By 1824, having then reached the age of seventy years, he was reduced to poverty. The end of his career is recorded by John Kennedy, and surely no one could have left a record based upon more intimate and sympathetic knowledge of Crompton’s trials and achievements: “Messrs. Hicks & Rothwell, of Bolton, myself and some others, in that neighbourhood and in Manchester, had in 1824 recourse to a second subscription, to purchase a life annuity for him, which produced £63 per annum. The amount raised for this purpose was collected in small sums, from one to ten pounds, some of which were contributed by the Swiss and French spinners, who acknowledged his merits and pitied his misfortunes. At the same time his portrait was engraved for his benefit, and a few impressions were disposed of: he enjoyed this small annuity only two years. He died June 26th, 1827.”[478] [Footnote 478: Kennedy, _ibid._, pp. 323-324. Messrs. Hicks & Rothwell along with men like Isaac and Benjamin Dobson, of the famous engineering firm, used to meet at “The Sign of the Black Horse” in Bolton, where they had formed a “prosecution” club in 1801. Crompton belonged to this club, his name appearing in 1810, and as a member of the Committee in 1819. The scheme of an annuity appears to have originated and have been carried through by this group of men along with Mr. Kennedy and others. The minutes of the club are preserved in the Chadwick Museum, Bolton. In Manchester also there was a “prosecution” society known by the name of “The Society for the Prosecution of Felons.” In both cases the society appears to have come into existence to check the small thefts and the pilfering of materials used in the businesses of the members. _Cf._ Dobson, _Evolution of the Spinning Machine_, p. 115.] In the year following that in which the annuity was purchased a movement, in which a Mr. J. Brown, of Bolton, was the prominent figure, was set on foot to bring Crompton’s case again before Parliament, with a view to a second grant. The pamphlet, to which references have already been made, was written by Mr. Brown and published with extracts from Crompton’s correspondence; a memorial was drawn up, which, according to French, was extensively signed by inhabitants of Bolton, the application for signatures being confined to that town, and in 1826 a petition was presented to Parliament.[479] [Footnote 479: French, _ibid._, pp. 218-222.]