John Edward Crowther Ltd

John Edward Crowther Ltd is a British textile and real estate company headquartered in Marsden, West Yorkshire, and incorporated in the United Kingdom. It was historically an important producer of woollen cloth in Marsden, West Yorkshire, England. Its premises at Bank Bottom Mill reached its heyday in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries under the ownership of the Crowther family, in particular John Edward Crowther, a businessman and philanthropist. However, the cloth industry declined in the late twentieth century, and production of woollen cloth finally ceased in 2003.

History

Business boomed during the 1914-18 war, thanks to the huge demand for woollen cloth needed to clothe men in uniform. King George V and Queen Mary visited the company's mills on 30 May 1918, as a mark of appreciation of the contribution it was making to the continued war effort.[1]

The business was run by John Edward Crowther, a businessman and philanthropist who made a number of charitable donations to the village and people of Marsden. In 1931 the economic downturn caused by the Great Depression caused the mill to work short time, and on 4 July 1931 Crowther took his own life.[2]

Decline and closure

By the late 20th and early 21st century the Yorkshire textile industry had fallen on hard times, and Bank Bottom Mill closed in 2003, with the loss of 275 jobs.[3]

Notes
  1. Pearson, Irene E., p. .32, Marsden Through the Ages, (1984), ISBN 978-0950953304 Retrieved 4 January 2014
  2. Pearson, p.43
  3. "Bank Bottom Mill", Theviewfromthenorth.org. Retrieved 31 December 2013

Further reading
  • Armstrong, Thomas; The Crowthers of Bankdam, HarperCollins (1991). ISBN 0002211025
  • Marsden History Group, Marsden - Then and Now: A Photographic Journey, ISBN 0955717507
  • Pearson, Irene E., Marsden Through the Ages, (1984), ISBN 978-0950953304
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