Sunday, October 27, 2013

H. W. Trickett Ltd.


H. W. Trickett Ltd. was a slipper manufacturer based in Rossendale, Lancashire.

As the prosperity of the textile industry in Lancashire began to decline in the mid-19th century, the town of Rossendale, which already had an established felt industry, turned towards the manufacture of footwear. Many of the old cotton mills were converted into premises for the manufacture of slippers and other footwear.

By 1900 there were 13 shoe and slipper factories in Rossendale. Production of slippers totaled 70,000 pairs per week and the slipper trade was described by the local press as “the industry that saved Rossendale”. H. W. Trickett Ltd. was established by Sir Henry Whittaker Trickett who converted the Gaghills cotton mill into one of the largest slipper factories in the area. Trickett became known as “the Slipper King” and by the time of his death in 1913 the company had 1,300 employees, growing to a workforce of 6,000 in the 1920s.

by Mark Matlach

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