Leicester Chronicler - No Encore for Corah

The Origins of Corah

The Corah family had lived in Leicestershire since before 1600 and like many villagers, by 1800 the family in Bagworth in the north-west of the county had combined framework knitting with their farming enterprises. Nathaniel Corah was born in 1777. He had trained as a framesmith and whilst still in his twenties, had established a small textile business in the nearby village of Barlestone.

The deterioration in the country's economy forced Nathaniel into debt. Although he sought to negotiate, and promised to pay back all the monies he owed, one of his creditors demanded his money. Nathaniel faced legal action and was imprisoned. On his release, anxious to pay his way, he became a worker in a gun factory in Birmingham.



Where it began. Although the St Margaret's works was built with an integral steam engine, water was still played a vital role in many of the processes

Two years later, when finding himself once again unemployed, Corah saw the potential for a new business. Whilst he had been in prison, his wife and children had lived in Leicester. He saw there the growth in small stockingers and at the same time, the dramatic growth in the working class population of Birmingham. He began buying items of clothing from the Leicester manufacturers, conveying them for sale to markets in Birmingham. By personally selecting each item he was able to establish a high level of quality control which became recognised by his customers. On Saturday mornings, he would purchase goods offered to him at the Globe Inn in Leicester's Silver Street which he would then transport to a small warehouse in Birmingham's Edgbaston Street. The project was a success and by 1824 Corah was able to acquire a block of buildings in Leicester's Union Street which were extended in 1827. This factory unit pioneered in the city the concept of organised production management.
		In 1830, Corah's sons, John, William and Thomas joined the business which was then trading as Nathaniel Corah and Sons. This far-sighted move ensured the firm's future development because just two years later, Nathaniel Corah died at the age of fifty-one. In his later and more prosperous years, Nathaniel Corah had been able to pay all the debts that had led to his imprisonment as a young man. However, he refused to make good just one debt - to the man who in 1815 had refused to listen to Corah's pleas and had demanded his arrest.


The Globe public house in Silver Street where Nathaniel Corah would purchase locally-made textiles to re-sell in Birmingham



King George V and Queen Mary preparing to leave the St Margaret's works after a visit in 1919		HRH The Princess Margaret arriving at the same location for a visit in 1972

One year later, Edwin's sister, Jennie Corah started the massive beam engine that provided the factory's power, the first textile factory in Leicester to be designed for integral steam-driven power. By 1866, over one thousand people were working at St Margaret's, and the buildings had been extended twice. The architect of the first part of the St Margaret's complex was William Jackson of Lowesby Lane in Leicester. Originally, a factory yard stretched north as far as the canal but by 1941 there had been no less than nineteen extensions to the original building taking up all available land.
		The former coal-fired boilers at St Margaret's works

At the time of the move from Granby Street, the company had adopted an image of St Margaret as their emblem. She was a most appropriate symbol with her association with wool, a shepherdess martyred in 275 AD.

The emblem was patented by the company on the very first day of the 1875 Trade Marks Registration Act, and is therefore the oldest trade mark for knitted goods in the world.

For many years, her statue, which some have said is weeping, stood proud on a plinth high on the external wall of the factory facing the present Vaughan Way. After the demise of the company and the sale of the buildings in the 1990s she was removed, first to a location in the central courtyard, and finally in 2008 to the churchyard of St Margaret's Parish Church facing St Margaret's Way.

Corah the Pioneers

True to the spirit of their founder, Corahs were pioneers. As well as being the first textile company to adopt production management and quality control, and the first to build a factory with integral steam-derived power, Corahs were amongst the first to adopt new technical and managerial concepts. They were the first textile firm in Leicester to install electric lighting, and the first in the country to give their workers a week's paid holiday every year. Corahs were always known as `good' employers, an example to their competitors.

The Corah operation also provided training and social opportunities for its employees. For many, the company was their only `escape' from the confines of their small family homes and their only opportunity to socialise beyond their immediate neighbours. One of the most well-known former employees of the firm was Curry, an apprentice in the steam engine house at St Margaret's. The skills he learned in machining and welding enabled him later to establish his own bicycle manufacturing business from small premises in Belgrave Gate near to the Clocktower. From this small enterprise grew the Curry's national electrical retail chain which was still selling bicycles until the 1960s and is now part of the Dixons/PC World group.

