s-production of cotton yarn.
Platt Brothers became the largest textile machine makers in the world,
employing over 15,000 people in the 1890s, twice the number of their nearest
rivals Dobson & Barlow in Bolton and Asa Lees on Greenacres Moor. They were
keen investors in the local area and at one time, were supporting 42% of the
population. The centre of the company lay at the New Hartford Works in Werneth,
a massive complex of buildings and internal railways on a site overlooking
Manchester. The railway station which served this site later formed the basis
of Oldham Werneth railway station, which together with the main building exists
to this day. Platts gained prestigious awards from around the world, and were
heavily involved with local politics and civic pride in Oldham. John and James
Platt were the largest subscribers for promoting Oldham from a township to a
Borough, pledging £100 (more than double the next largest sum) in advance
towards any expenses which may have been incurred by the Royal Charter. In 1854
John Platt was made the (fourth) Mayor of Oldham, an office he was to hold
twice more in 1855–56 and 1861–62. John Platt was elected in 1865 to become
Member of Parliament for Oldham, and was re-elected in 1868; he remained in
office until his death in 1872. A bronze statue of Platt existed in the town
centre for years, though was moved to Alexandra Park. There have been
recommendations for it to be returned to the town centre.
Abraham Henthorn Stott, the son of a stonemason, was born in nearby Shaw and
Crompton in 1822. He served a seven-year apprenticeship with Sir Charles Barry,
before starting a structural engineering practice in Oldham in 1847 that went
on to become the pre-eminent mill architect firm in Lancashire. Philip Sydney
Stott, third son of Abraham and later titled as Sir Philip Stott, 1st Baronet,
was the most prominent and famous of the Stott mill architects. He established
his own practice in
