relinquish the job.
.
He started with one pound of tea
divided into two-pounce packets, and the business thrived while his health recovered. In 1868 he and his wife opened their first shop on the Oldham Road, followed in 1876 by a warehouse on Whitehall Street from where he started as a wholesale business. More shops followed, as did more warehouses: the second opened in John Street 1878, and the third in 1891.
The business (which was popularly known as "Jimmy Duck's") continued to prosper and was incorporated in 1895 as a Limited Company
formally called "James Duckworth Ltd", with his only son, also called James Duckworth, as vice-chairman. By 1900, when the company moved its operations to a new four-storey warehouse, it had 80 stores; and eventually it had 180 shops in Lancashire
, Cheshire
and Yorkshire
. The firm moved beyond grocery to include bakery, confectionery, general provisions, bookselling, and even hotel and coffee house keeping.
Duckworth attributed the success of his business to selling for cash at the lowest margins possible, and to selling goods "not because they were cheap but because they were good value". He claimed to be "the first to open shops in country districts and sell goods at the same prices as we sold them at in the town", and said that his methods reduced prices by between "five to seven-and-a-half per cent".
He retired as chairman and managing director in 1905, but retained his seat on the board. On his retirement, he entertained the company's employees at the Town Hall, where he announced a plan to place £2,000 with the company to start a benevolent fund for the benefit of ill or injured employees, or those force to retire through old age.
Duckworth's commercial involvement extended beyond his own family firm. He was a long-serving director of Boots Limited, and chairman of the National Tea Union, of Smallmans Limited in Manchester and of Belfield Limited in Rochdale. His other business interests included involvement in the cotton industry in the Stockport
area, and to newspapers as proprietor of both the Manchester Weekly Chronicle and also of the Cheshire and County News He also bought the Rochdale Coffee House Company, partly for commercial gain but also in support of temperance and to create in each of the taverns a large room fitted with cubicles for the accommodation of working men who needed temporary lodgings.
politician John Bright
. Bright's colleague Richard Cobden
represented the town for six years, and Duckworth was present for Cobden's last speech, delivered in November 1864 in Robinson's warehouse in Rochdale. When the Liberal Party split over William Ewart Gladstone
's Irish Home Rule Bill, Bright and many of the other Radicals joined the breakaway Liberal Unionist
s, but Duckworth broke with his mentor and supported Gladstone.
He had entered local political politics, standing at the November 1884 elections to Rochdale Town Council in the Tory-held Castleton North ward, but did not win a seat. He was defeated a few weeks later at a council by-election in Castleton West, but finally made it onto the council in December 1887 when he was elected unopposed at another byelection in Castleton West. He became Mayor of Rochdale for two years in 1891, and held the office for a further two terms from 1901 to 1903. He was Mayor for a final term from 1910 to 1911. He was also a member of Lancashire County Council
from 1892 to 1898, for Castleton
& Milnrow
.
He first stood for election to the House of Commons
at a by-election in May 1895 in Warwick and Leamington, where he lost to the Liberal Unionist
candidate, Alfred Lyttelton
. He did not contest the seat at the subsequent general election in July 1895
, when Littleton was returned unopposed.
However, two years later he stood at the by-election in November 1897 in the Middleton division of Lancashire
, following the death of the Conservative
MP Thomas Fielden
. Duckworth he won the seat by a narrow margin of only 300 votes (less than 3% of the total), but at the 1900 general election
he was unseated by an even smaller margin by the Conservative candidate Edward Brocklehurst Fielden
.
Duckworth returned to Parliament
six years later, at the 1906 general election
, when he won one of the two seats in the Borough of Stockport
. However, he did not defend the seat at the January 1910 general election, by which time he was 70 years old.
He was knight
ed on 18 December 1908 and died in 1915, aged 75.
Sir James Duckworth (14 February 1840 – 1 January 1915) was a self-made English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
businessman from Rochdale
Rochdale
Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...
in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
who rose from poverty to found a large chain a grocery shops known popularly as "Jimmy Duck's" and entered politics as a Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
. He served three times as Mayor of Rochdale, and was elected twice as a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for constituencies near Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
.
Early life
Duckworth was born on 14 February 1840 at Balladin Brook, near HaslingdenHaslingden
Haslingden is a small town in Rossendale, Lancashire, England. It is north of Manchester. The name means 'valley of the hazels', though the town is in fact set on a high and windy hill. In the early 20th century Haslingden had the status of a municipal borough, but following local government...
in Rossendale
Rossendale
Rossendale is a local government district with borough status. It is made up of a number of small former mill towns in Lancashire, England centered around the valley of the River Irwell in the industrial North West...