Riding the Economic Waves

The economic hardships of the years following the 1st World War took their toll on the Corah operation. After years of consistent expansion, the company faced their first experience of decline. The Corah family was obviously well aware of the political context, as in 1931, John Corah gave his public support for the National Government, commenting that since its setting-up he had seen a noticeable improvement in the local trading situation, and promising to expand his company's operation if this Government's future was confirmed. However, by 1936, various branch operations in Birmingham, Newcastle, Cardiff, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and London had closed, production being centred on Leicestershire. Profit margins were reduced and overheads cut. The firm was managing to survive, but their saviour came in the form of another saint, St Michael, of Marks and Spencer fame.

There are various stories regarding the origins of the company's highly profitable association with Marks and Spencer. The point that is frequently emphasised is that, such was the high standing of the Corah name, it was the retailer that approached them, rather than Corahs seeking their help.

In 1926, the retailer had chosen a new strategy. Previously, the company had pegged their prices, mindful of their origins in the `penny bazaar' of Leeds Market. However, this had now led to a policy of reducing the quality of the merchandise in order to maintain the low prices. Finally, Marks and Spencer decided to take the potentially dangerous step of increasing prices in order to offer better quality goods. They were looking for manufacturers with a `name' for quality, and they found Corahs.

It is said that Lord Marks, Israel Sieff, having visited the Corah headquarters at St Margaret's to open negotiations, was so pleased with the outcome that he decided to establish a `flagship' store in Leicester. As his chauffeur drove him away from the factory, following the then through route towards London from the Clocktower along Gallowtree Gate to Granby Street, Sieff saw a vacant plot of land and vowed to build his new store upon it. It is said that this is became the site of the present Marks and Spencer store in Gallowtree Gate, and that it still has a special place in the company's corporate memory.

It is significant that, despite the retailer's own financial struggles over the past decade, and although having a large store nearby at Fosse Park, the Gallowtree Gate branch has not only remained open, but has been extended in recent years through to Humberstone Gate creating a store with possibly the largest floor area in the city centre.

Fighting Decline

The final decline of the textile industry in Leicester probably began with the dramatic changes in British society of the 1960s. After the drabness and austerity of the post-war years, the 1960s saw an explosion of new ideas and philosophies and a greater sense of freedom. Freedom of expression, as exemplified by the new popular music forms of the Beatles, led to a desire for less conformity in dress. Whilst this was welcomed by some areas of the textile business, others were caught unawares. Whilst many British manufacturers and retailers were still offering good quality but conventional attire, the modernising third world companies and the Asian subcontinent started to provide brighter, cheaper, less well-made but decidedly more `trendy' wear.

This was of course was only one factor relating to the industry's decline. There were many other pressures bearing down upon the `old' names in the business. There was the need to keep modernising in order to remain competitive, and this meant a constant need for finance in order to invest in new technology and machinery; and British workers, faced with continuing inflation, demanded better rates of pay. Corahs and their competitors were faced with the need to raise finance in order to survive whilst having to keep prices low -and pay their workers more.

Further pressures came from the powerful retailers such as Marks and Spencer who demanded highly-efficient manufacturing operations and very high standards of production. Just one failure to meet these standards could result in cancelled orders and financial ruin.

The Hosiery Industry in Leicester

The making of hand-knitted stockings was a well-established industry in Leicester by 1650, and the stocking frame was introduced to the town sometime between 1670 and 1680 by Nicolas Alsop, a mercer from Wanlip. The growth of the industry was rapid after 1700 despite the Stocking Frame being a comparatively expensive piece of machinery. The cost led to the renting out of frames by some merchants who then undertook the marketing of the finished products. In the 18th Century, minor improvements were made to the frames such as the ability to handle elastic materials and by 1716 it is estimated that some 7600 people were employed in the industry in the town.

The stockings made in Leicester at this time were coarse and not of the best quality. Worsted was the most important material used, and knitted gloves and mittens were also made in the town. The period of the French wars from 1791 onwards prompted an upsurge in demand for knitted goods, and caused a shortage in the labour force as able-bodied men left home to fight. Despite the remarkable volume of items produced, it was an impoverished industry. The frame workers were paid very little for their products, yet many were forced to pay high rents for their frames, even when these were out of action due to breakdown or the operator's ill-health. Those who worked together in rented rooms especially suffered from the cramped conditions, and the physical price of working in damp, badly-ventilated and badly-lit areas. From the earliest days of the industry there grew a strong connection between the frame workers and the activities of the Christian dissenters.

When Nathaniel Corah set up his business in 1815, the manufacture of stockings and gloves was still a cottage industry. The frames were powered by the physical strength of the operatives, using their legs and arms to `drive' the machinery, a tiring monotonous process that limited the speed at which items could be produced. It needed the later harnessing of water and then steam to create the factory system. The scattered nature of the manufacturing base led to middlemen becoming dominant in the setting of prices and wages who delivered the wool and worsted and collected the finished goods.