Samuel Smiles

Where would England have been now, but for the energy, enterprise, and public spirit of our manufacturers? Could agriculture have supported the…

It is true, the great manufacturers have become wealthy. But it would certainly have been singular if, with their industry, energy, and powers of…

Great men are wise savers and wise spenders. Montesquieu has said of Alexander: "He found the first means of his prosperity and power in the…

It may seem out of keeping to compare great producers with great commanders. Yet the manufacturer often requires as much courage, as much genius,…

Titus Salt is a son of a Yorkshire wool-stapler. In the early part of his life he was a farmer near Bradford, and his inclination for agricultural…

At length, after about twenty years' labour as a manufacturer, Mr. Salt thought of retiring from business, and again betaking himself to his…

It is not necessary to describe Saltaire. The buildings connected with the new works cover six and a half acres. The principal room is five hundred…

On the opening day, Mr. Salt dined three thousand five hundred persons in the combing shed. At the dinner, he said: "I cannot look around me, and see…

This promise has been amply fulfilled. Mr. Salt has been influenced throughout by his sense of duty and responsibility. When he was applied to by the…

We prefer to speak of the immense improvement which Mr. Salt, or rather Sir Titus Salt, has effected in the physical and moral condition of his…

About three thousand persons are employed in the works; and seven hundred and fifty-six houses have been erected for their accommodation. The rents…

The comfortable houses provided for the workpeople have awakened in them that home feeling which has led them to decorate their dwellings neatly…

Great attention is paid in Saltaire to education, even of the higher sort. There are day schools, night schools, mutual improvement classes, lectures…

Besides taking part in the musical performances, a large number of the skilled workmen devote their leisure hours to various scientific amusements,--…

There is no drinking-house in Saltaire, so that the vices and diseases associated with drunkenness are excluded from the locality. The diseases…

The workpeople are also thrifty. They invest their savings in the Penny Bank and Saving's Bank; whilst others invest in various building societies,…

There are large numbers of employers who treat their workpeople quite as generously, though not in such a princely manner, as Sir Titus Salt. They…

But although Mr. Akroyd has done so much as a master for the men and women employed by him, he has perhaps done still more as a public benefactor…

"The way by which thoughts, or chance suggestions, enter into the minds of men, is sometimes passing strange! They may be the offspring of wayward…

"It occurred in this wise. When in town, I occasionally attended, during Lent, the services at Whitehall Chapel, for the sake of hearing a Lenten…

"From previous observation I had been struck with the sad contrast between the luxurious lives of those who reside at the West End of London, and the…

The business of the bank commenced on the 1st of May, 1859. At the end of the year, when the bank had been in operation seven months, twenty-four…

An actuary says: "All the juvenile depositors seem inclined to take care of their pence by depositing them in the bank; and the grown-up people…

Another actuary says: "A drunken father being shamed out of his drunkenness by the deposits of his children, now deposits half-a-crown a week in…

"A miner, the father of a family, reclaimed from drunkenness, saved his money in the bank until, with the aid of a loan from a building society, he…

A missionary says: "I met a man and his wife about two years ago--both drunk. I got them to sign the pledge, and since then to invest their money…

A drunkard one night came to the bank, and flinging down a shilling for a start, said, "There! that is the price of six pints of beer; but I…

In another bank, a man who had been a reckless and desperate fellow was induced by his wife to deposit a few coppers in the bank. He did so, and…

Many other cases of the same kind might be mentioned. In one case a boy saved sufficient money to buy a suit of clothes for his father, who had spent…

One of the Yorkshire actuaries of the Penny Bank tells the following anecdote as conveying a lesson of perseverance and encouragement to branch…

Savings banks have thus been the means of doing an immense amount of good. They have brought peace, happiness, and comfort into many thousands of…

"My ventures are not in one bottom trusted, Nor to one place; nor is my whole estate Upon the fortune o' this present year."--_Shakespeare_.

"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need…

There are several large employers who have endeavoured to combine the principle of co-operation with the business of manufacturing; and to furnish to…

The two principal manufacturing concerns of Halifax, those of James Akroyd and Son, and John Crossley and Sons, have thus become converted into joint…

We have already referred to the philanthropic work accomplished by Edward Akroyd in the county of York. We have now to refer to the Crossley firm,…

The founder of this firm was John Crossley. He belonged to an old Yorkshire family. His grandfather, who lived at King's Cross, near Halifax, was…

One of her sons, the father of John Crossley, was brought up to carpet-weaving. He learnt his business with Mr. Webster, of Clay-pits, one of whose…

After leaving Mr. Currer, John Crossley removed to Halifax to take the management of Mr. Job Lees' carpet manufactory in Lower George Yard, Halifax.…

Martha Crossley, the future wife of John Crossley, was born at Folly Hall, near the Ambler Thorn Bar. Her great-grandfather, Thomas Turner, was a…

Abraham was also brought up to farming and manufacturing; but it must be remembered that manufacturing was in those days conducted on a very much…

Although Abraham Turner was a landed proprietor, he did not think it beneath him to allow his daughter Martha to go out to service. When about…

John Crossley, the founder of the Crossley firm, and the husband of Martha Turner, was originally a carpet-weaver. One night, when working at the…

In the meantime he was going on with the business of courtship, though it was very much against the wish of the proud farmer--the father of Martha…

"One day I received a love-letter from him, which I could now repeat word for word. I had several other suitors, but none were so persevering as John…

"So soon as my sister was gone, I retired in a most distressed state of feeling to my bedroom, and opened my book that was the preparation for the…

Mr. Crossley never did a better day's work than in marrying his excellent and noble wife. From that day forward she was his helper, his co-worker,…

After the death of Mr. Job Lees, whose carpet manufactory he had managed, Mr. Crossley entered into partnership with two other persons, to take the…

"In addition to the carpet making," she says in the Manuscript Memoir of her life, "we carried on the manufacture of shalloons and plainbacks, the…

The partnership of Crossley, Travers, and Crossley, lasted for twenty years. When the term had expired, the partners shared their savings; they…

John Crossley, the founder of the firm, has observed, that in the course of his life he was a keen observer of men and things. He says he noticed…

The Park was opened in August, 1857.[1] Three years later, a fine statue of Sir Francis Crossley (by Mr. Joseph Durham) was placed in the Park, so…

But the vow of Martha Crossley was not yet entirely fulfilled: "If the Lord does bless us at this place, the poor shall taste of it." That was what…

The results of this system have proved entirely satisfactory; the directors reporting that "the active energies of all parties necessary to ensure…

One of the most promising of co-operative undertakings established by employers for the benefit of their workpeople, was that of the Messrs. Briggs…

The project was received with great favour by the friends of co-operation. Mr. John Stuart Mill, in his Principles of Political Economy, announced…

Only a few years have passed, and already this promising partnership of industry has come to an end. It has not been brought to an end by the masters…

The attempt was also made by several firms engaged in the iron trade, to embody the principle of co-operation in their respective concerns. Amongst…

The experiments were to a certain extent brought to an end by the greed or laziness of the colliers, who have for a time destroyed the prosperity…

The firm of Fox, Head, and Co. also admitted their workmen to a partnership of profits. They had for some time been much annoyed by strikes. Their…