Isaac Jackson

Isaac Edward Jackson was born in 1858, the youngest son of Horace and Mary Ann Jackson. His father Horace was a saddler but was also well known as a poet and Chartist. The family lived and worked in Hyde. Isaac’s two elder brothers became saddlers and later Isaac himself learnt the trade most probably from his father.

Isaac came to Glossop in the early 1870’s

The newly married couple made Glossop their home and worked together to build up their business. Isaac worked hard maintaining his saddlery business but made his fortune through his inventions. 

At this time the belts that ran machinery in mills and factories were held together with leather thongs. It would be the job of a saddler to repair these belts. However this would cause significant delays when they broke. Isaac began experimenting to create a solution that would fix the belts together quickly and with minimum skill. He registered many patents for belt fasteners including the famous “Jackson’s Patent Belt Fastener”. This was a metal plate that clipped together with a button from underneath…