History of Oldham - Commentary

Commentary

The following commentary has been made about Oldham:

This country seems to have been designed by Providence for the very purposes to which it is now allotted—for carrying on a manufacture— which can nowhere be so easily supplied with the conveniences necessary for it. Nor is the industry of the people wanting to second these advantages. Though we met few people without doors, yet within we saw the houses full of lusty fellows, some at the dye vat, some at the loom, others dressing the cloths; the women and children carding or spinning; all employed, from the youngest to the oldest, scarce anything above four years old but its hands were sufficient for its own support.

— Daniel Defoe, A tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain, 1724–27

The visitor to Oldham will find it essentially a mean-looking straggling town, built upon both sides and crowning the ridge of one of the outlying spurs which branch from Manchester, the neighbouring "backbone of England". The whole place has a shabby underdone look. The general appearance of the operatives' houses is filthy and smouldering.

— Angus Reach, Morning Chronicle, 1849

The town consists of numerous streets, and contains numerous fine buildings, both public and private; but, in a general view, is irregularly constructed, presents the dingy aspect of a crowded seat of manufacture, and is more notable for factories than for any other feature.

— John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, (1870–1872)

If ever the Industrial Revolution placed a town firmly and squarely on the map of the world, that town is Oldham.

— N. J. Frangopulo, Tradition in Action; The Historical Evolution of the Greater Manchester County, (1977)

Hardworking sort of town, perhaps not a flamboyant as others.

— Hemisphere Design and Marketing Consultants, Rebranding Oldham, (2008)