Gallery Oldham exhibition celebrates work of mill worker

Starting later this month, the Finding the Funny exhibition celebrates Fitton's work as an illustrator, poet, dialect writer and performer.

Fitton originally worked in the local cotton mills in Crompton but he went on to make a living through his creative ventures and, in 1907, he began to contribute a weekly cartoon to the Cotton Factory Times, a newspaper for Lancashire millworkers.

Across more than a decade, he drew more than 400 cartoons for the newspaper, creating a unique visual record of the cotton industry, its workers and the communities in which they lived.

His work was comedic but also focused on the struggles of mill workers, whose lives were often dirty and short.

An illustration by Fitton (Image: Oldham Council)

As a writer, he wrote comedic lines in the Lancashire dialect and a book of his works Gradely Lancashire was published after his death in 1923.

Finding the Funny begins on Saturday, March 18 and will run until June 17.

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As part of the exhibition, historians Alan Fowler and Terry Wyke, who have produced an accompanying booklet looking at the themes within the exhibition, will be delivering a special galley talk on Wednesday, March 22 from 2pm.

Professor Mike Sanders of the University of Manchester will also deliver a talk on Wednesday, April 19 at 2pm.

Artwork by Fitton (Image: Oldham Council)

Cllr Elaine Taylor, deputy leader of Oldham Council and Cabinet member for culture and leisure, said: "Oldham was built on cotton and Sam Fitton’s work gives a good insight into what it was like for workers more than a century ago.’

"Many Oldhamers will have relatives who worked in the mills so this exhibition is a good chance to see what life was like for them – including the good and bad times."