The Kipling Carpet Manufacturers of

Francis Kipling, son of Francis Kipling of Blackwell, weaver, was born in 1764 (see “The Kiplings of Darlington”). He was described as a weaver like his father at the time of his marriage to Jane Teasdale in 1794. First son John was born in 1795 and a second son Francis in 1800. Young Francis net with an unfortunate end.

Burials, Darlington District - Record Number: 497410.2 Location: Darlington Church: St. Cuthbert Denomination: Anglican 17 Nov 1802 Francis Kipling, of Darlington, age: 2, died 16 Nov, son of Francis Kipling (weaver) & Jane his wife late Teasdale, scalded [to death]

A third son was born in 1805 but only baptised in 1811, also called Francis.

Baptisms, Darlington District - Record Number: 251082.0 Location: Darlington Church: St. Cuthbert Denomination: Anglican 16 Jun 1811 Francis Kipling, born 8-Aug 1805, 3rd son of Francis Kipling (weaver, native of Blackwell) & Jane Teasdale (native of Cockerton)

Francis and Jane also had daughter Mary (1793), Martha (1803), Jane (1810) and Ann (1813) and another son Edward (1807 – see “Edward Kipling – Mayor of Darlington”).

Francis is first found named as a carpet manufacturer in a deed of 1813.

SDD-62 and 63. 17 and 18 September 1813 (1) John Teasdale of Cockerton, farmer, younger son of John Teasdale deceased. (2) Francis Kipling of Darlington, carpet manufacturer, and his wife Jane. Joseph Johnson of Close House near Shadforth, farmer and his wife Ann. (Jane Kipling and Ann Johnson being the daughters of John Teasdale deceased). (3) John Sowerby of Scorton, Yorks., farmer. (4) Nanny Garth of Cockerton, widow. (5) Jonathan Backhouse of Darlington, banker. Samuel Forster of Darlington, gent. Copyhold pasture close, formerly part of Little Moor (5 acres). Freehold tithes of corn, grain and hay arising from the same. Lease and Release by (1) to (4) in respect of the freehold tithes; covenants by (1) and (3) to surrender the copyhold to the use of (5) in trust for (4); and discharge by (2) in respect of legacies charged on the premises under their father's will; all in consideration of the payment of £450 by (4). Lease 1m. Release, Covenants and Discharge 2mm.

He was later in business with his eldest son John (b1796). In 1820 John and Francis were two of the executors of the will of Francis’s brother, John. In it they are both named as carpet manufacturers.

Youngest child, Ann, was born in 1813 and baptised in 1820.

Baptisms, Darlington District - Record Number: 791398.0 Location: Darlington Church: St. Cuthbert Denomination: Anglican 3 Feb 1820 Ann Kipling, of Darlington, born 18-Aug 1813, daughter of Francis (carpet manufacturer) & Jane Kipling

Durham County Advertiser - Saturday 01 October 1825

Marriages, Darlington District - Record Number: 339559.1 Location: Darlington Church: St. Cuthbert Denomination: Anglican 3 Jul 1827 John Kipling (bachelor), of this parish married Amelia Kane (spinster), of this parish, by licence Witnesses: Richard Appleton, Francis Kipling, Elizabeth Kane, Mary Ann Kane, Mary Kipling

“Nicholas Bragg was born in 1813 in Barnard Castle. His father, Sergeant Bragg, was among the Scots Greys who fought at Waterloo. As his hometown was the carpet capital of the north, Nicholas became a carpet weaver. In 1827, Barney had five carpet factories whereas Darlington – a much bigger town – had only two. Something, though, drew Nicholas to Darlington and he found work in Francis Kipling and Son’s carpet factory on the banks of the Skerne, in Northgate”

Chris Lloyd, Deputy Editor, Northern Echo / Wednesday 19 May 2010.

Piggot’s Directory 1828. Darlington

Durham County Advertiser - Saturday 27 December 1828

Westmorland Gazette. Saturday 7 March 1829

Newcastle Courant Saturday 14 March 1829

At some time, Francis’s son, Francis jnr (b1805) joined the business. He was witness to the marriage of one of his mother’s relatives in 1830.

Marriages, Darlington District - Record Number: 347348.1 Location: Haughton-le-Skerne Church: St. Andrew Denomination: Anglican 29 May 1830 John Teasdale (bachelor), of this parish married Mary Elstob (spinster), of this parish, by licence Witnesses: William Unthank, jun'r, Francis Kipling, jun'r, Jane Elstob, Mary Kipling

History of Durham (1834). Mackenzie and Ross

Francis senior died in 1834

The Durham County Advertiser 04/04/1834

He was buried at St Mary’s in Darlington and the inscription on his grave (plot 523) reads as follows:

Erected in memory of Francis KIPLING who died March 1834 in the 71st year of his age. ‘He died as sets the morning star, which goes not down behind the darkened west nor hides, Obscured behind the tempests of the sky; But melts away into the light of Heaven’ Also Jane his wife who died Dec 30th 1850 in the 79th year of her age.

His will is long and intricate, leaving amounts to his widow and daughters and appointing his sons and two of his wife’s brothers as executors and trustees. Some property was sold later in the year to help meet the bequests under the will. His will refers to his dwelling house at Northgate, Darlington and to stock in the Darlington and the North of Joint Stock Banking Companies.

Newcastle Courant 01/11/1834

Francis jnr. was clearly a bit of a lad, unlike his two brothers (John - and Edward, currier and later Mayor of Darlington) who were pillars of the Methodist church.

Leeds Times - Saturday 29 August 1835

In 1841, John was living in Darlington

Northgate, Darlington 1841 but Francis was most probably living at the house of Navy sailor Samuel Ramsey at Seaton Carew.

