Andrew Knowles was born in 1783 into a family whose mining interests began in Elizabethan times and whose descendants dominated the industry at the end of the Victorian era. Before 1810 Knowles operated in Bolton, Darcy Lever and Great Lever and subsequently bought leases in the Irwell Valley near Clifton. In the late 1830s Knowles took his four sons into partnership. Andrew Knowles died in 1847 and a son, John, died in 1852 leaving Robert, Thomas and James Knowles to continue the business. Little Bolton Colliery on Slater Lane near the River Tonge in Bolton was owned by the company between 1853 and 1863. The third generation joined the firm after a disagreement in 1872 and Andrew Knowles and Sons Limited was formed in 1883. The firm grew to be the largest on the Manchester Coalfield by the end of the 19th century when it had almost 4,000 employees.