 Louis Schwabe was born
on 4 August 1798 in Dessau, Germany, the son of
Samson Benjamin Schwabe. He married Eliza Thackeray (a
cousin of William Makepeace). He died on 11 January 1845 at Manchester.
Louis and Eliza had three children:
- LOUIS
- ROSALIE born in 1834
- ELIZA born in 1836
NOTES: We do not know anything of
the descendants of the two girls, but we do have a record of the descendants
of his only son Louis. His will is available and can be read
HERE (<--- in PDF). Louis emigrated to Manchester, England, where he
established a successful silk factory which among other things produced Queen
Victoria's wedding dress. However, Louis committed suicide by drinking poison in
early 1845.
The inquest held into Louis's death appeared in the Times and can be read
here in PDF.
Louis's widow, Eliza, brought a case against the insurance company that Louis had
used to insure his life and the case, which she won, can be
read here. The notice below
appeared in the Gentleman’s Magazine, Volume XXIV [New series], 1845,
p.205. This notice can also be viewed in
PDF here.
An interesting description of Louis's embroidery machine appeared in the
Journal of the Society of Arts April 8 1859 and
can be read here.
|
Mr. Louis Schwabe
Lately: Aged 47, Mr. Louis Schwabe, one of the Council of the Royal
Manchester Institution.
Mr. Schwabe was a manufacturer of silks of a high class, and might be
said to have been the father of that branch of manufacture in Manchester
having had on his books at the time of his decease orders not only for the
high of our land, but for those of the French also, the name of the
illustrious Louis Philippe appearing as one of his patrons.
Mr. Schwabe was one of the many instances of those who rise in the world
by dint of probity, talent, and industry. A native of Dessau in
Germany where he was born in 1798, he came a stranger to Manchester in the
year 1817, and, after working his way through the elementary processes of
the silk manufacture (then taking root in the that town) he proceeded in
his career until he attained the head of that important branch of
manufacture the palaces of Windsor and Buckingham having been, in
more instances than one, supplied from his looms.
Mr. Schwabe possessed a high taste in art, and was, to some extent,
practically an artist, applying the knowledge he possessed to the purposes
of manufacture -- hence the great superiority and perfection of his
designs, and showing in his own case (if any proof were needed) how
necessary is a practical knowledge of the “Art of Design” to the higher
branches of manufacture. Mr. Schwabe, only a short time before his death,
stated to a friend “that he might consider his love and knowledge of
drawing as one great cause of his success in life.” His ardent
pursuit of it, shortly after his arrival in Manchester (the importance of
it being then foreseen by him), not only contributed, he observed, to the
enjoyment of his leisure hours, but preserved him from the temptations
which often beguile the young in large and populous towns. “Often,
often," he said, speaking to the friend before alluded to, “do I wish that
all young men could know the pleasure and advantage I have derived from
it.” Mr. Schwabe was one of the early supporters of the School or
Design, and to the last took a lively interest in it. Although a
foreigner by birth Schwabe (having married into an old Manchester family)
might be said to be almost an Englishman, having entered into all matters
relating to the interests of the country with an ardour which evinced how
completely his feelings were associated with those or the land which had
fostered him.- Art Union. |
|
Gentleman’s Magazine, Volume XXIII, February 1845, p. 218:
“At Manchester,
Louis Schwabe, a celebrated manufacturer of figured silks by the jacquard loom.
He died from taking poison, and the act is ascribed to the loss of a valued
relative, Louis Schwabe produced the silk that went to make the wedding dress of
Queen Victoria |
|
The Manchester Guardian of 15 January 1845, p. 4, col. 5:
We
regret to announce the death of Mr. Louis Schwabe, of this town, the eminent
silk-manufacturer and embroiderer by machinery, under circumstances of a
peculiarly distressing character. On Friday forenoon last he returned home from
the mill in a cab, and stated that he was very ill. He was promptly attended by
Mr. Ransome, surgeon, who being in the immediate neighborhood, was instantly on
the spot, and who sent for Mr. Turner and Dr. Lyon. They saw from the symptoms
that Mr. Schwabe was suffering under the influence of some powerful poison.
Notwithstanding all the aid that medical science and skill could give, however,
the unfortunate gentleman lingered in great suffering only till half-past seven
on Saturday morning, when he expired. An inquest was held at his residence,
Plymouth Grove, on Monday last, before Mr. Chapman, borough coroner, a
respectable jury, when it appeared, that having obtained from a dyer at his
works some sulphuric acid, for the purpose, as he said, of making some
experiment with it (which he had frequently done before), he had taken a
quantity of this corrosive poison. We understand that on Wednesday last,
intelligence reached Mr. Schwabe of the death of his father, at Dessau, in
Germany, and this circumstance evidently produced very considerable effect upon
him, and probably led to the distressing event. Under these circumstances,
after hearing the evidence, the jury returned an unanimous verdict to the effect
that the fatal act was committed while the deceased was labouring under
temporary insanity.” |
The Times of London
DEATH FROM POISONConsiderable
surprise was excited on ‘Change on Saturday last by a report that Mr. Louis
Schwabe, the celebrated manufacturer of figured silk by the jacquard loom, had
met with his death under circumstances which led to the suspicion that he had
been poisoned. For a considerable time the rumour met with but little credit.
