Clegg, Esq., of Bent House, was father of Abraham Clegg, Esq., of Bent-grange, hat manufacturer, and William Clegg, of Westwood, cotton manufacturer, both of whom married their cousins-german, daughters of John Clegg, Esq., of Bent House. Abraham Clegg, Esq., died January 23, 1826, and was father of Abraham Clegg, Esq., J .P., now of Highfield, Oldham, and of John Clegg, Esq., of King-street, Oldham, who died November 8, 1848. William Clegg, Esq., died May 31, 1812, and was father of Assheton Clegg, Esq., of Prestwich, and other sons, now of Manchester.

Pits was long an inhabited homestead, which stood betwixt the bottom of the present George-street, and the lower part of Fog-lane, now called King-street. Joseph Jones, of Pits, yeoman, was living in 1702, and is believed to have been a relative of John Jones, yeoman, one of the nephews and heirs of Samuel Howard, the benefactor to Oldham. This John Jones seems to have been the same John Jones who possessed lands in Chadderton, in 1681. Joseph Jones, of Pits, yeoman, living in 1735, was father of Joseph Jones, junior, living in 1747, whose relative (probably son), William Jones, yeoman, was of Fog-lane, in 1763. Mr. William Jones, of Fog-lane, commenced a small colliery, on North-moor, a few years prior to 1770, and succeeding in the coal mining business, he extended his concerns in that line, and became an enterprising proprietor of collieries. His son, the late Joseph Jones, Esq., of Hope House, Fog-lane, or King-street, foreseeing the vast utility of an ample supply of coal, as a means of creating and increasing the manufactories of the district, considerably augmented the mining concerns of his father, and entered into partnership with the late James Lees, Esq., of Clarlrsfield, a spirited capitalist, and other parties. The firms of Messrs. Lees, Jones, and Booth, and of Messrs. Barrow, Leeses, Jones, Duncuft, and Co., flourished for many years as the principal colliery owners in the parishes of Oldham

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