. His father Ralph was a poor weaver who had been the youngest of fourteen children, and found work in Rochdale. In his autobiography, Duckworth recorded that three weeks after his birth his mother carried him in her arms to join her husband, "begging her way over Ashworth Moor".
Ralph's father died when James three years old, who as the eldest of three sons was set to work at the age of six-and-a-half as a doffer in a cotton mill
Cotton mill
A cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
. He worked half-time until the age of eleven, when he began full-time work,
(The doffer's job was at the end of the spinning process, replacing bobbin
Bobbin
A bobbin is a spindle or cylinder, with or without flanges, on which wire, yarn, thread or film is wound. Bobbins are typically found in sewing machines, cameras, and within electronic equipment....
s which had filled with thread with empty ones).
Fifty years later, he described his experiences to the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
, when he spoke in favour of the Education of Children Bill, which raised the minimum working age to 12. In a speech which was widely circulated, he attributed his own good health and six-foot stature to the "survival of the fittest
Survival of the fittest
"Survival of the fittest" is a phrase originating in evolutionary theory, as an alternative description of Natural selection. The phrase is today commonly used in contexts that are incompatible with the original meaning as intended by its first two proponents: British polymath philosopher Herbert...
", noting:
By the age of fourteen he was earning 15 shillings per week and was the main support of his family. At seventeen, he joined the Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
, but served only for about eight months. In his teens he attended a night school, but irregularly, and did not study seriously until he was 20, when he began to attend evening classes and to study arithmetic, writing, grammar, composition and elocution.
When the Lancashire Cotton Famine devastated the local economy in 1862, Duckworth had a wife and child to support. Having considered emigration to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, he escaped unemployment with a job in the warehouse of a wool merchant, and later described this as the turning point in his career.
He later he became town missioner in Heywood
Heywood, Greater Manchester
Heywood is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the south bank of the River Roch and is east of Bury, west-southwest of Rochdale, and north of the city of Manchester. The town of Middleton lies to the south, whilst to the north is the...
, but his health collapsed and he had to relinquish the job.
Business career
He was advised that an active, outdoor life would restore his health, so on the suggestion of a friend he began selling teaTea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
.
He started with one pound of tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
divided into two-pounce packets, and the business thrived while his health recovered. In 1868 he and his wife opened their first shop on the Oldham Road, followed in 1876 by a warehouse on Whitehall Street from where he started as a wholesale business. More shops followed, as did more warehouses: the second opened in John Street 1878, and the third in 1891.
The business (which was popularly known as "Jimmy Duck's") continued to prosper and was incorporated in 1895 as a Limited Company
Limited company
A limited company is a company in which the liability of the members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by shares or by guarantee. And the former of these, a limited company limited by shares, may be...
formally called "James Duckworth Ltd", with his only son, also called James Duckworth, as vice-chairman. By 1900, when the company moved its operations to a new four-storey warehouse, it had 80 stores; and eventually it had 180 shops in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, 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 Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
. The firm moved beyond grocery to include bakery, confectionery, general provisions, bookselling, and even hotel and coffee house keeping.
Duckworth attributed the success of his business to selling for cash at the lowest margins possible, and to selling goods "not because they were cheap but because they were good value". He claimed to be "the first to open shops in country districts and sell goods at the same prices as we sold them at in the town", and said that his methods reduced prices by between "five to seven-and-a-half per cent".
He retired as chairman and managing director in 1905, but retained his seat on the board. On his retirement, he entertained the company's employees at the Town Hall, where he announced a plan to place £2,000 with the company to start a benevolent fund for the benefit of ill or injured employees, or those force to retire through old age.
Duckworth's commercial involvement extended beyond his own family firm. He was a long-serving director of Boots Limited, and chairman of the National Tea Union, of Smallmans Limited in Manchester and of Belfield Limited in Rochdale. His other business interests included involvement in the cotton industry in the 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...
area, and to newspapers as proprietor of both the Manchester Weekly Chronicle and also of the Cheshire and County News He also bought the Rochdale Coffee House Company, partly for commercial gain but also in support of temperance and to create in each of the taverns a large room fitted with cubicles for the accommodation of working men who needed temporary lodgings.
