Battersby's Hat Factory in Offerton, Stockport, first appeared on Ordnance Survey maps in 1895. At one time, Battersby employed over 1,000 people. The fire started on the evening of the 22nd and burned all night destroying the warehouse and "enormous stocks" of straw and felt hats and part of the working area. The cost of the damage was estimated at £50,000. In 1907, they bought a second factory in
Conty, near
Arras in the north of France.
William John Battersby's son, Edgar died there in the 1917
Battle of Arras, and his son Ernest, who managed the factory died on 1 October 1918 at
Yvetot, near Rouen from
tuberculosis. They had London offices in Nicholl Square, EC1, and later at 5 Roseberry Avenue, London, EC1. In 1966, Battersby merged with four other felt hat manufacturers, Christy & Co Ltd and T. & W. Lees Ltd, both of Stockport, and J. Moores & Sons Ltd, and Joseph Wilson & Sons Ltd, both of
Denton, to form
Associated British Hat Manufacturers.
Closure After a gradual decline, hat production at Associated British Hat Manufacturers eventually ceased in 1997. The factory was used as the first
Hat Works museum before the exhibitions were moved to the newly renovated Wellington Mill on the A6 in the centre of Stockport in 2000. In 2019, Viaduct Housing Partnership and Lane End Group began work on a development at the Hempshaw Lane site for 144 homes. ==See also==