the hatting trade. The only steam power made use of as yet in hat manufactories is applied to the processes of fur blowing, and wool carding. Mr. Barker who laid the first stone of the Oldham Blue Coat School, April 20, 1829, died March 27, 1889. His son James Barker, Esq., is the present possessor of Frank hill. The late Mr. George Nelson, hat manufacturer, of Waterloo, father of Messrs. J. R. H. and G. Nelson, originally a manager for Messrs. Henshaw, commenced a concern. on his own account in Holebottom, previous to 1800. The late Mr. Jacob Radcliffe, grandfather of Messrs. Radcliffes, of Bank, a native of Blakeley, once a mana- ger for Messrs. Henshaw, and much esteemed for his liberality to the poor, commenced a hat manufactory at Bank, near, Priest hill, previous to 1792. Mr. John Scholes, one of the ancient family of Scholes, of Oldham, established a hat manufactory at Red Tom nook, prior to 1807. The late Mr. James Gee, of Lyme house, or Hollinwood house, Hollinwood, a native of Ashton-under-Lyne, who was in his early days an operative hatter, raised himself, solely by his own efforts, to rank as one of the first traders in fancy coloured hats and bonnets in the northern counties. He settled at Hollinwood in 1806, and entering into partnership with Messrs. Mellor and Kershaw, they flourished for many years as one of the principal concerns in the country for dyeing and finishing hats. Mr. Gee, who died October 28, 1829, was the father of Messrs. G. J. and W. Gee, the present extensive hat manufacturers of Hollinwood. Mr. Edmund Whitehead, of Coldhurst lane, Mr. George Barlow, Messrs. Clegg and Clough, Messrs. Ogdens, and others, were amongst the hat manufacturers of the early part of the present century.

On the 5th of June, 1815, most of the operative cotton spinners in the town and neighbourhood turned out, to resist a proposed reduction in their wages to the extent of one farthing per 24 hanks. The turnout continued till about the middle of July, when the employers

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