Thomas Warren Explained

Thomas Warren (fl. 1727–1767) was an English bookseller, printer, publisher and businessman.

Warren was an influential figure in Birmingham at a time when it was a hotbed of creative activity, opening a bookshop in High Street, Birmingham around 1727.^[1] From here he founded and published the Birmingham Journal – the town's first known newspaper;^[2] he edited and published Samuel Johnson's first book – a translation of Jerónimo Lobo’s Voyage to Abyssinia^[3] —and with Joshua Kirton sold Francis Godwin's The Man in the Moone. He also financed the cotton mill established by John Wyatt and Lewis Paul in 1741.^[4] This was the world's first mechanised cotton-spinning factory, and was to pave the way for Richard Arkwright's later transformation of the cotton industry during the Industrial Revolution.^[5]

The Paul-Wyatt cotton mill was not a financial success, however, and Warren declared bankruptcy in 1743.

Notes and References

1. Book: Fleeman, J.D.. A Bibliography of the Works of Samuel Johnson: 1731–59 Vol 1. 2 March 2000. Clarendon Press. Oxford. 0-19-812269-1. 3. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110521092139/http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.co.uk/pdf/0-19-812270-5.pdf. 21 May 2011.
2. Web site: Johnson in Birmingham. 5 January 2008. Revolutionary Players of Industry and Innovation. Museums, Libraries and Archives – West Midlands. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070322045757/http://www.search.revolutionaryplayers.org.uk/engine/resource/exhibition/standard/child.asp?txtKeywords=&lstContext=&lstResourceType=&lstExhibitionType=&chkPurchaseVisible=&txtDateFrom=&txtDateTo=&x1=&y1=&x2=&y2=&scale=&theme=&album=&viewpage=%2Fengine%2Fresource%2Fexhibition%2Fstandard%2Fchild.asp&originator=&page=&records=&direction=&pointer=&text=&resource=4215&exhibition=1310&offset=8. 22 March 2007.
3. Web site: Johnson Collection. 5 January 2008. 19 December 2007. Birmingham City Council . https://web.archive.org/web/20071104024019/http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateContent?CONTENT_ITEM_ID=60637&CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE=0&MENU_ID=10272 . 4 November 2007.
4. Book: James Thomson. Leandro Prados de la Escosura. Exceptionalism and Industrialisation: Britain and Its European Rivals, 1688–1815. 29 December 2007. 2004. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. 0-521-79304-1. 135. Invention in the Industrial Revolution: the case of cotton. https://books.google.com/books?id=e_eXhDW5paYC.
5. Book: Wadsworth. Alfred P.. De Lacy Mann. Julia. The Cotton Trade and Industrial Lancashire, 1600–1780. 1931. Manchester University Press. Manchester. 431–447. The First Cotton Spinning Factories .