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
John Rylands other benefactions he established and maintained orphanages, homes for aged gentlewomen, a home of rest for ministers of slender means, and he provided a town hall, public baths, library and a coffeehouse in the town of Stretford, where he lived. He also built an institute for the benefit of the villagers of Havenstreet on the Isle of Wight, where Rylands passed some of his later years from 1882, having built a house named Longford there after his mainland estate. His donations to the poor of Rome were so generous as to induce the king to decorate him in 1880 with