1796 - took employment as a clerk to a French importing merchant named Nancrède. 1811 - following the ban on the import of English goods, left America for England. 1815 - moved briefly to Birmingham, where he and William Tudor founded the North American Review. 1816 - settled permanently in Manchester. 1821 - involved in the founding of the Manchester Guardian. 1830 - was a member of a delegation to Paris, taking contributions from Manchester to relieve those wounded in the July revolution. 1832 - established a machine-making works at Gamaches in France. 1840 - completed Leegate Hall. 1851 - became a vice-president of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society.