Edward Potts (architect)

Edward Potts (1839 - 1909) was an architect who practised in Oldham, Lancashire, England.

Biography

He was born on 2 March 1839 in Bury, Lancashire. He moved to Oldham and designed many of the town's Cotton mills and was ranked with P. S. Stott as the greatest mill architect of Victorian Lancashire. Potts and his partnerships were responsible for the design and build of 200 mills, sixteen of which were in Oldham.^[1] One such mill is Textile Mill, Chadderton built in 1882.

Mills, of this period were constructed with fireproof floors. These were principally triple brick arches, but Potts pioneered the use of 7" thick concrete floors. On 3 March 1884 he attempted to patent this new method of constructing fireproof floors and ceilings. The patent was rejected, and it was rapidly adopted by other architect. The seven inch floor was more rigid than a 12" brick floor so preserved the alignment of the spinning mules thus saving power. However the concrete floor however required a closer grouping of supporting columns, which restricted the size of the machines. To solve this, introduced transverse steel girders into the design, supported on steel lintels above the windows. Thus there was no lateral thrust on the walls, the windows became square headed and abnormally wide.^[1]

He moved to Eccles in 1891 and was responsible for the design of the town's library. He was a Liberal member of Eccles borough council from 1902 to 1905, the first chairman of the town's library committee (1904) and a Justice of the Peace in 1906. He inaugurated popular Saturday night concerts during the winter months and keen to reduce the incidence of infant mortality gave a sovereign to the mother of every child who reached the age of one.

He died on 15 April 1909 and was buried at Chadderton Cemetery.^[2]

Partnerships

• Woodhouse & Potts (1860–1872)
• Independent architect (1872–1880)
• Potts, Pickup & Dixon (1880–1890) Manchester office from 1882.
• Potts, Son & Henning, Manchester, Oldham, and Bolton. (1890–1907)^[1]

See also

• List of mills in Chadderton

Lancashire cotton Architects Stott Sidney Stott (later Sir Philip) Edward Potts Potts, Pickup & Dixon F.W. Dixon & Son Bradshaw Gass & Hope Engine makers Daniel Adamson Ashton Frost Ashworth & Parker Bateman & Sherratt Boulton & Watt Browett, Lindley & Co Buckley & Taylor Carels Frères Earnshaw & Holt Fairbairn W & J Galloway & Sons Benjamin Goodfellow Hick, Hargreaves & Co Benjamin Hick and Sons John Musgrave & Sons J & W McNaught Petrie of Rochdale William Roberts & Co of Nelson George Saxon Scott & Hodgson Urmson & Thompson Yates of Blackburn Yates & Thom Willans & Robinson J & E Wood Woolstenhulmes & Rye Machinery makers Brooks & Doxey Butterworth & Dickinson Curtis, Parr & Walton Dobson & Barlow John Hetherington & Sons Joseph Hibbert John Pilling and Sons Harling & Todd Howard & Bullough Geo. Hattersley Asa Lees Mather & Platt Parr, Curtis & Madely British Northrop Loom Co Pemberton & Co Platt Brothers Taylor, Lang & Co Textile Machinery Makers Tweedales & Smalley T. Wildman & Sons Ancillary firms Oldham Limiteds Fine Spinners and Doublers Lancashire Cotton Corporation Combined Egyptian Mills Ltd Courtaulds Bagley & Wright Industrial processes Textile manufacturing Cotton-spinning machinery Dref Friction Spinning Dandy loom Magnetic ring spinning Open end spinning Ring spinning Spinning frame Spinning jenny Spinning mule Steaming Water frame Roberts Loom Lancashire Loom Associations Amalgamated Association of Beamers, Twisters and Drawers (Hand and Machine) Amalgamated Association of Operative Cotton Spinners Amalgamated Textile Workers' Union Amalgamated Weavers' Association Burnley, Nelson, Rossendale and District Textile Workers' Union General Union of Loom Overlookers Northern Textile and Allied Workers' Union National Union of Textile and Allied Workers United Textile Factory Workers' Association Employment practices More looms Kissing the shuttle Mule spinners' cancer Piece-rate list Lists of mills LCC mills Bolton Bury Cheshire Derbyshire Lancashire Manchester Oldham (borough) Preston Rochdale Salford Stockport Tameside Wigan Yorkshire Museums Bancroft Shed Helmshore Mills Queen Street Mill Weavers' Triangle Quarry Bank Mill, Styal

Lancashire Cotton Corporation Bury Pilot Mill, Bury Wilton Mill, Radcliffe Bolton Ainsworth Mill, Breightmet Bolton Union Mill, Bolton Century Mill, Farnworth Lancashire Coppull Mill Imperial Mill, Blackburn Mavis Mill Manchester and Salford Brunswick Mill, Ancoats May Mill, Pemberton Monton Mill, Eccles Oldham Ace Mill, Hollinwood Blackridings Mill, Oldham Dawn Mill, Shaw Fox Mill, Hollinwood Hawk Mill, Shaw Heron Mill, Hollinwood Junction Mill, Middleton Junction Kent Mill, Chadderton Laurel Mill, Middleton Junction Magnet Mill, Chadderton Majestic Mill, Waterhead Manor Mill, Chadderton Newby Mill, Shaw Orme Mill, Waterhead Regent Mill, Failsworth Royd Mill, Oldham Royton Ring Mill, Royton Rutland Mill, Shaw Textile Mill, Chadderton Trent Mill, Shaw Rochdale Arkwright Mill, Rochdale Harp Mill, Castleton Malta Mill, Middleton Mars Mill, Castleton Stockport Elder Mill, Romiley Kingston Mill, Stockport Palmer Mills, Stockport Vernon Mill, Stockport Welkin Mill, Lower Bredbury Tameside Atlas Mill, Ashton-under-Lyne Cedar Mill, Ashton-under-Lyne Rock Mill, Ashton-under-Lyne Saxon Mill, Droylsden Stalybridge Mill, Stalybridge Texas Mill, Ashton-under-Lyne Tudor Mill, Ashton-under-Lyne Waterside Mill, Ashton-under-Lyne Wigan Empress Mill, Ince May Mill, Pemberton Trencherfield Mill West Yorkshire Foxsons Mill, Staincliffe Mons Mill, Todmorden

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Gurr, Duncan; Hunt, Julian (1985). The Cotton Mills of Oldham. Oldham Education & Leisure. ISBN 0-902809-46-6. 
• Farnie, D. A.; Harrison, B. (2004). "Potts, Edward (1839–1909), architect". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/60877. Retrieved 2009-02-22.