John Bancroft (1750-1833) was a chair manufacturer and timber merchant in Lancashire, England and progenitor of the Bancroft family in Delaware and Philadelphia, having emigrated to America in 1822. His son, John Jr. (1774-1852), was apprenticed in his father's business and established a woolen mill near Brandywine Bridge in Wilmington, Delaware with his sons, John (1802-1882) and Samuel (1804-1891). The third son, Joseph (1803-1874), remained in England to complete his apprenticeship at his uncle John Bright's cotton mill in Rochdale, England, but joined the family in Wilmington in 1824. Included is one autoraphed letter written by John Bancroft, Jr., from Brandywine, Delaware, to his son, Joseph Bancroft, at John Bright's cotton mill in Rochdale, England, delivered by Liverpool Ship Letter transit in 1823.