16 ALAN HITCHtellstheremarkablestoryofaRossendaleman who helpedbringtheIndustrialRevolutiontoEurope. second sonandsixthchildofWilliam the surroundingparishes.Hewas the year1759.Forreasonsunknown no recordofhisbaptismcanbefound Cockerill, ofCribdenside,whodied stonemasons andjoinersbytrade. early lifeexceptthathewasbrought in 1773.Verylittleisknownabouthis in eitherHaslingden,Goodshawor up surroundedbymenwhowere Bury ParishChurchagirlcalledBetty 1780 toFebruary 1786,Williamis 1785 theymovedhouse,coming down Charles. Theysetuphome inHigher ourer. OnNovember 22nd1785,the described variously asajoinerorlab- to 1784threechildrenwere born.In another fivechildrenwereborn. From Lane, ,wherefrom 1780 into Haslingdentowncentre, where PENNINE MAGAZINE William Cockerillwasbornabout In December1779,hemarriedat PENNINE IDENTITY echanical Missionary him of"HaslingdenGreen"butin baptism ofhisdaughterAlicedescribes later yearsheisof"Town".Itwas ving billies". business andcommencedmaking"ro- his hand,andmind,tothetextile probably atthistimethatheturned "maker ofJennies".Twoseparate of ablacksmithatsmithyinWhit- shuttle, runbypulleys".He certainly worth runbyhiscousinJamesCock- traditions saythathelearntthetrade erill andthatheinventeda"sheeting did learnthetradeofablacksmith for in lateryearsand,bythetime heleft that wasthedescriptiongiven ofhim England, hewasextremely proficient ces by goingabroad. Catherine the in makingmachinery. he decidedto improve hiscircumstan- By April1791,heisdescribedasa Sometime about 1796,traditionsays,

William Cockerill 1759-1 son CockerillinthefamousFortress of StPeterandPaul.Fortunately, of Russia.CatherinediedinNovem- developing anindustrially-trained caused WilliamCockerilltoworkona workforce. Hersuccessor,theTsar to escapefrom.Russia. time limit,Pauldeterminedtoimpri- travelled toStPetersburg,thencapital to herownsubjects.WilliamCockerill, visit Russiaandimparttheirexpertise William wasforewarnedandmanaged When itwasn'tcompletedwithinhis ber 1796,andwithherthepoliciesof Commission forsomepublicworks. Great, EmpressofRussia,hadbeen in thecompanyofotherslikemind, encouraging workmenfromBritainto Paul, whowasknownasalunatic, same yearhistwoeldestsons,William was therethathemetaBelgiannamed on theoutskirtsofStockhOlm.In of machinerymaking,orthetimber which provedsosuccessfulthatmore Mali fromawoollenfirminVerviers, afterfailingtomakeasuccess making machineryforawoollenmill England, ormadehisescapefrom and CharlesJames,leftEnglandtojoin he wasdefinitelyworkinginSweden uncertain. Hemayhavereturnedto delivered twelvemachinestothefirm firm ofSimonsandBiolley.In1800he . In1799hemovedtoVerviers trade, andtravelledtoHamburg.It Russia bysailingtoSweden.By1797 and morewereordered.Hebeganto and begantomakemachinesforthe him there.Aboutayearlaterheleft have themonopolyoftrade. son enteredintobusinessnearVerviers to Belgium.Hisson-in-lawJamesHod- bring hiswifeandotherchildrenover so securethatheretired,handing the on hisownaccountandbothfamilies government onhisbusiness develop- citizenship andby1813was financially in 1832 aged73. engineering workshipsatthePontdes prosperity. In1807,WilliamCockerill lived asagentleman inBrussels,dying Arches, andlateratthePontdes ments. In1810,hewasgranted French moved toLiegewherehesetupnew and. William. For therestofhislifehe Jesuits. Twoyearslatertherewasan business over tohissonsJohn,James rapidly begantheirrisetobusiness which hisbusinesswasbringingthe attempt bythegovernmenttoputhim community, wontheday. erill's integrityandtheobviousbenefit under policesurveillance,butCock- Where exactlyhewenttonextis In 1802,hereturnedtoEngland He himselfwroteareport tothe 4:5