Francis senior’s widow, Jane, was living with youngest daughter, Ann, in Bondgate.

In 1842, the firm sued a rival for copying its carpet patterns – and won.

London Standard - Monday 08 August 1842

Carlisle Journal - Saturday 03 September 1842

At the National Archives are the books of design registration. The earliest entry for the Kiplings is actually from 1843, the year after the above trial

BT 43/105/7750-1. Ornamental Design Act 1842 Representations. June 1843. A similar pattern was registered in August that year:

Francis was meanwhile playing an increasingly wider role in the Darlington community.

Newcastle Courant - Friday 18 October 1844

Newcastle Journal - Saturday 15 February 1845

Carlisle Patriot - Friday 10 October 1845

Newcastle Courant - Friday 31 October 1845

Francis married in Liverpool in 1847 and a first child was born the following year in Dallington.

Baptisms, Darlington District - Record Number: 763015.0 Location: Darlington Church: Holy Trinity Denomination: Anglican 20 Sep 1848 Francis Alfred Kipling, of Darlington, son of Francis (carpet manufacturer) & Eliza Kipling Jane, widow of Francis senior, died in 1850. The newspaper report would appear to have the wrong name and the burial record the correct one.

York Herald: Saturday 04 January 1851 (Died 30 Dec1850)

Burials, Darlington District - Record Number: 937778.2 Location: Darlington Church: St. Cuthbert Denomination: Anglican 3 Jan 1851 Jane Kipling, of Darlington, age: 78

Hagar & Co’s Directory of Durham 1851

Northgate, Darlington 1851

Bondgate, Darlington 1851 From 1851 to 1853, John and Francis were involved in a court case which appears to relate to the will of Francis senior.

Reference: C 14/1248/H124

Description: Cause number: 1851 H124. Short title: Henderson v Kipling.

Documents: Two claims.

Plaintiffs: John Henderson and others (as official Managers of the North of England Joint

Stock Banking Company).

Defendants: Francis Kipling, John Kipling and John Teasdale.

Special claim of revivor 1852. Defendants: Francis Kipling, John Teasdale, Amelia Kipling

and Francis Lawrence Kipling.

Provincial solicitor based in Durham

Note: Details have been added from C 32/150, which also gives information about further process.

The London Gazette. 8 November 1853

John Kipling had died in November 1851 and in his will he divides his estate up equally between his sons and daughters, with the income therefrom for his widow Amelia for as long as she lives. He also allows son Francis Lawrence to draw up to £1000 “for the increase of the capital of the carpet manufacturing business in which he is now engaged”. Interest at 5% is, however, payable.

He was buried at Holy Trinity, Darlington.

John KIPLING fell asleep in Jesus 22 Nov AD 1851 aged 55. (other side) Also Amelia his wife who d 13 Mar 1866 aged 75.

Carpet patterns continued to be registered in the brothers’ joint name until early 1853. Some of the last of the 40 patterns the firm registered are shown below.

BT 43/105/87687, 87688. Ornamental Design Act 1842 Representations. Nov 1852

BT 43/105/88868. Ornamental Design Act 1842 Representations. Jan 1853 Around this time, Francis and Eliza may have been living in London, as daughter Marion Jane was baptised in Islington in early 1853. The carpet business was dissolved in 1855 (Francis Lawrence was John’s son)

London Gazette 2 October 1855 Francis was unsuccessful in his bid for election to the Darlington Board of Health in 1855, quite possibly in part because by that time he was trading in Liverpool, Eliza’s home town, as a leather factor. Nephew Francis Lawrence had meanwhile moved into the bleaching business (see ‘The Kiplings of Darlington’). Francis’s youngest child, Edward, was born in Liverpool in the summer of 1856.

Newcastle Chronicle - Friday 12 October 1855

Perry's Bankrupt Gazette - Saturday 17 November 1855

Gore's Liverpool General Advertiser - Thursday 12 February 1857

Liverpool Mail - Saturday 23 January 1858

Perry's Bankrupt Gazette - Saturday 12 June 1858

Francis’s wife Eliza died in 1860, leaving him with four young children to raise.

Liverpool Mail - Saturday 04 February 1860

6 Brunswick Terrace, Litherland, Lancashire. 1861 Looking after the children was niece Elizabeth Middleton, daughter of Michael Middleton who had married Francis’s sister Jane in 1837.

Leeds Mercury - Tuesday 18 August 1863

Francis himself died in October 1863, leaving his four children orphans.

Liverpool Mail - Saturday 31 October 1863

In 1865, eldest son Francis Alfred was apprenticed in the merchant navy.

Dennis and Vivienne Middleton record that he later died in China.

In 1881 daughter Eliza was governess to the children of shipbuilder Ebenezer Cory.

1881 Stanton nr Hartlepool

In 1891 she was working at the home of H H Asquith MP in Hampstead. Asquith was Prime Minister from 1908 to 1916.

I have not been able to trace Eliza after that. It is possible that she married later in 1891. Marion, too, was a governess until marrying a Bradford man in 1883.

Waterloo. Mrs Sophia Jones’s school (Boarder). 1871

Bramt Farm, Burley in Wharfedale. 1881

Leeds Times - Saturday 17 February 1883

Edward was sent to boarding school and then entered the cotton trade in Bradford.

William Bowman’s School, Gainford, Durham (boarder). 1871

24 Harris St., Bradford, 1881

Later he moved to London, married, and followed various manual occupations.

49 Summer Road, Camberwell. 1901

1911

Edward died without issue in 1927.