Oldham Historical Research Group

Scan and page transcript from:
Historical Sketches of Oldham by Edwin Butterworth
Pub. 1856
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Historical Sketches of Oldham by Edwin Butterworth

In two years after the reclamation of the moor, the place increased so rapidly that it had become a large suburb of Oldham, equal to one-third of the town of Oldham in extent, and- in the course of the next twenty years, it became equal to one-half of the remainder of the town. Although the population of Hollinwood did not increase in so rapid a manner by any means, the village was more than one-third the size of Greenacres moor, five years previous to the enclosure being effected; and when that event took place, the houses of Hollinwood were more than half the number of those at Greenacres moor. In the course of eight years after the appropriation. of the common, the village of Hollinwood had become equal to nearly four-sixths of the suburb of Greenacres moor. The increase in the population of North moor, was likewise remarkable. Five years prior to the enclosure, the dwellings on the moor and in Maygate lane, exceeded those at Hollinwood, at the same period by a tenth, but at the termination of the succeeding five years, the case was reversed, for the dwellings at Hollinwood considerably exceeded those at North moor; and, eight years later, the disparity was still greater, for at that period, Hollinwood had much more than double the population of North moor.

The first great effect of the introduction of the spinning machinery, had been to produce yarn with such rapidity and quantity, as to cause an extreme demand for weavers to convert the articles into cloth; and the productive powers of machinery became so amazing, as totally to disable the hand-loom from maintaining a proportionate pace: the inevitable result was, that numerous concerns directed their sole attention to the production of twist expressly for exportation. This new system of trade extended rapidly, and in a few years the cotton manufacturers of the continent began to compete keenly with the manufacturers of our own country. Although the number of weavers continued

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