Thomas Warren (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1727–1767) was an English bookseller, printer, publisher and businessman. Warren was an influential figure in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

at a time when it was a hotbed of creative activity, opening a bookshop in

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

, Birmingham around 1727. From here he founded and published the '' Birmingham Journal'' – the town's first known newspaper; he edited and published

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

's first book – a translation of Jerónimo Lobo’s ''Voyage to Abyssinia''—and with Joshua Kirton sold Francis Godwin's '' The Man in the Moone''. Warren was also known for publishing collections of contemporary musical catches, canons, glees and rounds, more than 650 works by over 100 composers. He also financed the

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven ...

established by John Wyatt and Lewis Paul in 1741. This was the world's first mechanised cotton-spinning factory, and was to pave the way for

Richard Arkwright Sir Richard Arkwright (23 December 1732 – 3 August 1792) was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the spinning frame, known as ...

's later transformation of the cotton industry during the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

. The Paul-Wyatt cotton mill was not a financial success, however, and Warren declared bankruptcy in 1743.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Thomas People of the Industrial Revolution Businesspeople from Birmingham, West Midlands Spinning Year of birth missing British textile industry businesspeople 1767 deaths English booksellers English newspaper founders 18th-century British newspaper founders