Oldham
Oldham names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Oldham JOHN, an English author
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
JOHN, an English author; born in Shipton, in August, 1653; was educated at the school of Tetbury, and then at Oxford. He had many patrons, the last being the Earl of Kingston, in whose house he died. His works have been published in three volumes. He died in 1683. OLD RED SANDSTONE. The old red sandstone, or Devonian system, may be considered as embracing the whole series of strata which lies between the Silurian and Carboniferous systems. Certain portions of the formation were first distinguished in Devonshire, from which it derives its second name. The lower margin of the system is characterized by strata containing the fossil remains of fishes, and forming a line of separation between it and the Silurian system. On its upper margin it is distinguished by the rarity of the vegetation which so remarkably distinguishes the over-lying carboniferous rocks. The Devonian formation is nowhere found so largely developed as in the United States. In the New York system of rocks it includes the following rocks: Approximate thickness in New York. Names. Catskill group, or old red sandstone... 2,000 feet. 1,500 66 Chemung 1,000 66 Portage, and Genesee 1,000 66 Hamilton 50 66 Marcellas Upper Helderberg 66 50 Schoharie, and Cauda-galli 66 10 .5 to 30 feet. Oriskany sandstone
Oldham a town of England
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a town of England, in Lancashire, 6 miles N. E. of Manchester. The spinning and weaving of cotton are the staple industries of the town, and employ within it and in its vicinity about 250 mills; and there are several large machine shops, foundries, tanneretc. Pop. (1917) 133,721.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote in 1921 that Oldham's 250 mills made it a cotton town, it was near the end of an era: the industry collapsed through the twentieth century, and Elk Mill, the last working cotton-spinning mill in the town, closed in 1998. Oldham lost its Lancashire identity too, becoming a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in 1974, and it was reconnected to Manchester by the Metrolink tram line in 2012. The population figure of 133,721 for 1917 refers to a larger area than the modern town, which now has roughly 100,000 residents in a borough of about 240,000, including one of England's largest British-Asian communities. The brief notice of the poet John Oldham (1653–1683) still stands, though he is now remembered chiefly through Dryden's elegy "To the Memory of Mr Oldham".
Written for this edition, 2026.