ALTHOUGH this flouncy wedding cake is a typical design from the 1880s, it is far larger than most folk would have at that time.

But the groom was a big man in the area. He was James Edward Hubery Cecil, known as Viscount Cranborne, and he was Darwen’s first MP.

He married Lady Cicely Gore in 1887 and the wedding cake was made by Boyles confectioners, of Blackburn.

Viscount Cranborne was asked to stand in the new political division of Darwen in 1885, after previously being announced as a Conservative candidate for the old political division of north east Lancashire.

He first met his future constituents by opening a bazaar in Blackburn, and later Darwen’s Conservative Club, in Grimshaw Street.

His main rival was John Potter, the Liberal candidate, a paper printing manufacturer in Darwen.

In a very close-run election, Viscount Cranborne won this new seat by just five votes. A year later he was re-elected with a larger majority of 726 votes and was made private secretary to his father, the Marquis of Salisbury, when he became Prime Minister.

John Potter had also twice tried to stand for Blackburn in Parliament in 1867 and 1868, but failed. His family paper printing business produced early forms of wallpaper – and at one time was the largest producer in the world, winning international awards.

In 1851, while the rest of the business in Great Britain produced five million pieces of wallpaper, Potter and Co was making seven million itself.

It owned several mills in Darwen, including Hollins Paper Works, Dob Meadows Print Works, Livesey Fold Mill, Orchard Mill, Belgrave/Livesey Mills, the site of Crown Paints and, at one time, Hilton Paper Mill, between 1921 and 1939.

The business also expanded into the development of paints, and what was simply the distemper department of Hollins Mill in1906, grew to become the Walpamur Company of 1939, with 18 associated and subsidiary companies, which went on to become Crown Paints and Akzo Nobel.

Wedding cake maker James Boyle and Co is mentioned in the first Barratt trade directory of 1891 as a fruit preserver and confectioner, with a shop at 20 Victoria Street, Blackburn, and works in Alan Street.

By 1897, the business was described as a confectionery manufacturer, based at Navigation Mill, in Forrest Street, and with a shop in Railway Road.

The firm created the sweets known as Jap Nuggets, coloured cubes with a soft centre and candy coating, which were popular in the town in the early 1900s.

l Thanks to Blackburn teacher Mike Sumner who pulled all the historical strands togther to create this story for Looking Back.