DR Jeanne I wish you could have followed Keith's blog on fb. This is what he wrote on our last day of touring with my cousin Jane & her husband.
"At the end of the 18th century, Lancashire was developing into a center for the spinning and weaving of cotton fiber into fabric. Ultimately, it became the hub of the English cotton industry and the apex of the English industrial revolution. My 4th great-grandparents, James Ormrod (1770-1825) and Ann Woods (1768-1814), were borne into the Lancashire households of a miller and a house servant, respectively. Humble beginnings. When James passed at the age of 58, he and his partners controlled numerous Lancashire cotton mills and the first commercial bank of Bolton—the latter now part of the Royal Bank of Scotland. James and Ann’s offspring maintained and grew the businesses they inherited and by the end of the 19th century, the family’s combined fortunes totaled approximately £1.5 million pounds—equivalent to about $200 million US dollars today. Walking through the town of Bolton, seeing their estates and the results of their charities, was fascinating. My own family version of Downton Abbey!"
