Blackburn with Darwen
The textile industry started very early—Blackburn checks (a linen product made of Irish flax) were well known about the middle of the 17th cent. When James Hargreaves invented (c.1765) the spinning jenny nearby, the manufacture of cotton goods received a new impetus. The completion of the Leeds-Blackburn-Liverpool Canal in 1816 substantially aided 19th-century economic growth. The English statesman John Morley was born in Blackburn.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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