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John Owens
At the end of St. John's
Street is a small park bound by wrought iron
railings. A small cross in the garden has at its
base a number of plaques.
 One of them points
out that this park was in fact the church yard
of St. John's Church. The church was
demolished in 1931 but as the plaque points out that
the remains of 22,000 people lie buried in the
vicinity. When the church was still here the
church yard was actually paved with tombstones laid
flat on the ground.
 Today only 2 stones
remain one to Owen Owens and one to John Owens.
 Owen Owens was the
father of John Owens. Owen Owens was a prosperous
merchant from North Wales. He has a successful hat
lining company in Manchester. John was educated in
Ardwick and later became a partner in his father's
business. As their business grew they became
involved in trading calico around the world and
importing cotton, hides wheat and other
commodities. John Owen died at his house in
Chorlton-upon-Medlock in 1846 leaving a bequest of
£96,654 for the foundation of a college.
 The money was used to
purchase Richard Cobden's former home on Quay Street
which became the first home of Owens College in
1851. In later years Owens College moved to Oxford
Road and became the University of Manchester.
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