Salford Firsts Links
First gas streetlight
1806 - The Philips and Lee factory and a portion of Chapel Street boasted the first use of street gas lighting in the world.
Harold Riley
Votes for Women
River Irwell
L.S. Lowry
Robert Powell
Robert Powell was born 1st June 1944 in Salford. An actor best known for the title role in 'Mahler' and 'Jesus of Nazareth'. He also played Richard Hannay in 'The 39 Steps'.
James William Gibson
The man credited with saving Manchester United from financial ruin.
Caxton Hall
Built in 1907 and named after William Caxton, inventor of the printing press.
Inspiration for the sculpture
Salford has long been an innovative and inspirational city with its wealth of history and world firsts. Rodgers uses the horse to embody Salford's relationship with the first horse drawn bus service; the underground colliery and canal systems; and the first horse drawn tramway.
Mike Leigh
"The Rialto Cinema, Higher Broughton - my glorious alma mater!"
Salford Timeline
Key dates in Salford's history
Tangent Galvanometer
The Tangent Galvanometer was a device used by Joules to measure electric currents.
William Webb Ellis
William Webb Ellis was born in Salford on 24th November 1806. Ellis had a disregard for the rules of football and first took the ball in his arms and ran with it in 1823, thus creating the distinctive feature of the Rugby game.
Peel Park – Sir Robert Peel
1846 - Built on the Lark Hill estate, Peel Park in Salford was one of the first free public parks established by public conscription.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels spent time in Salford studying the plight of the British working class. In 1842, Engels was sent to Salford by his parents to work for a mill making sewing threads. In 1845, Engels published his book, 'The Condition of the Working Class in England' where he described Salford and Chapel Street as, "really one large working class quarter".
Nisha Katone MBE
Michael Josephson MBE
Free Public Library
1850 - The first public free lending library opens as 'Salford Borough Library' on the Crescent.
Mitakuye Oyasin
Salford Coat of Arms
The coat of arms - Integrity and Industry
Mike Sweeney
Lead vocalist of 'The Salford Jets' - "Salford made me who I am."
Mark E. Smith
Iconic frontman of 'The Fall' producing hits such as 'Turn Up The Music' and 'I wake up in the City'.
Neal Keeling
"Brevity is beautiful and so is Salford."
James Prescott Joule
Born in New Bailey Street in 1818, Joule became a notable physicist who established the principles of the mechanical equivalent of heat. His name was given to the unit of energy, the Joule. He later moved to Acton Square.
Bridgewater Canal opened
Swing Aqueduct
First major canal and underground colliery
First steamboat
1758 - The very first steamboat was built in Worsley. 1760 - The first major canal and underground colliery was built. 1761 - The Bridgewater Canal opened: the first totally artificial waterway independent of natural rivers. 1893 - The first swing aqueduct was built at Barton.
Salford textile processing history, Salford Engine Twist Company and Bush roller chain
Textile processing was alive in Salford some 700 years before the Industrial Revolution; however, the River Irwell and established trading infrastructure allowed Salford to boom. The bush roller chain was invented and produced in Ordsall and the Philips and Lee Twist Mill was one of the first factories to be built in Salford.
Salford Lads Club & The Hollies
Salford Lads Club opened in 1904 as a purpose built club for boys. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash grew up in Salford and were members, later forming the rock group 'The Hollies'.
Domesday Book
The hundred of Salford was one of the six hundreds of Lancashire, also known as the Royal Manor of Salford.
Willows
Louis O’Grady
The horse, Louis O'Grady, is the inspiration behind the sculpture and his name is incorporated into the bridle on the bronze.
First horse drawn bus service
The first horse drawn bus service went from Pendleton to Manchester in 1842.
Tramways company
In 1877 the first horse drawn tramway in Greater Manchester went between Bury New Road in Salford to Deansgate in Manchester.
John Cooper Clarke
Fondly called the 'Bard of Salford', Clarke is the original punk poet who rose to fame in the 1970s.
Peter ‘Hooky’ Hook – “Salford Rules!”
Peter Hook was born in Broughton, Salford in 1956. He attended Salford Grammar School and formed the band which were to become 'Joy Division', later reforming as 'New Order' following the death of the lead singer. He is currently the lead singer and bassist of 'Peter Hook and the Light'.
Albert Finney
Albert Finney loved to go back to Salford - "It's just part of you. It's in the blood really."
Graham Nash
Graham William Nash was born in 1942 in Blackpool. During World War II, his mother was evacuated there from their home town of Salford. The family returned to Salford, where Nash grew up. In the early 1960s, he co- founded the Hollies, one of the UKs most successful pop group, with school friend Allan Clarke, and was credited as the group's leader on their first album.
First beam of electricity
1850 - The first beam of electricity shone from the roof of Buile Hill in an experiment by William Edwards Staite.
Once Upon a Time in England
Helen Walsh, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award -
“That voice just punched him bang in the heart - fresh, fraught, wise and wistful. He laughed and shook his head at the comic aptness of the lyrics - yet there was so much of himself, all his own sorrow and loneliness wrapped up in those bittersweet couplets that his laughter gave way to tears.”
Geoffrey Key
Born on 13th May 1941 in Rusholme, Key is a renowned painter and sculptor in collections worldwide. Key became honorary President of The Salford Art Club and is widely considered to be one of the UKs most important contemporary artists. His strong, dynamic figures and dream like compositions have earned him many admirers. Key's work features in several public art collections in the northwest of England, including the Salford and Manchester Art Galleries, who now hold over 70 of his works.
