Balgarnies Salt: With Commentary and Additions by Barlo and Shaw

In the months following the death of Sir Titus Salt in 1876, Rev. Robert Balgarnie wrote a biography of Sir Titus, the founder of Saltaire, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Balgarnie’s book is the only contemporary biography of Salt, written as it was by an author who was for more than 20 years a close friend of the Salt family. Copies of the book have become much sought-after collectors’ items, unavailable to most would-be readers.
To commemorate the bicentenary of Sir Titus’ birth and the 150th anniversary of the opening of his mill at Saltaire, and to bring the work to the 21st century reader, Balgarnie’s book is now made available once more.
Writers Barlo and Shaw have faithfully reproduced the original text, adding footnotes of commentary, appendices, additional illustrations, and incorporating much newly researched, previously unpublished information.
With a foreword written by Lord Wallace of Saltaire, the result is essential reading for all those seeking to learn more about the life and times of Sir Titus Salt and Saltaire.

The book is an unusual publication insofar as part of it was written in the 19th century, and the remainder in the 21st century.
In the 10 months following the death of Sir Titus Salt in December 1876, Reverend Robert Balgarnie wrote a biography of Sir Titus, the founder of Saltaire, whose vision and industry continue to be recognized in the present day. This first biography of Sir Titus is now a collector’s item – long out of print, difficult to find, and too expensive for many would-be purchasers. The original text of the biography is faithfully reproduced here, and that text forms the main part of this present book.
The author Balgarnie, writing the biography in 1877, was not addressing an audience of the 21st century. Whilst his words remain an invaluable and highly readable account of the life of Sir Titus, the present day reader will inevitably be less familiar with the circumstances and characters that Balgarnie refers to in his 19th century account than would have originally been the case. As present day writers, we have provided over 350 footnotes of commentary and additions to accompany Balgarnie’s text, and augmented the six illustrations of the original with other plans and images. Helped by historian and writer Patricia McNaughton we have also added appendices which we hope bring further to life the story of Salt and Saltaire.
The motive for writing the first biography is clearly stated by the Congregational minister Balgarnie in his opening chapter: ‘to stimulate young men at the outset of their career’. Such a motive reflects the times and values of the original writer. In bringing the biography back to life 126 years later, we too had equally clear objectives, which were perhaps equally reflective of our times and our values. Firstly we wanted to republish Balgarnie’s biography of Sir Titus Salt in commemoration of the bicentenary of Sir Titus’ birth and the 150th anniversary of the opening of his mill at Saltaire, so as to afford today’s readers the opportunity of an appreciation of Salt’s achievements. Secondly, we wanted to seek to recover the costs of republishing through sales. Thirdly we wanted to have fun doing it. The first and third objectives have been achieved, and if you the reader buy this book, you will be helping us achieve our second objective – for which we thank you!
In reproducing the text of Balgarnie’s book, it has been electronically scanned and checked, with the intention of producing a faithful copy of the original words, punctuation, font, etc. During this process we encountered commendably few editing errors in the original text. Only in the very few cases where such an error was judged to be unquestionably accidental have we corrected it; in cases of any doubt we have been faithful to the original.
So as not to impede the flow of Balgarnie’s account, the additional illustrations which have been introduced have been placed appropriately in relevant appendices, or specifically in Appendix 8, rather than within the author’s original text.
There is much more that has been told, and remains to be told, of Salt and Saltaire than appears in these pages. We look forward to a future when access to information will be far better than it is today, and when the appreciation of our heritage is shared and celebrated by all. We hope you, in reading this book, are left with an increased pride in that heritage.
Finally we hope Rev. R. Balgarnie would have approved of our work.