Horatio

“Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is so wonderful to see so many of you here tonight. I know that some of you do not have the acquaintance of the others, so I thought we could start the evening off by going around the circle and each of us in turn can say who we are, and what we hope to get out of the meeting tonight.

I will start. As you no doubt know, I am Horatio Whittington, and I the manager of Thomas Agnew and Sons, Export Art Dealer of 14 Exchange Street in Manchester. I am not here to try to sell you the fine bronzes, Parisian figures or fancy cabinets that we have in our shop, but to interest you in investing in property. My aim is that we get together a company which will represent the interests of the people of this section of Ludworth, from the Lane Ends pub to the last house in the road, Bench Wells, in order to purchase the property as a group from Lord Howard of Glossop, who has indicated to me, through his man of business, Charles Arthur Abraham his interest in selling this property. Now I will defer to the gentleman on my left.”

“Good evening. My name is John Andrew and I am the owner of the Calico Print Works in Compstall Bridge. For those who don’t know it well, it is the main employer in this area, with hundreds of local women and men working for me, and where we produce thousands of tons of fine fabric each year. My interest in this meeting is curiosity as much as anything. As you may or may not know, things are not going well with the calico industry at the moment, and I have had to put most of my workers down to four days a week. I cannot see myself possibly becoming involved. But I shall listen with interest.”

“I suppose that I am next. I am Fred Hodkinson, and I am here to help my friend, sitting next to me in any way I can. I am not interested personally in acquiring property or investing in this group.”

“Excuse me young man,” broke in Mr. Wainwright, “but I wonder if you are related to Samuel Hogdkinson. I knew him well, a new and prosperous era was entered upon, when Messrs. S. Hodgkinson & Co. became owners of the Strines factory, which has been carried on by the families of Messrs. Carver & Hodgkinson ever since, and through whose influence and example the material, religious and social character of the area has been advanced.”

“Sorry, no,” said Fred, looking very embarrassed. “My father was a stone mason like me and he is long dead.”

There was a pause and then Hannah came in.

“My name is Hannah Harrison. I currently live at Bench Wells, but I have lived in these parts all my life. My husband, Benjamin who died several years ago left me with sufficient funds and I am seriously considering buying my property, if I am convinced by this meeting tonight that it is a wise investment.”

“I am Robert Taylor and I deal in money. My purpose at this meeting tonight, is to offer to lend money to those people who might like to buy their property, but might not have sufficient funds to do so. I charge a reasonable rate of interest, and am known for being fair and honest. This young man next to me is my son and clerk, also called Robert, who helps me in my business.”

“I suppose my father has said it all. But I might add that I am studying finance at the Glossop evening institute and know that it is reckoned that property is the thing to invest your money in at the moment.”

“I’m Joel Wainwright, and I was invited here because I am an accountant by trade, and was manager of the Strines Mill until I retired. I now spend my time writing books. Some of you might have copies of my book called Memories of Marple. I am also doing some research at the moment about Morris Dancing in the Manchester area and have been asked to write up my findings for a Manchester magazine. As far as this meeting goes, I am willing to offer my services if you so wish, but I have no interest in investing my money in your project. I do own my own home, Finchwood on Glossop Road. I expect most of you know it.”

“I am Mary Elizabeth Hayes and am Mr. Whittington’s mother-in-law. My poor late husband, whose anniversary was just last month, left me a wealthy woman, and I am happy to support my son-in-law and my beloved Louise in any way I can.”

“I am Louise Whittington, Horatio’s wife, and I welcome you all to our home. I of course support my husband in all his enterprises.”

“My name is Jack Salt and I farm at Stirrup. I am certainly interested in owning my own land, and do not want anyone else to have control over it, if as it seems, that Lord Howard is no longer able or willing to do so. But I have not made up my mind if this meeting is the way I will go. I have had words with Mr. John Moult of Lower Cliffe, Mellor, who some of you will know is an Estate Agent and Surveyor. He assures me that he would willingly undertake negotiations with Lord Howard for me, or any or us, if we decide that might be a better way to go. I am not saying that I have decided to go with him - only that I am interested to see how this meeting goes tonight.”

“I am Squire Higgenbottom, and I too farm off this road - at Low Hey. I like the idea of us owning our own land, and we will see what you have to say, and what actually is involved.”

“Well, that makes up our little group tonight. I have had apologies from the following: James Ardern, Percy Woodhouse, Henry Almond and Alexander Simcock, but they wish to be informed of the outcome of this meeting, and may well decide to join us in our undertaking.

“I have produced a map of the properties that I am considering for purchase for this area. You will note that Ivy Cottage at the top of the road is not included. I have also decided to exclude the four properties on Lane Ends and those attached to the Traveller’s Call pub. This is partly because Mr. Sayer who owns one of the pubs is very much against the plan, but also I think it is better if we deal in residential property only - not commercial property. There are 13 properties in all - 6 of them farms, and 6 of them terraced or semi-detached properties and one a detatched property which at one time was used as a pub.

"For those properties, four of us here tonight have suggested that they might be willing to buy their own, and I might add, that I hoped that number would be much higher. I do think we will have a greater advantage if we act as a group. However, there is no way I can force anyone who has no interest in the project to take part. However, I will say, that having had discussions with several of my colleagues and friends, I do hope that we as a group will be in a position to buy most if not all of the properties that I have indicated. Many will not buy the property for their own use, but as an investment, and I will act as an agent on their behalf, if we do go ahead with our scheme.

“Now let me pass this sheet around amongst you. I have also indicated next to each property, how many rooms it has, whether it is detatched, semi-detatched or terraced and what I would expect, having done considerable research into this, what I think we can buy each of these houses for. You will see the grand total for the 13 properties is £6,300. I am confident that we can get those properties for £5,000 by negotiating the deal from the position of a company. One of my reasons for calling you here tonight, is to ask if you would be willing to put your names, and a certain sum of money, as an assurance of your interest into this company, and then we can proceed with the undertaking.

“Now, while you are thinking this through and looking through the documents, I will ask Blanche and Alice to serve you tea and cakes. And then any comments or questions can be put to me or to any of these other gentlemen. How does that suit you? Good.”

I indicated to the maids that they should bring through the cakes and cups of tea. I felt the atmosphere of the group largely positive, but I am not sure about what that upstate Salt said about his friend, the estate agent. I wonder if he got any costings out of him.