Political career
Duckworth had been a reformer since his youth, driven by own impoverished beginnings and inspired by attending the speeches of the RadicalRadicals (UK)
The Radicals were a parliamentary political grouping in the United Kingdom in the early to mid 19th century, who drew on earlier ideas of radicalism and helped to transform the Whigs into the Liberal Party.-Background:...
politician John Bright
John Bright
John Bright , Quaker, was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with Richard Cobden in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League. He was one of the greatest orators of his generation, and a strong critic of British foreign policy...
. Bright's colleague Richard Cobden
Richard Cobden
Richard Cobden was a British manufacturer and Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with John Bright in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League as well as with the Cobden-Chevalier Treaty...
represented the town for six years, and Duckworth was present for Cobden's last speech, delivered in November 1864 in Robinson's warehouse in Rochdale. When the Liberal Party split over William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
's Irish Home Rule Bill, Bright and many of the other Radicals joined the breakaway Liberal Unionist
Liberal Unionist Party
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington and Joseph Chamberlain, the party formed a political alliance with the Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule...
s, but Duckworth broke with his mentor and supported Gladstone.
He had entered local political politics, standing at the November 1884 elections to Rochdale Town Council in the Tory-held Castleton North ward, but did not win a seat. He was defeated a few weeks later at a council by-election in Castleton West, but finally made it onto the council in December 1887 when he was elected unopposed at another byelection in Castleton West. He became Mayor of Rochdale for two years in 1891, and held the office for a further two terms from 1901 to 1903. He was Mayor for a final term from 1910 to 1911. He was also a member of Lancashire County Council
Lancashire County Council
Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It currently consists of 84 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Party, who won control of the council in the local council elections in June 2009, ending 28 years of...
from 1892 to 1898, for Castleton
Castleton, Greater Manchester
Castleton is an area of Rochdale and an electoral ward of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It is south-southwest of Rochdale town centre and north-northwest of the city of Manchester....
& Milnrow
Milnrow
Milnrow is a suburban town within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Beal at the foothills of the South Pennines, and forms a continuous urban area with Rochdale...
.
He first stood for election to the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
at a by-election in May 1895 in Warwick and Leamington, where he lost to the Liberal Unionist
Liberal Unionist Party
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington and Joseph Chamberlain, the party formed a political alliance with the Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule...
candidate, Alfred Lyttelton
Alfred Lyttelton
Alfred Lyttelton QC was a British politician and sportsman who excelled at both football and cricket. During his time at university he participated in Varsity Matches in five sports: cricket , football , athletics , rackets and real tennis , displaying an ability that made him...
. He did not contest the seat at the subsequent general election in July 1895
United Kingdom general election, 1895
The United Kingdom general election of 1895 was held from 13 July - 7 August 1895. It was won by the Conservatives led by Lord Salisbury who formed an alliance with the Liberal Unionist Party and had a large majority over the Liberals, led by Lord Rosebery...
, when Littleton was returned unopposed.
However, two years later he stood at the by-election in November 1897 in the Middleton division of Lancashire
Middleton (UK Parliament constituency)
Middleton was a county constituency in the county of Lancashire of the House of Commons for the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, it was represented by one Member of Parliament. The constituency was abolished in 1918.-Members of Parliament:...
, following the death of the Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP Thomas Fielden
Thomas Fielden (politician)
Thomas Fielden was a British Conservative Party politician.He was elected at the 1886 general election as Member of Parliament for the Middleton division of Lancashire, having unsuccessfully contested the seat in 1885. He was narrowly defeated in 1892 , but was re-elected to the House of...
. Duckworth he won the seat by a narrow margin of only 300 votes (less than 3% of the total), but at the 1900 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1900
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1900*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
he was unseated by an even smaller margin by the Conservative candidate Edward Brocklehurst Fielden
Edward Brocklehurst Fielden
Edward Brocklehurst Fielden was a British businessman and Conservative Party politician.A director of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, he was elected at the 1900 general election as Member of Parliament for the Middleton division of Lancashire, but did not defend the seat at the 1906 general...
.
Duckworth returned to Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
six years later, at the 1906 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1906
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
, when he won one of the two seats in the Borough of Stockport
Stockport (UK Parliament constituency)
Stockport is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
. However, he did not defend the seat at the January 1910 general election, by which time he was 70 years old.
He was knight
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
ed on 18 December 1908 and died in 1915, aged 75.