But unfortunately it proved but too true. The deceased was a gentleman much
respected in this tow, and was well known throughout the commercial world for
the energetic perseverance with which he pushed forward the improvement of the
silk manufacture by means of the jacquard loom. It appears from inquiries which
we have been enabled to make, that Mr. Schwabe had recently lost a valued
relation, and appeared depressed in spirits in consequence. He was taken ill
on Friday night, or early on Saturday morning, and in consequence of the
symptoms which exhibited themselves medical assistance was called in and the
stomach pump was used, but he died at about half past 7 0’ Clock in the morning.
An inquest was held on the body yesterday at the house of the deceased, but out
of respect of to the feelings of his family the coroner (Mr. Chapman) determined
that the proceedings should be private. We can, therefore, merely state the
result, which we believe to be, that the deceased cam to his death in
consequence of having taken oil of vitriol, being at the time in a state of
temporary insanity. The deceased, we understand, was about 41 years of age.
|
Louis Schwabe's contribution to the manufacture of silk and the beginning of the
invention of artificial textiles can be seen from the article below as well as a
two page summary that appeared in the 'Story of Rayon' (1932) which can be
read
here.
|
ARTIFICIAL SILK
Forecast of Process
In 1812.
[From a Correspondent]
It is generally assumed that artificial silk was first put before the public
at the International Expedition held in Paris in 1889. Following the
introduction of nitro-silk and copper-ammonia silk came the viscose process and
more recently the invention of acetate silk. The viscose process stands to
the credit of British scientists and it has laid the foundation of a great
industry.
For the germ idea of artificial silk
it is necessary, however, to go back to the first of the 19th century. The first
suggestion for a fabric of this character appears to have been made in a paper
contributed by Mr. Louis Schwabe to the Manchester meeting of the British
Association in 1842. Mr. Schwabe, who was at the time in business as a
silk manufacturer and had mills in Portland Street Manchester, was well known in
the trade, and it is stated that silk fabrics were woven at his mills for Queen
Victoria and for the French Court. He was an inventor as well as a
manufacturer, and at the meeting of the British Association referred to
exhibited some of his productions at the Royal Institution, Manchester which is
now the Art Gallery. One of his inventions was a machine for the spinning
glass by power into a fine fibre.
In the paper
read at the Manchester meeting he asked for the assistance of the British
Association for the carrying out of experiments which would "lead to the
discovery of a substance which would form a homogeneous mass, possessing
the quality of ductility, and susceptible of being drawn out through fine holes
or otherwise into filaments or fibres possessing suitable strength and other
properties to adapt it for manufacturing purposes." In another
part of the paper comment was made on the important commercial results which
must follow the working out of a process of this character, applied it may be
assumed, to the production of imitations of the silk fabrics in the manufacture
of which Mr. Schwabe was then engaged.
The modern
process of artificial silk manufacture - taking the viscose process as an
example involves the conversion of the viscose solutions into a condition into
which they can be formed into a thread by spinning through fine holes into the
spinning bath. The ideas presented to the British Association in 1842 forecast a
process of this character.
|
SILK.--The silk trade of Manchester and of
Macclesfield, which for that purpose is a suburb of Manchester, arose in the restrictions
imposed upon Spitalfields, at the request of the weavers, by successive acts of Parliament,
for the purpose of regulating employment in that
district. In 1830 there were not 100 Jacquard looms in Manchester and its
neighbourhood, whilst at the present time there are probably 12,000 employed either
on silk or some branch of figure weaving. The most convenient silk
manufactory for the visit of the stranger is that of Messrs. James Houldsworth of
Portland Street, near the Royal Infirmary. This firm was established by a
German gentleman, the late Mr. Louis Schwabe, an intelligent German, who
introduced the higher class of silk manufacture with such success as to enable
him to compete with even the very first class of Lyons silks for furniture
damasks.
In addition to the extensive application of the Jacquard loom, Mr.
Schwabe introduced, and Mr. Henry Houldsworth improved and perfected, the embroidering machines invented by Mr. Heilmann of Mulhausen. The
improvements are so great that the original inventor cannot compete
with them. Rows of needles elaborate the most tasteful designs with a
degree of accuracy to which hand labour cannot approach.
From Rides on
Railways by Samuel Sidney
|
Below clipping from August 18 1839
|
