John Rylands manufacturers, and about the same time they erected a new spinning mill. The Ainsworth mills, near Bolton, and other factories were subsequently acquired. Joseph and Richard retired around 1839 and the death of their father in July 1847 made John Rylands sole proprietor. The business continued to expand and in 1849 a warehouse was opened in Wood Street, London. A great fire occurred at the Manchester warehouse in 1854 but the loss, although very large, was speedily repaired. By 1864 the warehouses were seven storeys high and extended all the way along New High Street (now High Street) in Manchester:
John Rylands He employed 15,000 people in his 17 mills and factories, which produced 35 long tons (39 short tons) of cloth a day. From 1857, John Rylands lived at Longford Hall, in Stretford, an Italianate mansion he built on the site of an earlier house. In 2009 the local council placed a "blue plaque" at the site of Longford Hall to commemorate John and Enriqueta Rylands. He was a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Curriers. Rylands was retired and reserved except in the company of his friends, and always shrank from public office of any kind, although he was not