The Growth of Cottonopolis: Manchester's Business System, C. 1815-1825

This chapter explores the pattern of changes in Manchester’s business structure during the critical years of the post-Napoleonic adjustment, c . 1815-25. 1 These years witnessed the rapid development of the factory system and the accelerating diffusion of the power-loom, especially in major manufacturing centres such as Manchester. 2 The business prosperity that ‘reached its climax in 1825 has often been referred to as the first truly modern cyclical boom in British economic history’. 3 Yet the years between 1815 and 1825 were punctuated with moments of crisis which posed serious challenges to Manchester’s business community. 4 The volatility of these postwar years, with their juxtaposition of growth and high business failure, 5 is reflected in Manchester by the shifting pattern of property asset usage. Both the factory and the warehouse systems will be explored in detail and the changing form of their interconnections assessed. We begin by comparing Manchester’s business structure of 1825 with that of 1815; the outline trends that emerge provide the basis for examining the key business components of factory and warehouse.