James Burton

James Burton (22 September 1784 – 12 February 1868) was a cotton merchant and owned several cotton mills in Tyldesley and Hindsford in the middle of the 19th century. Origins Burton was born on 22 September 1784 in Clitheroe to Oliver Burton and Ann Wilcock. His father conducted a drapery business in Clitheroe marketplace, having spent time as a millwright. Career Burton moved to Tildsley Banks in 1828 where he entered into partnership with John and Richard Jones at Tyldesley New Mill but the brothers were more interested in silk weaving and moved to Bedford. By 1838 he owned many properties in the west end of the town, where he lived in Charles Street, and in Hindsford across the Hindsford Brook. In 1845 his firm was named Burton, Chippendale and Company but the partnership was dissolved. James Burton & Sons was the biggest mill-owning business in the area in the middle of the 19th century. Burton built a cluster of cotton mills in Hindsford starting with Atherton Mill in 1839, followed by Lodge Mill in 1853, Field Mill in 1856, and Westfield Mill in 1860, all of which were supplied with water by the Hindsford Brook.