John Rylands He was buried in the Southern Cemetery, Manchester: a fine tomb was erected over the vault and his widow was buried there in 1908. The tomb was designed by C. H. Heathcote and completed in 1892. The elaborate superstructure of the tomb which included four angels was taken down in 1927 after it was vandalised and the bronze railings were stolen in 1967. His estate, the bulk of which was left to his wife Enriqueta, was valued at £2,574,922 (£ as of ), greater than that left by any other cotton manufacturer to that time. "Rylands v Fletcher", an important
Rylands v Fletcher tort, but instead a sub-tort of nuisance. In 1860, Rylands paid contractors to build a reservoir on his land, intending that it should supply the Ainsworth Mill with water. Rylands played no active role in the construction, instead contracting out to a competent engineer. While building it, the contractors discovered a series of old coal shafts and passages under the land filled loosely with soil and debris, which joined up with Thomas Fletcher's adjoining mine. Rather than blocking these shafts up, the contractors left them. On 11 December 1860, shortly after being filled for the first time, Rylands' reservoir burst