Peter Drinkwater
Peter Drinkwater (1750 – 15 November 1801) was an English cotton manufacturer and merchant.Born in Whalley, Lancashire, he had a successful career as a fustian manufacturer using the domestic putting-out system, and as a merchant based in Bolton and Manchester, before he turned to large-scale factory production in the 1780s.[1] In 1782 he opened his first cotton mill on the River Weaver in Northwich, Cheshire and in 1789 he started construction of the Piccadilly Mill in Manchester.[2][1] This was the first mill in Manchester to be directly driven by a steam engine.[3]