4:5 PENNINE IDENTITY 17

John Cockerill, his youngest son, born in Haslingden in 1790, began .rt ,ettIctlt,tccuciTek-7,51a4 . lux. Rut 14x VIXfitittliCkaracturiat ,. 7 1,K A ,)..1. 4,' working for the "firm" when only a .1.-YPI:rff grabMig ti i g ,-A , :“."‘M.T.t7WAVei r W...W7 tA • :-.74° ,..'4?: ca teenager, and by the time his father ''''! PASSE-PORT k. retired was very ambitious, full of ideas 4.: r . q /f; @--.. and the obvious choice for future . L'ETRANGER. i----•y ..tr---Thitg-) ce . : 2.,, :ace 1 (I t e u erriN,111(111 > -• ),-, t_ 0_,•,- 3- . .7... ,-., manager. Under his leadership the .,,... ..... firm of Cockerill developed into one „k„ns 6Nrataltaa-, of the largest enterprises in Europe. :::..M.- .),.... • A/44/-7277 • :' ,.;.V -; In 1812 they already employed about 1 two thousand workers and by 1815 they n, „„,.,,, 6...,..-,..:.,,,, ...... ). 1Pd - ., ....„, . were making machinery for firms /j. — throughout Belgium and parts of ...... ___ France, including steam engines and k c SIGNALEMENT. it„,,,,it„,,, De'De ciS:.cjioCeo-9 1 hydraulic presses. In 1814 John Cock- V1q el.3 -.N.., li , / ' .1 yllAkt.tuC erill founded a woollen factory and .,....td„4.. 3s .•rtc\JAkccuxo, machinery works in Berlin. In 1820 ,,, . x, /.: .11 ()IIS , they produced the first steamship in ',..' h '. " • /An..." -- . ... P - -9:eA-.7 A tz:re ,,.,:e-t-1,__/;erez..?- Belgium which was launched on the 0 •,..if.t, f. '' , Meuse, where the works was situated. '`. A • / O.' • I. j , In 1824, 1825 and 1827 three more 1,..,,, - 01 faux, Offrienn (9;•;16 et-, cigi/Ilatie..o. cliaty.!..oDe.2 mamtemo ...... 7 „"„. _ Porthe) 9ate.c> 4.0:, `Jifren,c, t.De;parienfor.ra 'JO li., eliance.9 , CI, .1... - ships were produced, the "Seetander", d . r. "..r 0 t'":"U 4<1.11".'''"'-'-i--.. OC,..9 piio reyedev IL9 tuna c7iancen;c, che, razailjev. "Atlas" and "Ludwig". In 1825 King p 11 c.,,i,. — r• ..: William the First of the Netherlands r, .(1 ...to ,,,...,--, .61.,,,,i,./a.wv 46cutem..... .._ , , ,..,.2,74..,,,..„,..._.....) invested a million francs in the Seraing .44 ..t.,,,y, .e.,-,, 7,4e {1:e ks.; ,7:e• e.,1,e..... 4,.. works, becoming a partner in the firm. - traV 'D.- • Age,.., 4., 4; , >

cs itS I, A RTICULIERS. Den.a,umilk, 'i t_iie .„7, is-- . Ten years later, the Cockerill busi- lip is si / ness produced its first railway engine, - .g. `, ---, am-- A, ,, Z,_, b'oe.,e.f ,e7 e,"/"-) named "Le Beige", the first in Bel- /0/e .e_Le... -•-e... 4.. \`- 1 _C-/ C) gium, and rails and rolling stock for a b ex.., coitnei- iiti., atile_.9 er.., inolecliolu en, cam Pc) Sy...v..n.>. twelve mile state railway from Brussels 1...''.. . JO f gt.:rent, 4ea.me.., - jou, accor.AL ..?;Ptsu .....- 77 ..46e./..... ,Z.frd .SiGNATURE DU POIValli. to Maline. Around the same year a C.II, vaA/i4.2 jeudanA., iii.,..; / ..e._ _ / e.fe.. ta — ronv fothu• Dii new factory was opened for producing tij C7-L,A,A-p t'cudotie..9 grancal;o. (- / locomotive boilers. In 1834, John s=7"---- , D 5.?/-e,-c- 4/.. -7,-.1.,-) wiz_ km.,,,<,_ -) .1 Cockerill agreed to buy out the state's 9142 0 4-2 kak / _9 , share in his works by paying 3,500,000 i -_.. /..--)' -,, . } francs in twenty instalments. A- ) In addition to steamships, railways and textile machinery, the Cockerill ''' .re, Jec titt.4.616.11, ., " .- ) .' brothers financed enterprises in cloth ..., . / 1 1424:, It 1./. i ii.t.f.et.. factories, cotton mills, calico-printing '41 ... .4V. LSSZAITIE4 mills and even had a sugar plantation ;•51; .. . I' E,..<, :7..'.'. in Dutch Guinea. By 1837, the assets "-•-• e ....._e....,, .• of the company were valued at twenty; , ...... ,2 -24• L^ ''''' six million francs. ,49..4,,,t.m.,.. 44., &2„%kll'A.A9Ke" ,,_ ,,,y ALVATect 4169AMIWARAWAKAR t '1 2.31...u...01.1., IM22}.1.01,. .,,,,,512Y10.2103'.2. 71,21113,112.3,11.6,}InA,MIAU,:”},:}}".01.,,,,,1102.}1,, .. : . John and James Cockerill married two sisters in 1813, John marrying Joanne Frederique Pastor, and James Caroline Frederique Pastor. John had no children whilst James had seven, six of whom survived to bear future descendants. William, the eldest son, * Value for money lived most of his life near Guben in Skipton Sports * Quality sports goods Germany. He married twice, firstly to & Leisure * Helpful friendly service Ernestine H von Scheible, who was blind and bore him one son who was drowned when four years old, and secondly to Wilhelmine von Marsen Quality sports, clothing who also had one child who died when and equipment at low young. It isn't known when William prices. An extensive range died, but he was alive in 1840, the year of trainers and sports of John's death. In that year John sub- shoes and a stylish collec- mitted plans to the Czar of Russia for tion of leisure wear and the construction of railways. On his traditional knitwear. return journey he died of typhoid fever High Corn Mill, Chapel Hill, Skipton, Tel: (0756) 69560 on June 19th, in Warsaw. Although buried at Warsaw, his remains were removed to Seraing, his home, in June 1867, and a statue was erected to him there. • PENNINE MAGAZINE