Robert Barbour moved from Glasgow to Manchester in 1815 and established his cotton trading company Robert Barbour and Brothers Ltd the same year.

By the late 19th century, Charles Augustus Stewart, Charles Stewart, George Beatson Blair and John McMillan Dunlop ran the business as agents and cotton merchants.

George Beatson Blair remained a director of the company, with his brothers James and Alexander, until his death in 1940. By 1946, Thos G Hill & Co Ltd of Manchester, merchants and converters, owned Robert Barbour and Brothers Ltd.