1774 Born
1800 Married Elizabeth Langmuir in Renfrew
1802 Married Catherine Mitchell in Renfrew; they had 11 children.
Involved in making textile goods
1824/6 Established his business to make threads in a small factory in Ferguslie[1]
Took his eldest son, James into partnership, followed by his second son Peter
1830 Retired from the business in favour of his sons.
1835 Took his son Thomas into partnership
1841 James Coats Senr 65, of independent means, lived in Paisley with Andrew Coats 25, merchant, and Catherin Mitchell 60[2]
1857 'THE LATE JAMES COATS, SEN., ESQ. We have the melancholy duty, this week, of recording the death of an old and much respected townsman, Mr James Coats, sen., the founder of the well known and extensive thread manufacturing concern of J. & P. Coats. Mr Coats was in his eighty-third year, having been born in Paisley on 1st October, 1774. He was bred a weaver, and in early life entered the army as a private, in a cavalry regiment of Ayrshire Fencibles. After six years' service he obtained his discharge, and again returned to the loom. Weaving in his case, as in many others where industry and enterprise prevail, led to manufacturing, and he soon became largely engaged in the manufactures of his native town. The muslin trade, the chenille trade, the canton-crape trade (which he was one of the first to introduce to Paisley), and the silk gauze trade, were all successfully pursued; but the thread trade, which was to spread the name of his family over the civilised world, was not commenced till he was considerably advanced life. In 1824 he laid the first foundation of that mill at Ferguslie which, by successive additions, is now the largest thread-work in the Three Kingdoms. He retired entirely from the business in 1830, with the satisfaction of seeing it followed up with the same energy and success by his sons. He was included in the Commission of the Peace for the county in 1838.
Mr Coats married soon after his return from the army, and found in his partner in life one who cheered him on in all his enterprises, and was a comforter whose loss he deeply felt, and never ceased to lament. She died just six months before him. Although not of robust constitution, Mr Coats had a keen relish of life and social intercourse, was possessed of much equanimity and cheerfulness, and delighted in acts of kindness and charity. Living in the bosom of his family, in much affection, he enjoyed comparatively good health till the evening of his days, when he fell "like a shock of corn fully ripe," rejoicing in the prospect of a blessed re-union with those who had gone before him. His death will be felt as a bereavement beyond his own family; and he will be long remembered by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances for the kindliness of his nature, and the warmth of his Christian benevolence.'[3]