Descendants of Francis HOULDSWORTH

Notes

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14. Martha COOPE

Derbyshire Births And Baptisms
Martha Coop
Baptism date 26 Aug 1716
Denomination Anglican St John the Baptist Ault Hucknall
Father Jo Coop
Mother Anna
Residence Astwood Derbyshire England
Record set Derbyshire Births And Baptisms
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Baptisms

Derbyshire Marriages
Martha Coop
Marriage date 25 Oct 1735
Place Ault Hucknall
Dedication St John the Baptist Anglican
Spouse Jacobus Stringfellow
County Derbyshire England
Record set Derbyshire Marriages
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Marriages

28. John STRINGFELLOW

Derbyshire Births And Baptisms
Johannes Stringfellow
Baptism date 24 Feb 1738
Denomination Anglican St John the Baptist Ault Hucknall
Father Jacobi
Mother Martha
Residence Astwith Derbyshire England
Record set Derbyshire Births And Baptisms
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Baptisms

20. Henry HOULDSWORTH

Burke's peerage gives Henry's birth as 1733.

Nottinghamshire Baptisms Index 1538-1917
Henry Holdsworth
Baptism date 13 Jan 1734/5
Denomination Anglican
Church St Lawrence
Baptism place Gonalston
Place Gonalston Nottinghamshire England
Father Joseph Holdsworth
Mother Ann
Father occupation Yeoman
Nottinghamshire Archives
Document type Bishop's Transcripts
Year range 1598-1812
Record set Nottinghamshire Baptisms Index 1538-1917
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Baptisms

Henry was a yeoman farmer near Nottingham.

The Houldsworths were supposed to have come from Yorkshire. Henry Houldsworth b1733 said that his grandfather was the first person who grew potatoes near Chesterfield.  Henry Houldsworth b1733, when living as a little boy with his father, in Nottinghamshire, at the time the Pretender arrived at Derby, witnessed the alarm which prevailed.  Some comment that Henry Houldsworth b1733 's mother was a Deverill - other records say Hall?  Henry Houldsworth's wife's name was Ann Hooton; and they resided at Gonalston Hagg farm, about one mile distant from the villages of Gonalston and Epperstone, in Nottinghamshire. They had four sons and four daughters, in the order of age as follows - William, Thomas, Henry, Mary, Margaret, Ann, John, and Elizabeth.

Thomas and Henry were placed, when youths, at Nottingham-Thomas in a surveyor's office, Henry in a shop. A paternal uncle, having an estate in Jamaica, died, and the property fell to William.  Being desirous to sell the estate, and not having been much from home, he offered Thomas, in whose  business-aptitude and shrewdness he had confidence, (though Thomas was then under age,) a handsome sum to leave his occupation in Nottingham, and to accompany him to Jamaica. They went there, sold the property, and returned to England.  

Henry conceived the idea that the cotton trade presented a good opening, and, being of an enterprising spirit, went to Manchester and learnt the trade, probably about the time James McConnel (husband of Margaret Houldsworth) went there, say in 1788 or 1789. After some time, Thomas was induced, by the favourable reports of Henry, to follow the example of his younger brother. They were not long in discovering that William's capital would be useful to them ; and the three brothers were in partnership together as cotton spinners in Manchester -William, however, continuing to reside as a squire in Nottinghamshire. In 1793, business being very bad, Henry went to Glasgow to push sales; and having married there, in 1795, left Manchester about 1799, and settled in Glasgow as a spinner. He became a magistrate, and attained an influential position. His bookkeeper or manager, MrWilliam Hussey, from  Nottinghamshire, having married Ann Houldsworth, was assisted with money, commenced business as a spinner, and was very prosperous. John Houldsworth, the youngest brother, went as a youth to his brother's factory in Manchester, but died, unmarried, in early manhood, after giving promise of much ability.