Christopher Eccleston
Factory Records - Tony Wilson and Shaun Ryder
Factory Records was founded by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus in 1978 and was a Manchester based British independent record label boasting artists such as Happy Mondays, Joy Division and James.
Sir John Moores
Sir John Moores was born in Eccles on 25th January 1896. He was an astute businessman and founded the Littlewoods empire (football pools and retail company). Liverpool Polytechnic took the name 'Liverpool John Moores University' in his honour upon being granted University status in 1992.
Tom Staunton Poem
Sacred Trinity Church
Sir Humphrey Booth
DC Comics
Ordsall Hall
Black Lion Pub
Russell Watson
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is set in the fictional town of Weatherfield based on inner city Salford. The first episode was broadcast live in black and white in December 1960.
Harold Allan Clarke
Harold Allan Clarke was born in Salford in 1942 and is best known for co-founding the pop rock group 'The Hollies' with Graham Nash.
Sir Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley was born Krishna Pandit Bhanji in 1943. He is a British actor and is most known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film 'Gandhi' in 1982.
Key Dates
OMD
Vimto
First Million Pound Cheque
Bexley Square
William Webb Ellis
William Webb Ellis was born in Salford on 24th November 1806. Ellis had a disregard for the rules of football and first took the ball in his arms and ran with it in 1823, thus creating the distinctive feature of the Rugby game.
Peel Park – Sir Robert Peel
1846 - Built on the Lark Hill estate, Peel Park in Salford was one of the first free public parks established by public conscription.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels spent time in Salford studying the plight of the British working class. In 1842, Engels was sent to Salford by his parents to work for a mill making sewing threads. In 1845, Engels published his book, 'The Condition of the Working Class in England' where he described Salford and Chapel Street as, "really one large working class quarter".
Nisha Katone MBE
Katona is a British chef and founder of Mowgli Street Food restaurants as well as the Mowgli Trust - “There is no more noble purpose than to enrich lives in the cities that we go to”.
The Mowgli mantra is, “May we march on with Grace, Intelligence and Graft”.
Michael Josephson MBE
Josephson overcame his own traumatic childhood and worked hard to build a multi-million-pound business as well as raising millions of pounds for local charities.
He says, "If you are feeling it is all too much... switch off, step back, and give yourself space".
Free Public Library
1850 - The first public free lending library opens as 'Salford Borough Library' on the Crescent.
Mitakuye Oyasin
Mitakuye Oyasin: we are all related
Salford Coat of Arms
The coat of arms - Integrity and Industry
Mike Sweeney
Lead vocalist of 'The Salford Jets' - "Salford made me who I am."
Mark E. Smith
Iconic frontman of 'The Fall' producing hits such as 'Turn Up The Music' and 'I wake up in the City'.
Neal Keeling
"Brevity is beautiful and so is Salford."
James Prescott Joule
Born in New Bailey Street in 1818, Joule became a notable physicist who established the principles of the mechanical equivalent of heat. His name was given to the unit of energy, the Joule. He later moved to Acton Square.
Graham Nash
Graham William Nash was born in 1942 in Blackpool. During World War II, his mother was evacuated there from their home town of Salford. The family returned to Salford, where Nash grew up. In the early 1960s, he co- founded the Hollies, one of the UKs most successful pop group, with school friend Allan Clarke, and was credited as the group's leader on their first album.
John Cooper Clarke
Fondly called the 'Bard of Salford', Clarke is the original punk poet who rose to fame in the 1970s.
Peter ‘Hooky’ Hook – “Salford Rules!”
Peter Hook was born in Broughton, Salford in 1956. He attended Salford Grammar School and formed the band which were to become 'Joy Division', later reforming as 'New Order' following the death of the lead singer. He is currently the lead singer and bassist of 'Peter Hook and the Light'.
Albert Finney
Albert Finney loved to go back to Salford - "It's just part of you. It's in the blood really."
Tramways company
In 1877 the first horse drawn tramway in Greater Manchester went between Bury New Road in Salford to Deansgate in Manchester.
First horse drawn bus service
The first horse drawn bus service went from Pendleton to Manchester in 1842.
Willows by the ford
The name Salford derives from an Old English word
meaning willows by the ford and this is symbolised by the entwined trees at the top of the lamp post, as well as signifying that Chapel Street was the first street in
England to be lit by gas in 1805.
Louis O’Grady
The horse, Louis O'Grady, is the inspiration behind the sculpture and his name is incorporated into the bridle on the bronze.
Salford Lads Club & The Hollies
Salford Lads Club opened in 1904 as a purpose built club for boys. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash grew up in Salford and were members, later forming the rock group 'The Hollies'.
Domesday Book
The hundred of Salford was one of the six hundreds of Lancashire, also known as the Royal Manor of Salford.
Bridgewater canal opened, swing aqueduct, first major canal and underground colliery and first steamboat
1758 - The very first steamboat was built in Worsley.
1760 - The first major canal and underground colliery was built.
1761 - The Bridgewater Canal opened: the first totally artificial waterway independent of natural rivers.
1893 - The first swing aqueduct was built at Barton.
Salford textile processing history, Salford Engine Twist Company and Bush roller chain
Textile processing was alive in Salford some 700 years before the Industrial Revolution; however, the River Irwell and established trading infrastructure allowed Salford to boom. The bush roller chain was invented and produced in Ordsall and the Philips and Lee Twist Mill was one of the first factories to be built in Salford.