George Courtauld was the founder of Courtaulds

Courtaulds

Courtaulds was a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals.-Foundation:The Company was founded by George Courtauld and his cousin Peter Taylor in 1794 as a silk, crepe and textile business at Pebmarsh in north Essex trading as George Courtauld & Co...

 which was to become one the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

's largest textile businesses.

Career

Apprenticed to a Spitalfields

Spitalfields

Spitalfields is a former parish in the borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London, near to Liverpool Street station and Brick Lane. The area straddles Commercial Street and is home to many markets, including the historic Old Spitalfields Market, founded in the 17th century, Sunday...

 silk weaver in 1775, George Courtauld first worked on his own as silk throwster. Between 1785 and 1794 he made a number of visits to America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. In 1794 he established his own textile business at Pebmarsh

Pebmarsh

Pebmarsh is a small village and a civil parish the Braintree district, in Essex, England. It is situated to the north east of Halstead close to the A131.- External links :*****...

 under the name George Courtald & Co. However by 1816 the business was in financial difficulty: that year George's son Samuel

Samuel Courtauld (industrialist)

Samuel Courtauld was an industrialist and Unitarian, chiefly remembered as the driving force behind the rapid growth of the Courtauld textile business in Britain....

 took over the business and built it into one of the largest textile businesses in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

George was an ardent Unitarian

Unitarianism

Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....

: he retired to America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 where he died in 1823.

Family

George was born on 19 September 1761 to Samuel Courtauld and Louise Perine Ogier. He was christened on 8 October 1761 in the French Huguenot Church, Threadneedle Street, London.

George Courtauld married Ruth Minton on 10 July 1789 and together they had:

• Samuel Courtauld
  Samuel Courtauld (industrialist)
  Samuel Courtauld was an industrialist and Unitarian, chiefly remembered as the driving force behind the rapid growth of the Courtauld textile business in Britain....
  
   (1793-1881)
• Catherine Courtauld (1795-)
• George Courtauld
  George Courtauld (industrialist)
  George Courtauld was a Crepe and Silk manufacturer, and part of the Courtauld family empire in Great Britain-Personal life:He was born Pebmarsh, Essex in 1802, the son of George Courtauld and Ruth Minton...
  
   (1802-1861)

He died on 13 August 1823 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Allegheny County is a county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,223,348; making it the second most populous county in Pennsylvania, following Philadelphia County. The county seat is Pittsburgh...

.