Eccles Shorrock: Conclusions
In conclusion, the following two excerpts resonate with admiration for this remarkable gentleman.
The 'Darwen News' September 28 1889, sums up the sorrow which was generally felt by his death.
"We have just lost one of our most prominent, worthy and highly respected townsmen by death, whose departure, had it occurred some ten to twelve years ago, would have cast gloom over the whole district ...it is not because public esteem for him is any the less, but simply because the affliction from which he has suffered in the meantime has been of such a painful character that his removal may be regarded in the light of a happy release... Eccles was not long in finding his way to the front rank of Lancashire cotton spinners and manufacturers, and but a few had a keener, more accurate, and more thorough knowledge of the minuter details of the trade than he had. All calculations relating to the buying and selling of cotton he had literally at his finger' ends ...and it was simply owing to his wonderful speculations in cotton that the firm was enabled during the entire period of cotton panic, consequent upon the American Civil War, to keep the whole of their mills fully at work."
An unattributed cutting, which was found, pasted in his case-notes in Edinburgh states that:
"At one time... his firm were the largest owners of shop and cottage property in Darwen. Most of the shops in Market Street ...belonged to his firm ...as did all the cottages in and about William Street, Henry Street, George Street, including the William St. Schools ...The moral tone of the people of Darwen probably never stood higher than in the days when Mr Eccles Shorrock was looked up to not as the largest employer of labour, but as the finest platform speaker in the town and leader of the people in all that was noble and good."
Today, India Mill and its famous Chimney still stands as a proud reminder of Darwen's Industrial and Textile Heritage. It is fitting that the current owners 'Brookhouse Developments' have 'let' areas of this magnificent building. Employers such as Capita and the Criminal Records Bureau are now setting up business within the Mill, thus providing employment for local people and welcome regeneration for Darwen.
Mary Painter
Biographical Details
The education of Eccles and Ralph
India Mill
Death and Marriage
Events during the 1860's
Decline in fortunes
The end of an era
Conclusions
Bibliography and Acknowledgments
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