The eldest daughter, Mary Houldsworth, married Thomas Duffield, who filled a post of importance in the factory at Manchester. Thus seven out of the eight Houldsworths were connected with fine spinning.  All four brothers possessed ability, but in different ways. Thomas became, under the inspiration and management of William, (who had a taste and talent in that direction,) famous on the turf. He paid three thousand pounds, or guineas, for a race-horse, Filho de Puta, which had previously won the Doncaster St Leger. He became, in 1818, member of Parliament for Pontefract; in 1830, for Newton-in-the-Willows ; in 1833, for North Nottinghamshire. He was owner of large estates in his native county, and of Coltness, in Lanarkshire. No individual in Manchester  was, probably, so successful in the business of cotton-spinner as he. But at the time Margaret Houldsworth was married, he was in the first steps of his prosperity. The only one the eight brothers and sisters still living in January 1861 is the youngest sister, Elizabeth, Mrs Dufty.

Shelford Marriages:
Henry Houldsworth of Gonalston and Anne Hooton, lic. 31 July 1769

ref; MacLeod: THE BEGINNINGS OF THE HOULDSWORTHS (1938)]

Nottinghamshire Burial Index
Henry Houldsworth
Age 89
Birth year abt 1733
Residence Farnsfield
Burial date 29 Oct 1822
Denomination Anglican
Place Farnsfield Nottinghamshire England
Archive Nottinghamshire Archives
Document type Bishop's Transcripts
Year range 1813-1836
Page 15
Record set Nottinghamshire Burial Index
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Burials

30. Thomas HOULDSWORTH

Thomas and Henry were placed, when youths, at Nottingham - Thomas in a surveyor's office, Henry in a shop. A paternal uncle, having an estate in Jamaica, died, and the property fell to the eldest brother, William.  Being desirous to sell the estate, and not having been much from home, William offered Thomas, in whose  business-aptitude and shrewdness he had confidence, (though Thomas was then under age,) a handsome sum to leave his occupation in Nottingham, and to accompany him to Jamaica. They went there, sold the property, and returned to England.

Thomas became, under the inspiration and management of older brother, William, (who had a taste and talent in that direction,) famous on the turf. He paid three thousand pounds, or guineas, for a race-horse, Filho de Puta, which had previously won the Doncaster St Leger. He became, in 1818, member of Parliament for Pontefract; in 1830, for Newton-in-the-Willows ; in 1833, for North Nottinghamshire. He was owner of large estates in his native county, and of Coltness, in Lanarkshire. No individual in Manchester  was, probably, so successful in the business of cotton-spinner as he.

Thomas was of Manchester, England and of Coltness, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He was Lord of the Manor of Epperston, Nottinghamshire, England and was M.P. for more than 30 years, first for Pontefract, and afterwards for N. Notts.

According to Burke's Peerage Thomas did not marry.

Baptism: Thomas Houldsworth
Baptism Date: 22 Sep 1771
Baptism Place: Gonalston, Nottinghamshire, England
Father's Name: Henry Houldsworth
Mother's Name: Ann

Thomas Houldsworth was a self-made entrepreneur.  Apprenticed to a stocking weaver, he joined his brothers in a cotton spinning business at Manchester in 1793. They branched out to Rocester (Staffordshire), Glasgow and Pontefract. He purchased an estate in his native county and was a well known racehorse owner.

In 1818 he stepped into a political vacuum at Pontefract, an open borough, and came second on the poll.

Before Houldsworth took his seat in Parliament, there was trouble at his Manchester mill, where strikers intimidated the mother of a child employee. He had them charged under the Combination Acts. Benjamin Hobhouse, under-secretary at the Home Office, wrote to a local magistrate:
It is much to be wished that the masters in general would follow the example of Mr Houldsworth. Greater good would be effected by proving that the law when put into force is capable of repressing the mischief than by any other means.
Soon afterwards the strikers returned to work and Houldsworth ‘immediately set out for Pontefract to attend the races’.
Houldsworth was a doubtful quantity in his first Parliament. He said nothing, it seems. His only known votes were with two minorities, for the reduction of the Admiralty board, 18 Mar. 1819, and, next day, for an amendment moved by Folkestone to the royal household bill. On 26 Apr. he took a fortnight’s leave for business reasons. He remained a Member for 34 years and extended his business interests in 1836 by partnering his brother Henry in the establishment of the Coltness iron works in Lanarkshire. He died 1 Sept. 1852.
Notes:
Ref: W. H. MacLeod, The Beginnings of the Houldsworths of Coltness, 40, 94, 122.

