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Introduction
Among the many memorable characters in Charles Dickens’s Nicholas Nickleby are Ned and Charles Cheeryble, the vehemently philanthropic brothers who employ Nicholas on a delicate mission to Walter Bray. They are widely believed to be based on William (1769-1842) and Daniel (?1780-1855) Grant of Ramsbottom in Lancashire, and from this tale one can see the similarities very clearly.
‘HE’ll live to regret it!’ That was the judgment of William Grant, the Lancashire industrialist, when a Ramsbottom warehouseman wrote a scurrilous pamphlet designed to damage the reputations of William and his brother Daniel.* ‘I suppose’ sneered the author when he heard it ‘that he thinks I’ll be in his debt one day. Well, I’m too careful for that!’
Yet business fell off, and eventually the warehouseman was bankrupted. As he gloomily scanned the names of his creditors he was astonished to see, despite all his care, the name of Grant Brothers, of Ramsbottom. One of his creditors had himself been bankrupted, and by a twist of fortune the Grants now held those debts.
To resume business, a bankrupt had by law to come to an accommodation with all his creditors, and obtain their signatures upon a certificate. And so there came a day when the warehouseman knocked tremulously on the door of the offices of Grant Brothers, and found himself standing before Mr William.
‘Shut the door, sir!’ growled Mr William.
* William and Daniel were just two of eight children born to William Grant (1733-1817) and his wife Grace (née McKenzie). The elder William was a struggling Scottish farmer from Speyside east of Inverness, who in 1783 brought his family to Manchester in the hope of a new life in the burgeoning textile industry. They settled in Ramsbottom, which was just then growing up around the mills of Sir Robert Peel (1750-1830), whose son would later be Prime Minister and establish the Metropolitan police force. William and Daniel became extremely successful manufacturers of textiles and other goods, founding the Square Mill around a simple but pioneering concept: raw goods entering at one end, and finished products exiting at the other. They were assisted in their business by their brothers James and John.
Précis
After a rival in the warehousing business directed a smear campaign against him, Ramsbottom industrialist William Grant swore to make him regret it. Not long afterwards, his rival found himself in financial trouble, and as luck would have it he was unable to resume his business without approval from the very man he had tried to ruin, William Grant. (59 / 60 words)
After a rival in the warehousing business directed a smear campaign against him, Ramsbottom industrialist William Grant swore to make him regret it. Not long afterwards, his rival found himself in financial trouble, and as luck would have it he was unable to resume his business without approval from the very man he had tried to ruin, William Grant.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, although, besides, despite, just, must, not, until.
Word Games
Jigsaws Based on this passage
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