John Birchenough JP (1 November 1825 – 7 May 1895) was an English silk manufacturer and local politician in Macclesfield , Cheshire in the nineteenth century. He was the head of the Macclesfield silk manufacturing firm Birchenough and Sons with mills at Park Lane, Prestbury Road and Henderson Street in Macclesfield. He was a Wesleyan Methodist and was a supporter of local charities in Macclesfield. Birchenough was a member of the Macclesfield Town Council for nearly forty years during a time of great transformation for the town when many public works – such as the waterworks, the cemetery, enlargement of the Town Hall, extensions at the gasworks, and the transformation of the muddy streets into cleanly paved, and hard macadamized roads – were carried out.
34-591: Birchenough is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: John Birchenough (1825 – 1895), English businessman and local politician Henry Birchenough (1853–1937), English businessman and public servant Godwin Birchenough (1880–1953), British priest William Taylor Birchenough (1891–1962), Pioneering British aviator William Anthony Birchenough (1925– 2012), Cave explorer Birchenough Baronets [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with
68-468: A distinctive musical component to the exhibition of 1862. Music critic Henry Chorley was selected as advisor, and recommended commissioning works by William Sterndale Bennett , Giacomo Meyerbeer , Daniel Auber , and Gioacchino Rossini . Being in his retirement, Rossini declined, so the Society asked Giuseppe Verdi , who eventually accepted. William Sterndale Bennett wrote his Ode Written Expressly for
102-649: A founder of Beyer Peacock, and Sir John Henry Birchenough who married the novelist Mabel Bradley, daughter of George Granville Bradley , the Dean of Westminster, and Major Walter Edwin Birchenough, father of Godwin Birchenough , Dean of Ripon. Birchenough's eldest grandson, Richard Peacock Birchenough, married Dorothy Grace Godsal, daughter of Philip Thomas Godsal , inventor of the Godsal anti-tank rifle. His youngest grandson William Taylor Birchenough played in Fowler's Match in 1910 and
136-526: A rectangle on the south side of the site; the largest, with a frontage on the Cromwell Road , was 1,150 ft (350 m) long, 50 ft (15 m) high and 50 ft (15 m) wide, with a grand triple-arched entrance. Fowke paid particular attention to lighting pictures in a way that would eliminate glare. Behind the picture galleries were the "Industrial Buildings" . These were composed of " naves " and " transepts ", lit by tall clerestories , with
170-626: A sensation. The work shown by William Morris 's decorative arts firm of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. attracted much notice. The exposition also introduced the use of caoutchouc for rubber production and the Bessemer process for steel manufacture. Benjamin Simpson showed photos from the Indian subcontinent. William England led a team of stereoscopic photographers , which included William Russell Sedgfield and Stephen Thompson , to produce
204-675: A series of 350 stereo views of the exhibition for the London Stereoscopic Company. The images were made using the new collodion wet plate process which allowed exposure times of only a few seconds. These images provide a vivid three-dimensional record of the exhibition. They were on sale to the public in boxed sets and were delivered to the Queen by messenger so that she could experience the exhibition from her seclusion in mourning. The London and North Western Railway exhibited one of their express passenger locomotives, No. 531 Lady of
238-546: A silk throwster business in partnership with Joseph Arnold, which they carried out at the Prestbury Road mills. After his partner's death Birchenough kept the business. In the 1870s Birchenough purchased the extensive Park Lane mills from Henry Wardle. At this time the Chester Road mill and the Prestbury Road mill were both being worked by Birchenough. About fifteen years before his death he took his sons into partnership, and
272-702: A total of 6,096,617 visitors attended the exhibition. Receipts (£459,632) were slightly above cost (£458,842), leaving a total profit of £790. An official closing ceremony took place on 1 November 1862, but the exhibition remained open to the public until 15 November 1862. The exhibition was held in South Kensington , London, on a site covering 11 ha (27 acres), and now occupied by the Natural History Museum. The buildings, which occupied 21 acres (8.5 ha), were designed by Captain Francis Fowke of
306-466: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles John Birchenough Birchenough was a Liberal Unionist and served as Mayor of Macclesfield Town in 1875–76. His portrait hangs in Macclesfield old Town Hall. Birchenough started his career working with his elder brother Thomas Birchenough in the 1840s at Henderson Street Mill. Several years later he joined his father-in-law John Taylor in
340-557: The Great Exhibition , held in 1851, had proven to be a huge success, the British Government planned another international exhibition that would surpass both this one and the 1855 Paris Exposition , larger in both size and scale. The intention was to showcase the advances which had since been made in industry, technology, and arts. It was intended to be held in 1861, but was delayed owing to various international events, including
