Dukinfield, United Kingdom

The Dukinfields held the manor for five centuries, until the widow of Sir William Dukinfield Daniel married John Astley in 1767 and he inherited the estate. John Astley was an artist and architect; he designed and built Dukinfield Lodge on a hill overlooking the river Tame as a new seat for the family, replacing the old wooden hall. His son Francis Dukinfield Astley succeeded him as lord of the manor in 1787; his son, Francis Dukinfield Palmer Astley, followed in 1825.

Industrialisation, particularly in the cotton trade, helped shape the town, but its rapid development destroyed its former pasture and meadow land. Two cotton mills were built before 1794 and by 1825 there were seven. The industry continued to expand and, by the end of the 19th century, 14 spinning mills of varying sizes were in operation. The largest mills were built in brick during the 1890s, with four or five storeys, large windows, ornamental towers, engine houses and tall brick built chimneys; they included Tower, Tame Valley, River, Park Road and Queen Mills. Most of the cotton mills have now been demolished, but some have been preserved and converted into flats.

Coal pits exploiting the underlying coal measures to the south of the Lancashire Coalfield were a major part of Dukinfield's industrial history. One pithead was located on Birch Lane, now the site of All Saints' Catholic College, with another near the northern border with Ashton-under-Lyne. Francis Dukinfield Astley first started developing collieries in the town around 1820 and his son, Francis Dukinfield Palmer Astley, continued to develop the two most notable mines after his father's death in 1825 — Dukinfield and Astley Deep Pit — both of which suffered explosions which killed many workers:

Dukinfield Colliery (also known as Lakes Pit or Victoria Colliery) was owned by Astley's Dukinfield Colliery Company. The colliery had two shafts, the downcast was 1,020 feet (311 m) deep to the Black mine (coal seam) and was connected to the upcast ventilation shaft. On 4 June 1867, 38 men and boys died of suffocation following an explosion caused by a faulty safety lamp and poor management.

Astley Deep Pit, was off King's Street opposite Brownlea Avenue was developed by Astley but, by 1874, was owned by Benjamin Ashton. The colliery's downcast shaft was 2,058 feet (627 m) deep and its workings extended over a mile to the south and about 1,300 yards (1,189 m) to the north of the shaft. This colliery was reported to be at one time, the deepest coal mine in the world, at 2,100 feet (640 m) and had three shafts. On 14 April 1874, an underground gas explosion killed 54 men. After the pit closed in 1901, the shafts were filled in and left to stand for many years before being built on; it is now the site of a development of houses comprising Angel Close, Oval Drive and Silver Close.

Samuel Robinson, a Unitarian, industrialist and scholar, founded the village library in 1833 and was dubbed the "foremost promoter of education in the district" before his death in 1884. Daniel Adamson a mechanical engineer became the first chairman of the Manchester Ship Canal Company. He owned an engineering works producing Lancashire boilers at Newton Wood beside the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. He died on 13 January 1890; the Adamson Military Band, named after Adamson is based in Dukinfield. The MS&LR's successor, the Great Central Railway, moved its carriage and wagon works to Dukinfield in 1910.

Dukinfield and its surrounding towns were major centres of civil revolt during the 19th century and briefly the area was a hotbed of Chartism, the popular movement calling for universal suffrage via a People's Charter. Chartist leader, Reverend Joseph Rayner Stephens is buried in St John's Churchyard.