The Thorntons

The 25^th of March 1839, august permission was granted to James Thornton of Great Britain to purchase a plot of land for his factory. On the plot he purchased in 1841 in the Schliesselburg borough of St Petersburg, on the right bank of the Neva across from a foundry, James Thornton founded a cloth and blanket factory. Manned and managed exclusively by British executives and engineers, the factory was one of the most 'British' businesses in the Russian capital at the time.

In 1847 the factory started producing wool fabrics and yarn. In a 1855 factory directory of St Petersburg, Thornton's business is listed as a factory producing baize blankets, white and dyed flannel fabrics and women's head scarves to a total of around Rbl 115,000 a year. The factory employed 180 workers of both genders, and one supervisor.

The 12^th of August 1866, James Thornton and his sons John and Charles established a joint stock partnership to make wool fabrics and yarn at the cloth and blanket factory, named Thornton Wool Partnership. The partnership's fixed assets totalled a colossal Rbl 2,000,000.

Around the end of the 19^th century, Thornton Wool Partnership was one of the leading textile producers in Russia. In 1878, the firm won a Gold Medal at the World Fair in Paris; in 1882, the National Exhibition of Industry and Arts in Moscow awarded Thornton's firm the right to display the Russian national symbol on its products in recognition of the 'superior quality of its plaids, blankets and flannels.' In 1885, the firm won an honorary diploma at a trade fair in Antwerp, Belgium.

Arthur and Percy Thornton were the last private owners of the business before it was nationalized by the Soviets in 1918. The company is still in business under the name Nevskaya Manufaktura.