In the year 1836 Thomas Houldsworth of Farnsfield, M.P. for Nottingham, Henry's brother, bought Coltness in Scotland from General Sir James Stewart Denham, Bart., and in 1837 the great Coltness Iron Works was started. These works were built under the direction of Mr. James Hunter, to whose skill and energy a great part of their success was due. At first the new works suffered under various drawbacks, the chief of which was the difficulty of transport. That was soon overcome by the construction of railways, and the "Coltness" brand early acquired the high character which it has ever since retained. There were then twelve blast furnaces at Coltness. Later the Dalmellington Iron Works, with eight furnaces, were built and worked. The cotton mills were given up some years ago, and the Houldsworths were then interested solely in iron. For nearly ninety years the Houldsworths were princes among Glasgow merchants. They always kept their minds open. If a branch of trade seemed to languish, they dropped it; if it promised to become a success, they dashed at it. And their sagacity and enterprise had their reward. They floated on the top of the tide when cotton was the great Glasgow trade. They took up iron founding just when it was beginning to be a good thing, and their foundry grew into one of the greatest in the kingdom. They became ironmasters when the hot blast and improved railway communication were combining to make it really profitable, and their brand was second to none in the market. They succeeded because they put brains and pluck into every enterprise they undertook; because they deserved to succeed.

THE STEUARTS OF COLTNESS AND ALLANTON p51
..Sir Henry B. Steuart, of Collairnie, Fifeshire, succeeded as fifth Baronet of Coltness, the property itself passing, by purchase, in 1842 to Thomas Houldsworth then M.P. for Nottingham.  Mr Houldsworth died in 1852, when Coltness went first to his eldest brother, William, then to Henry, father of another Henry, at whose death, in 1868, the property passed to its present owner, James Houldsworth, Esq., born 1825. (see W. Promphrey's "Old Lairds of Coltness" Wishaw, 1879)

Thomas Houldsworth will proved 02/02/1853 of Manchester in Lancashire, Member of Parliament for the county of Nottingham Inventory

Thomas Houldsworth of Manchester in the county of Lancaster - Summary of Will dated 1850
Trustees Henry Houldsworth the younger, James Murray of Manchester, nephew Thomas Houldsworth McConnel and Philip Richard Falkner of Newark upon Trent in Nottingham

Younger brother Henry Houldsworth 10,000 pounds
Nephew Henry Houldsworth the oldest son of Henry Houlsdworth 50,000 pounds
Nephew William Houldsworth second son of brother Henry Houldsworth 5,000 pounds
Nephew John Houldsworth youngest son of brother Henry Houldsworth 5,000 pounds
Sister Ann Hussey 2,000 pounds
Sister Elizabeth Duffy 2,000 pounds
Niece Isabella Duffield 2,000 pounds
Niece Ann Murray 5,000 pounds
Niece Jane Grierson 3,000 pounds
Niece Mary Houldsworth the daughter of brother Henry Houldsworth 5,000 pounds
Each of the children of late Niece Margaret Falkner 5,000 pounds to be divided between each in equal shares
To the children of my late sister Margaret McConnel 6,000 pounds to be divided equally between them
To brother William Houldsworth or his surviving wife Sarah an annuity of 500 pounds
To brother William Houldsworth all my property
Housekeeper Mary Birch widow an annuity of 50 pounds
Brother William Houldsworth 5/15 of residual
Brother Henry Houldsworth 4/15 of residual
Nephew Henry Houldsworth the younger 5/15 of residual
Sister Ann Hussey 1/15 of residual