Everything about David Dale totally explained
David Dale (
1739 –
1806) was a
Scottish merchant and
businessman, famous for establishing the influential
weaving community of
New Lanark.
Early career
David Dale was born in
Stewarton,
Ayrshire. He was the son of a grocer and was apprenticed to a
Paisley weaver, subsequently working in
Hamilton and
Cambuslang. He then began preparing for an entrepreneurial career, travelling round the country buying up homespun linen. He later became a clerk to a
Glasgow mercer, subsequently setting up his own business in
1768 importing linen yarn from the
Dutch Republic.
Marriage and success
He married Anne Campbell, the daughter of a John Campbell of Jura, a director of the
Royal Bank of Scotland in
Edinburgh and became the Glasgow agent of the Bank in
1783, opening the Bank's first Glasgow branch. He had become a key part of the
Burgher Gentry of Glasgow merchants, living in style in a house in Charlotte Street designed by
Robert Adam.
Partnerships and New Lanark
He had a brief partnership with
Richard Arkwright, the
cotton industrialist, to exploit Arkwright's new technology. The partnership failed partly because Arkwright hadn't managed to secure full ownership of the design of the
spinning frame. However, Dale continued to set up cotton spinning factories. The one at
Blantyre failed but he went on to set up the New Lanark Mills in
1786. One motivation for this (apart from profit) was the desire to provide alternative employment for destitute
Highlanders who had been cleared from their crofts (perhaps from the estates of his
Campbell of Jura relatives) as part of the
Highland Clearances. Others thought he'd taken a typical business opportunity when a ship-load of would-be emigrants to
America were stranded at
Greenock.
Religion
Dale left the
Church of Scotland as one of the many
Seceders of the 18th Century. He set up and became Pastor of a dissenting group of
Christians - the
Old Scotch Independents, a
Congregational-type church. He was capable (according to his obituarist) of reading the
Holy Scriptures in
Hebrew and
Greek. Some have attributed his activities at New Lanark to his religious outlook. This tradition of a philanthropic approach to business was expanded even further and with some sophistication at his factory by his son in law, Robert Owen, known as the founder of the concept of 'Utopian Socialism'.
Caroline Dale Owen
His daughter
Caroline married Robert Owen - a Welsh entrepreneur of a similar background to Dale. Part of the marriage settlement included selling the New Lanark Mills, village and lands - for £60,000 repayable over 20 years - to a partnership including Owen.
Retiral and death
Dale retired to his country retreat a few miles from Glasgow - "Rosebank" in
Cambuslang, though he died at his house in Charlotte Street in
1806. His funeral cortège was followed to St David's Church (
the Ramshorn Kirk
) in Glasgow' Ingram Street by some of the most prominent figures of the day. His grave in the south east corner of the kirkyard has the simple inscription "David Dale, Merchant".
Bibliography
- Magnusson, M Chambers Biographical Dictionary, 5th edition, W & R Chambers, Edinburgh, 1990, ISBN 0-550-16040-X
- Donnachie, I Robert Owen: Owen of New Lanark and New Harmony, Tuckwell Press, 2000, ISBN 1-86232-131-0
Further Information
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