Mitchell Wilberton was born in 1852, the location of his birth is not specifically known as he was not born in england, it is thought he was emigrating to America from northern Europe when he was in his twenties and decided to stay in hull as it was a typical stopping point on the journey. Once he was in hull he used the money he had inherited to purchase a small textile factory which was struggling financially. Accounts from this time detail his often brutal management techniques, which, while profitable, did not make him popular with his workforce. He continued expanding his business, growing often faster than his competition due to him allegedly avoiding certain laws and taxes at the time. For this reason he would have a policy which was known as ‘no footprints’ where no records would be kept of any part of his operations and all exact details of his business were kept in relative secrecy. This business plan worked well for him throughout the next few decades, he expanded his business into various other areas. I spoke to someone whose grandfather worked in a small dock operated by Wilberton and someone else who found their grandmothers diary where she detailed information about her job in his main office headquarters.