374-628: The Italian War of Independence and American Civil War (which caused a shortage of cotton, among other things). The exposition, officially named the London International Exhibition of Industry and Art, was sponsored by the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Trade , and featured over 28,000 exhibitors from 36 countries, representing a wide range of industry, technology, and the arts. William Sterndale Bennett composed music for
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#1733092818377408-749: The London Exhibition in 1862 , and at the Paris Exhibition in 1857 he received honours. In 1887 he served on the executive committee attached to the silk section of the Manchester Royal Jubilee Exhibition . Birchenough was first elected to the Macclesfield Town Council on 17 November 1856 at a bye-election in No. 3 Ward where his business interests were centered. In 1857 his re-election was unopposed but in 1860, and again in 1863
442-457: The Royal Engineers , and built by Lucas Brothers and Sir John Kelk. They took only 11 months to build. They were intended to be permanent, and were constructed in an un-ornamented style with the intention of adding decoration in later years as funds allowed. Much of the construction was of cast-iron , 12,000 tons worth, though façades were brick. Picture galleries occupied three sides of
476-419: The surname Birchenough . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Birchenough&oldid=1176529145 " Category : Surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
510-629: The Government's wish to purchase the building and the materials were sold and used for the construction of Alexandra Palace . The exhibition was a showcase of the advances made in the industrial revolution , especially in the decade since the Great Exhibition of 1851. Among the items on display were: There was also a range of smaller goods including fabrics, rugs, sculptures, furniture, plates, porcelain, silver and glass wares, and wallpaper. The manufacture of ice by an early refrigerator caused
544-554: The Lake . A sister locomotive, No. 229 Watt had famously carried Trent Affair despatches earlier that year, but the Lady of the Lake (which won a bronze medal at the exhibition) was so popular that the entire class of locomotive became known as Ladies of the Lake . The manufacturing Lilleshall Company exhibited a 2-2-2 express passenger locomotive. There was an extensive art gallery designed to allow an even light without reflection on
578-525: The Opening of the International Exhibition (upon a text by Alfred, Lord Tennyson ), Meyerbeer wrote his Fest-Ouvertüre im Marschstil , and Auber wrote his Grand triumphal march . These three works premiered at the opening of the exhibition on 1 May 1862, with the orchestra led by conductor Prosper Sainton . Controversies involving Verdi's contribution, the cantata Inno delle nazioni , prevented
612-577: The attending Members of the British Parliament , 70-year-old Robert Aglionby Slaney , fell onto the ground through a gap between floorboards on a platform. He carried on with his visit despite an injured leg, but died from gangrene that set in on the 19th. The exhibition buildings were dismantled and the materials used to construct Alexandra Palace. The exhibition eclipsed the previous two exhibitions in size and scale, but did not attract as many visitors as aimed for (11 million). Fowke posited
646-535: The business carried on at the Prestbury Road mills which became known as Taylor and Birchenough. When Taylor died, Birchenough retained the business and traded in his own name. The next stage in his business career was the purchase of the Chester-road Mills, from the Manchester silk firm of Taylor, Harrop, and Pearce and the construction of a large shed to house power looms. During this period Birchenough also had
680-614: The chairman and president of Macclesfield Sunday School for over thirty years, and served as the chairman of Brunswick Chapel, chairman and president of the School of Art and the Technical School. He was particularly engaged in fundraising for the establishment of the Macclesfield School of Art and Science in 1876 and remained its president until 1882. He also served as chairman and treasurer of Mill Street Wesleyan School and supported
714-515: The contest in 1872 for personal reasons. On 11 June 1873 Birchenough again entered the council, this time elected as an alderman in the place of Abraham Bury, and as alderman he remained a member of the Town Council until his death. In 1889 Birchenough had joined the Liberal Unionists, and the predominant Conservative Party secured his re-election. W. C. Brocklehurst and Birchenough received
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#1733092818377748-480: The firm was renamed John Birchenough & Sons. In her book Three Visits to America the English women's rights activist Emily Faithfull writes the following about Birchenough's mills: " No one could desire to see women looking more healthy than the operatives in some of our factories in Manchester, Bradford, and, Halifax. I shall long remember going through Messrs. Birchenough's silk mills at Macclesfield. Certainly
