Richard Birkin (6 July 1805 – 10 October 1870) was a British lace manufacturer.

Early life

Richard Birkin was born in

Belper Belper () is a town and civil parish in the local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England, located about north of Derby on the River Derwent. Along with Belper, the parish includes the village of Milford and the hamlets ...

, Derbyshire, on 6 July 1805, the eldest son of Richard Birkin, a calico

handloom weaver A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of ...

, and started working in Strutt's Mill aged 7.

Career

In 1824, Birkin formed a partnership with Thomas Biddle in Hyson Green, having worked for him for two years. By 1832, they had 50 employees, including Birkin's parents and two sisters. In 1850, his sons Richard and

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

joined the partnership. In 1855, he had built the four-storey Birkin Building, a grade II listed warehouse in Nottingham's Broadway, by Garland & Holland, with

Thomas Chambers Hine Thomas Chambers Hine (31 May 1813 – 6 February 1899) was an architect based in Nottingham. Background He was born in Covent Garden into a prosperous middle-class family, the eldest son of Jonathan Hine (1780–1862), a hosiery manufacturer and ...

as the architect. He retired in 1856.

Personal life

Birkin was married and had two sons, Richard and

. He was a magistrate, and a director of the

Midland Railway Company The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

. He was Lord Mayor of Nottingham in 1849/50, 1855/56 and 1861/63. He bought Aspley Hall, Nottingham, for £60,000. He died on 10 October 1870, at Aspley Hall.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkin, Richard 1805 births British company founders

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

Lord mayors of Nottingham People from Belper 1870 deaths 19th-century British businesspeople