Entrepreneurial Philanthropy at Cromford, Quarry Bank, and Saltaire Mills during the Industrial Revolution

Abstract This article offers a spatial examination of entrepreneurial philanthropy at Cromford, Quarry Bank, and Saltaire mills during the industrial revolution. It argues that entrepreneurial philanthropy at these mills, with its new social relations, was influenced by both market competition and philanthropy, to the extent that active welfare provision was dependent on profitable enterprise and creation of wealth. It demonstrates that the extent and nature of philanthropy intended, implemented, and experienced at each of these entrepreneurial projects was determined by site-specific factors with unique effects in space and time. The article builds on existing research into the socially transformative impact of the industrial revolution by developing the concept of philanthropic space to enable a fresh assessment of the relationship between capital and welfare. It suggests that, within these communities, the development of philanthropic space addressed some of the causes and effects of discontent of the working classes associated with the ‘condition-of-England question’. In particular, the discipline of education became an increasingly important component of both enhanced philanthropic development by owners and the experience of workers, offering opportunities for self-improvement. At the same time, discipline and control were ostensibly paradoxical within, yet established and essential features of, philanthropic space.