Story of the forgotten Glasgow family who shaped city's future

The name relates to a family who helped change the fortunes of the area, and the wider city, but they remain relatively unknown.

Our records in Glasgow City Archives include the testimony: “The Houldsworths had the knack of adapting themselves to the changing demands of the day, always keeping their minds open.  If a branch of trade seemed to languish, they dropped it.  If it promised to be a success, they dashed at it. Their sagacity and enterprise had their reward.”

Henry Houldsworth (1774-1853) and his elder brother - who became Sir Thomas Houldsworth MP - were sons of a Nottingham farmer. 

As young men they moved to Manchester  where they established a cotton spinning company, which became one of Lancashire’s greater undertakings.

While selling some of their products in Glasgow, Henry realised the possibilities of opening up a business on Clydeside.

Henry Houldsworth (Image: Glasgow City Archives)

In 1802 he came to Glasgow to manage Gillespie’s fine cotton spinning mill on the Kelvin, just before Great Western Road Bridge.

Two years later, Henry’s name appears as the owner of the mill.  He continued to operate it until its demolition, but it proved inadequate because of the insufficient waterpower from the river.

He turned his attention to Anderston, which had become the centre of industry on the Clyde.

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Around 1804 and 1805,  he built a new mill, with a boiler plant and steam engines in Cheapside Street. 

It was powered by a 45-horsepower steam engine and was far more efficient than older water-driven versions.

He introduced many improvements in the spinning of cotton, giving a fresh impetus to its growth into a branch of manufacture in the commercial centre of  Glasgow.

His son, John Houldsworth (1807-1859)  went into the family business, undertaking the partial management of his father's mechanical business.

John Houldsworth (Image: Glasgow City Archives)

He rose to become head of spinning. He and his other son, William Houldsworth, became partners in the business which became Henry Houldsworth and Sons.

By 1831, Houldsworth was the second largest spinner in Glasgow.  Only Robert Thomson’s mill at Camphill was larger.

By the 1830s, Anderston, like Finnieston and the Broomielaw, was a  flourishing district close to the north side of the river. Glasgow was developing into a major port.

In 1836 the establishment of Robert Napier's (1791-1876) shipyard at Finnieston represented an important signpost to the city’s future economic directions.

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The Houldsworths identified the opportunities offered in the new iron trade and started the Anderston Foundry and Machine Works in Cheapside Street to make and repair machinery. The works quickly grew in size as cotton spinning contracted.

In 1836, Henry’s brother Thomas financed their purchase of an extensive piece of ground in Coltness.

To their delight “it turned out to be full of coal and ironstone” according to records. In fact, there were 2000 acres of workable minerals.

Within a decade they had increased their blast furnaces to 20.  It seems incredible that cotton spinners from the English Midlands could have taken their place within ten years among Scotland’s leading ironmasters, 

After a number of years, they went out of cotton altogether and sold the Anderston Foundry as well. 

But Anderston remained close to their hearts. Henry Houldsworth was Provost of the Burgh of Anderston. The area’s last Provost before its annexation in 1846 to Glasgow, was Henry’s son, John.

Henry had forecast the city would continue to move west and that Anderston Cross would one day be its centre.  As late as 1886, John’s biographer still believed the prophecy would come true.

John was clearly the leading man in the business long before his father died, but there is doubt about his involvement in the actual running of the concern.

John Houldsworth was a Glasgow town councillor and senior baillie.  He was, so we are told, on the point of becoming Lord Provost when he died.

He was also a wealthy patron of the arts and bought several of the pictures that that are now among the city’s treasures.