CHAPTER I.

1809-1825.

Sneinton-The Hermitage-Three Graves-The Morley Family-" I. and R. Morley"-Character of Richard Morley of Nottingham-Trade History of Nottingham--Stocking Making-John Derrick-The End of a FamilyJohn Morley in London-Russia Row and Wood Street-Early SuccessesHomerton-Hackney as it Was and Is-Well Street-The Family of John Morley- Samuel goes to School at Melbourn-Mr. Carver and his Son-Mr. Buller's School, Southampton-School Life and CharacterHolidays at Home-A Model Mother-Home Influences.

IN Thoroton's History of Nottingham, "republished by Mr. John Throsby in 1797," Sneinton, at that time a suburb of Nottingham, is thus quaintly described: The rock which constitutes the hamlet, or rather its site, is congenial with that of Nottingham, a soft sandy stone which extends in a line nearly parallel with the Trent, several miles, as you pass towards Gedling. Some of the inhabitants here dwell, as it were, in dens and caves of the earth called the Hermitage. This romantic scene, if it lay in regions seldom explored, would afford a wonderful scope for fanciful relation." *

Since Thoroton's History was written, Sneinton has undergone many changes. Incorporated in 1877 with the Municipal and Parliamentary borough, it

Vol. ii. p. 101.

now forms, by the operation of the Borough Boundaries Act, an important parish of Nottingham. But the Hermitage, a range of perpendicular rocks, with houses built in the craggy front of the caves, still remains. These rock-hewn dwellings are supposed to be the vestiges of an ancient British settlement, and Sneinton, or Snottengaton as it was once called, is claimed by some as the original Nottingham (or Snotingeham, according to the Saxon name, meaning "a dwelling among the rocks").

Two centuries ago it was a pretty rural village, with a church and vicarage, a manor house (the home of the Morleys), a few scattered farms and dwellings, and the curious line of habitations known as the Hermitage. Besides the Morleys of the Manor House, there were three other families of the same name, but in no way related to the ancestors of the subject of this biography.

In the churchyard at Sneinton there are three graves side by side, and on the slabs of slate covering them are inscriptions in memory of

Samuel Morley, who died November 21, 1750, aged 73 years. Also Ann, his wife, who died October 8, 1792, aged 83 years.

Samuel Morley, who died January 6, 1776, aged 46 years. Also Mary, his wife, died March 3, 1798, aged 65 years.

Samuel Morley, son of Samuel and Mary Morley, who departed this life July 21, 1797, aged 33 years. These were the ancestors of the Samuel Morley with

1809-1825.]

THE MORLEY FAMILY.

3

whom we are concerned in these pages. They were members of an old Nottingham family, simple, substantial, God-fearing people, themselves descended from a stock of traders of whom no memorials are left.

The Samuel Morley who died in 1776, at the comparatively early age of forty-six years, was the father of three sons, Samuel, John, and Richard. They were born at the Manor House (the property of Earl Manvers), which is still standing-a rambling, red-brick, gabled house, of the old style, with pleasant gardens and grounds, and a large farm attached. There they led an easy life in the quiet household, and in course of time won for themselves a good name wherever they were known, but especially in the town of Nottingham, where two of them were in business.

In 1797, one of the brothers, Samuel, died at the age of thirty-three. In March of the following year, the mother died, and a few months later, namely, on the 18th of October, 1798, John Morley was married to Sarah Poulton, of Maidenhead.

John and Richard Morley were both of them shrewd men of business, as well as men of considerable capacity in other respects. Hitherto they had carried on the farm at Sneinton, and at the same time had been engaged in hosiery business in Nottingham. But with the changes that had come over their family life, there came changes also in their business relations. To meet the requirements

of an increasing trade, it was mutually resolved that John should leave the old associations at Sneinton and Nottingham, and found a business in London; while Richard should carry on the farm, and at the same time extend the manufacturing business. The arrangement was, that while the London and Nottingham branches should be quite distinct as regarded the management, all accounts should be dealt with in London, and in both places the style and title of the firm should be "I. and R. Morley."

Before we follow the fortunes of John Morley, with whom we are more particularly concerned, we must linger awhile with Richard in Nottingham. He was a plain, straightforward, reliable man, every inch an Englishman, without a particle of pride, but with plenty of honest ambition-a man of simple tastes and habits, honoured and respected by all who knew him. He came of a good old Puritan stock, and kept up the family traditions in his life and character. But, although a staunch, he was not a narrow, Nonconformist, and was often to be found in the Morley pew in the old parish church.

He took a keen interest in the town of Nottingham and in the development of its trade. The town is beautiful for situation, and has a history reaching back to a period long prior to the Norman Conquest. The castle was visited by Richard I., and was one of the strongholds of King John; it was the prison of David II. of Scotland, and of Owen Glendower, and it witnessed the beginning of the long struggle

1809-1825.]

NOTTINGHAM TRADE.

5

between King and Parliament when, on the eve of the Civil War, Charles I. set up his standard there.

In addition to its historical interest, Nottingham has for many centuries been famous as a manufacturing town. There, by a Parliament held in the reign of Edward III., a law was passed for "prohibiting the exportation of English wool, and for encouraging foreign manufacturers to settle in the Kingdom." There, the once celebrated Lincoln-green cloth was manufactured, and there, from time to time, various industries the making of implements of husbandry, saddlery, and numerous articles in leather-have successively found a home. From the middle of the sixteenth century, however, Nottingham has been principally known in connection with the manufacture of lace and hosiery. Up to the present time the original stocking-frame-one of the oldest machines in existence applicable to textile fabrics— is still in use, but is being replaced by machinery worked by steam power.

The opposition of the knitters to the introduction of the new machinery need not be dwelt upon here. Hitherto, with the old frame, only one stocking could be made at a time by a single workman, while with the new machinery twelve stockings, or more, could be made at once, under the superintendence of only one man and a boy.

There was great distress throughout the manufacturing population in the early part of the century, and the workmen, believing that it arose from the