Joshua Oldfield Nicholson, JP

Joshua Oldfield Nicholson was a Macclesfield silk manufacturer. Williams Morris commissioned silk damasks from Nicholson who won a great deal of praise for his woven silks which were either entirely of silk or a blend of silk and cotton. Nicholson started business in 1872 in Prestbury Road, Macclesfield, he then moved to a larger mill in the centre of the town. In November 1875 he was weaving silks for Morris. The two men became friends after Morris visited the town to discuss his designs. ‘Larkspur’ was one design created as a silk damask and Morris recorded that he saw it in the loom at Nicholson’s premises.