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Benjamin Whitworth was born in Manchester
in 1815 and was brought to Drogheda as a child where his
father had set up a business as a corn merchant. The young
Benjamin was educated in England, and he later went into
business himself in Manchester. However he returned to
Drogheda, and founded the Greenmount and Boyne Mills in 1865. This factory once employed 1,200 people and exported linen throughout the world.
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He became the Borough of Drogheda's
Liberal MP also in 1865, and was re-elected in 1868. Benjamin
Whitworth personally funded many amenities in the town. He
built the Whitworth hall in Laurence Street, and donated it to
the town for use as a peoples hall. Down the years
it has been used as a cinema, a theatre, a music
hall and a dance hall among other things.
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Benjamin Whitworth
contributed in other ways to the welfare and infrastructure of the town and
its people. He personally funded improvements to the towns water
supply, and he helped to build the Christian
Brothers monastery, formerly at Sundays Gate. He was awarded the freedom of the Borough in 1877, and died in London in 1893.
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