782-797: The names were placed on the commission of the peace. Birchenough was a prolific supporter of local charities. He was governor of the Macclesfield Infirmary, a governor of the High School for Girls, a member of the committee of the Macclesfield Industrial School, vice chairman and an ex-president of the Chamber of Commerce, and in connection with the Wesleyan body, a member of the Circuit Finance Committee. He variously served at
816-407: The occasion was an exceptional one. The eldest son had been married the day before, and the entire place had been decorated by the operatives to commemorate the event. The walls were adorned by appropriate mottoes, even unique representations of the bridal ceremony had been devised, and everything betokened the happy understanding existing there between labor and capital. " Faithfull was a witness at
850-550: The opening ceremony. The opening took place on 1 May 1862. Queen Victoria , still in mourning for her consort Prince Albert , did not attend; instead her cousin the Duke of Cambridge presided from a throne sited beneath the western dome. An opening address was delivered by the Earl Granville , chairman of Her Majesty's Commissioners, the group responsible for the organisation of the event. There were 39 participating countries, and
884-512: The pictures. The exhibition also included an international chess tournament, the London 1862 chess tournament . A large tiger skin, from a tiger shot in 1860 by Colonel Charles Reid, was exhibited here. The skin was mounted by Edwin H. Ward and subsequently became "The Leeds Tiger", still on display at Leeds City Museum , UK. Unlike the Great Exhibition of 1851, the Society of Arts chose to have
918-599: The seats were contested. In the latter year Birchenough's colleague was J. B. Wadsworth, and the opposition was directed against the latter. T. Burgess stood at the top of the poll, with 484 votes, followed by Birchenough with 458, Wadsworth 322, and Samuel Brown, 176. In 1866 there was no contest, but in 1869 Birchenough had again to fight for his seat. His Liberal colleague on this occasion was Joseph Barclay, and they were opposed by J. Tunstall and W. Barnett. Birchenough received 521 votes, and Barclay 503, which placed them far ahead of their opponents. Birchenough declined to enter
952-407: The spaces in the angles between them filled by glass-roofed courts. Above the brick entrances on the east and west fronts were two great glass domes, each 150 feet wide and 260 feet high - at that time the largest domes ever built. The timber-framed "Machinery Galleries", the only parts of the structure intended to be temporary, stretched further north along Prince Consort Road . Parliament declined
986-593: The unanimous vote of the council, but for the other four seats the Liberal Aldermen (Stancliffe, Wright, Hooley, and Rowbotham) were rejected by 22 votes to 19, and their places were taken by A. Hordern, J. W. H. Thorp, P. Colquhoun and J. Kershaw, the latter of whom had been selected from outside the council as mayor of the borough. Birchenough was for many years a member of the Finance Committee, and succeeded Alderman Wadsworth as chairman. In 1876 Birchenough
1020-454: The wedding of Birchenough's eldest son William Taylor Birchenough to Jane Peacock, daughter of Richard Peacock , and knew both families, dedicating the English edition of the same book to her "Friend Richard Peacock Esq of Gorton Hall" in 1884. The firm had agencies in Paris and New York as well as London and by 1881 Birchenough employed 1,300 people in his mills. Birchenough won a gold medal at
1054-483: The work from being included in the inaugural concert. It was first performed on 24 May 1862 at Her Majesty's Theatre in a concert organized by James Henry Mapleson . At another concert, the French pianist and composer Georges Pfeiffer created his Second Piano Concerto. The pianist Ernst Pauer performed daily piano recitals on the stage under the western dome. At the opening of the exhibition on 1 May 1862, one of
Birchenough - Misplaced Pages Continue
1088-484: The work of the "useful Knowledge Society". Birchenough was married to Elizabeth Taylor, the daughter of John Taylor, another Macclesfield silk manufacturer. He lived in what The Drapery World described at the time of his death as "The Elms, a pretty mansion in Byrons' lane, Sutton, Macclesfield". His sons included William Taylor Birchenough of Gawsworth New Hall who married Jane Peacock, daughter of Richard Peacock M.P,
1122-680: Was an aviation pioneer. 1862 International Exhibition The International Exhibition of 1862 , officially the London International Exhibition of Industry and Art , also known as the Great London Exposition , was a world's fair held from 1 May to 1 November 1862 in South Kensington , London , England. The site now houses museums including the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum . After
1156-469: Was elected to the office of mayor and chief magistrate of Macclesfield. On the same day that he took office the council accepted a resolution moved by R. Brodrick, and seconded by Alderman Jackson, recommending that the names of R. Thorp, A. Hordern, G. R. Killmister, J. Birchenough, C. Brocklehurst, and J. Dawson, be forwarded to the Lord Chancellor for appointment as borough magistrates, and in due course
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