White House Machine Works, Turner St, Denton
John Turner (1836-1907) of Denton founded this firm in 1860 and he was the first hat-making machine manufacturer. At this time, nearly all hat-making processes were done manually but John Turner was a gifted engineer with the ability to invent machinery that was to put his firm at the forefront of mechanising the hatting industry. Four of John Turners sons were partners in the business and these were Herbert Henry (b.1861, Hyde), Albert (b.1863, Hyde), Arnold (b.1873, Denton) and William Ernest (b.1879, Denton).

John Turner & Sons also had a works at Danbury, Connecticut, USA, as well as offices in Paris, Melbourne and Rio de Janeiro.

By the 1890s the White House Machine Works covered an area of some four acres of ground and the principal building was a three-storey turning, fitting and erecting shop, 265-feet wide. Several of the other shops were large and all were substantially built and arranged in a convenient plan. The complete facilities included wood-working, iron foundry, iron and steel working, copper-smithing and brass-finishing, etc. The company offices, for accounting, clerical and drawing purposes, etc, were situated in a suite to the left of the main entrance to the works on Turner St. In the 1890s there were upwards of one hundred highly skilled shop-floor employees engaged by the company as well as many clerical staff.

The name 'White House Machine Works' was taken from the nearby White House Inn on Ashton Rd and the premises, now altered, are still extant.

White House Machine Works, 1890s.

Letterhead of John Turner & Sons, 1890s.

Giles Atherton (1852-9 Oct 1931) of Virginia Mills, Higher Hillgate, Stockport, was working along similar lines to John Turner and in 1900 the two firms amalgamated to form Turner, Atherton & Co which was incorporated as a limited company in 1907. By 1922 the company directors were John Turner’s sons (Henry Herbert, Albert, Arnold and William Ernest), Giles Atherton and W H Atherton (Managing Director). Eventually, Albert Turner and Henry Herbert Turner became the Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively.

The company became noted as makers of special machinery for all aspects of hat manufacture, such as curling, ironing down and setting machines. They also manufactured Rowbotham's patent shaping machines and Turner, Hibbert & Cheetham patent blocking machines. Other equipment included, forming, hardening and planking machines; stoves and dye pans; rounding and curling machines; hat-pressing machines; finishing lathes, and so on. In addition to hat machinery, the company also manufactured electric motors, dynamos and equipment for lifts, such as lift contollers.

In Jul 1934, the company opened a second factory in Luton, which was another centre for the manufacture of hats. By the 1950s, fashions were changing and people were not buying as many hats. In 1958 the company reported that trade was bad with few orders. On the 25 Nov 1958 a company meeting passed a resolution that it should be voluntarily wound up. The chairman and director, Arnold Edward Thorley, was appointed as the liquidator.