[Glenville]

Originally Posted by Bob Dobson

The Pioneer story starts with George Whittaker, wholived at Moss End farm, on the hills between hapton and Crawshawbooth. He had ten children, one of whom was Henry. he prospered, built Prospect House, Whalley rd and with his brothers John and William started Whittaker Brothers, manufactrers of Pioneer mangles, washers etc in Horne Street. On henry's death, his son Leonard of Hollins Lane took over. On his early death his relative (uncle?) William Haworth took over, to be succeeded by his son Walter. Insufficient investment brough the comnpany to a standstill in 1958.

A friend of mine is part of this family and would like to know if there are any other descendants of George Whittaker still in Accrington area.

There were other Whittaker families involved with various Accrington companies. The making of bricks, brick-making machinery were just two of the industries they were involved in. Another was head of sewage engineering for Accrington Corporation and made Accrington a world leader in sewage treatment at Coppy Clough a hundred years ago.

Hello. Do you know of an Eric Smith who also worked at the Pioneer Works probably in the 50s or 60s?