David Dale (1739-1806) was a leading Scottish industrialist, merchant and philanthropist during the Scottish Enlightenment period at the end of the 18th century. He was a successful entrepreneur in a number of areas, most notably in the cotton-spinning industry and was the founder of the world famous cotton mills in New Lanark, where he provided social and educational conditions far in advance of anything available anywhere else in the UK. Scotland's leading historian, Professor Sir Tom Devine, described Dale as 'the greatest cotton magnate of his time in Scotland'. New Lanark attracted visitors from all over the world.

Construction work began immediately and the mill buildings were based on Arkwright's own mills in Cromford. Men and boys were sent from New Lanark to Cromford for initial training and the mills began spinning in early 1786, at which point both Dempster and Arkwright left the partnership, leaving Dale as the sole owner. By the 1790s there were nearly 1,400 people living and working in the community .  Business boomed and the village attracted thousands of visitors. Between 1795-1799, for example, over 3,000 visitors came to see what was happening in New Lanark. Many visitors were themselves businessmen & manufacturers (including one Robert Owen). Some were landed gentry and members of the aristocracy; some were politicians, lawyers, bankers, teachers, medics, academics, scientists and a few (William and Dorothy Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge) were to become famous 'New Romantics'. A surprising number came from abroad - not just from European countries such as Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Norway, but also from several U.S. states (New York, Kentucky, Virginia, Boston, Georgia, North Carolina). From further afield, some came from Barbados, Jamaica, Antigua, Grenada and Dominica and there were even a few from Africa and India (Sierra Leone, Bengal, Calcutta).  What were they coming to see? They were attracted by a very successful spinning business but New Lanark was more famous as a model factory community where business, philanthropy and education all came together for the first time anywhere in Britain. The community became as famous for its social & educational provision as it did for anything else - something which Robert Owen was later to capitalise upon.

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