The Crowthers of Bankdam

by Thomas Armstrong

The Crowthers of Bankdam is the story of a great Yorkshire wool-trade family, fascinating in their individualities, their matchings, matings and schemings. It opens in 1854 when Simeon Crowther was the Master of the Bankdam Mills, then a small concern, and ranges over the lives of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, the triumphs and disasters of the wool business and the impact of history. This book was filmed in 1947 with great success as The Master of Bankdam.

562 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1940

About the author

Born in 1899 in Leeds to parents from mill-owning families, Thomas Armstrong attended Queen Elizabeth School, Wakefield; then studied at the Royal Naval College, Keyham, followed by service in the Royal Navy during the First World War. Finding the spit and polish of peace-time Navy life irksome, he entered the wool trade but was soon off on a roving tour of the world that lasted several years. He married in 1930 and then began writing novels, achieving success with the immediately popular The Crowthers of Bankdam, first published in 1940, which at once established him as one of Britain's leading contemporary novelists. He lived in Yorkshire, initially in the West Riding and then in Swaledale for 30 years. Throughout his life he avoided personal publicity.

Thomas Armstrong died in 1978.

Reviews

[Amicus (David Barnett) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back in 1953 while being led through the GCE "O" level course in Social and Economic History between 1760 and 1914, I our History teacher told us that this novel would be a great help to us in understanding something of the nature of the Industrial Revolution.

Finally I have got round to reading it and it's certainly a great story of three generations of trouble at t'mill.

[Rhona Arthur · Rating 2 out of 5]

Family saga of Yorkshire cloth manufacturing industry. Bit too dated for recommendations but nice prose and descriptive passages. This book was on my parents’ bookshelf for as long as I can remember it’s distinctive cover. In really poor condition I was determined to read it before it fell apart. Job done!

[Rachel Rothwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Old favourite. Love it!

[Douglas Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best novel I've ever read.

[Susan Grimshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful story following the fortunes and otherwise of the two Crowther families who own Bankdam Mill. You really feel to be part of the community of Ramsfield and to know its inhabitants. The book greatly appeals to me being a native of the West Riding and having an interest in and some knowledge of the wool trade. It may have less appeal to those from other parts.

[Issi · Rating 3 out of 5]

My dad recommended this book to me. I did enjoy it and could just imagine it as the subject of a tv series like Downton Abbey! All the intrigue and fascination within one family; the rivalries and the relationships, the lives and the loves. A classic!

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent for conditions in mills in Yorkshire. Enjoyed reading a second time.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book in about 1950, at the urging of my mother, whose grandfather worked as a designer in a woollen mill in Halifax, Yorkshire. The dialect, the setting, the cadences, all seemed to me so real and natural that I was able to pretend that the story was somehow mine. I have re-read this book many times through the years, and still feel part of the fabric of the story. If you love your fiction in "saga" form, this is for you. The woollen industry is long gone from Yorkshire, but at its peak its influence reached wider than the British Empire, so there is a historical interest as well. Of course, the most engrossing part is the characterisation - and how typically and delightfully Yorkshire the characters are. There is humour and sadness, love and hate, and indeed everything that goes to make a well-rounded and satisfying family history.

[Dellens 456]

I got 1% through the book and then got bored.
I so wanted to like this book as it was given by my Grandad but the old-fashioned language was too much and I just couldn’t see myself reading it for very longer without it being a slog. Sorry grandad.
As I got less than 1/5 through the book, it gets no stars.