The Greg family

Samuel Greg

Samuel Greg was adopted by his uncle, Robert Hyde. Robert Hyde lived in Manchester where he already had a successful business as a cloth merchant. Robert Hyde took Samuel into Partner-ship in 1780. On his uncle’s death in 1782, Samuel took over the business.

Samuel Greg started to buy property to expand the business. He also decided that he needed to build a very large building in which all his cotton workers could work together. He started to go on long journeys into the countryside around Manchester.

Water power

He was looking for a fast-flowing stream. In 1783, he found what he was looking for. On the River Bollin, at Style, just north of Wilmslow, he found a place were he could dig a long headrace channel. This meant that there was plenty of water to turn a big wheel very fast. As the wheel turned, it could provide power for all the machines in the mill.

Samuel Greg also built a fine house for his family. Samuel and Hannah were well known among other business people and factory owners from Manchester’s new middle classes. They were members of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. They often entertained the visiting speakers to debates at their home.

The Church

Samuel Greg was also a religious man. Like some other successful businessmen in Manchester he was not a member of the Church of England. He was a non-conformist. He and his wife went to a Unitarian church. At the Unitarian church each Sunday, he met many other wealthy business people and their families. Some of these people took a great interest in the education of working people.

Working conditions

In the 1780s many factory workers lived in dreadful conditions, but Samuel Greg was very concerned about the welfare of his workers. He built houses for them on his land. He also built an apprentice house for the children who worked in the factory.

Samuel Greg provided education and medical care for the children, but the children still worked very long hours in the mill. Their lives were completely different from the lives of Samuel Greg’s children.

In 1830, Samuel’s son Robert built a grand mansion at Norcliffe Hall. The house was large and beautiful. Woods and fields surrounded it. By this time, the Greg family owned other mills too. The Greg family were now very wealthy and powerful. Samuel Greg died in 1834. Quarry Bank Mill was then passed on to Samuels second oldest son Robert.