The Peels are said to have come to Blackburn from Craven (fn. 15) about 1600 and engaged in the cloth trade. (fn. 16) Robert Peel in 1731 purchased an estate in Oswaldtwistle, known then as Oldham's Cross, (fn. 17) and since as Peel Fold. His grandson Robert (1723–95), while farming in Blackburn, was led to join a calico-printing business, and invented a process of block-printing; he made other improvements and greatly extended his business. Riots and factory-wrecking caused him to move to Burton-on-Trent, but on retiring he lived at Ardwick. The descendants of his eldest son William still own Peel Fold. The third son was the above-named Sir Robert Peel, created a baronet in 1800. (fn. 18)
From: 'Townships: Oswaldtwistle', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6 (1911), pp. 404-09. URL:
Townships: Oswaldtwistle | British History Online. Date accessed: 11 June 2007.
Townships: Oswaldtwistle | British History Online