Lea Mills, the Derbyshire site that became John Smedley, started operating in 1784 under a partnership between Peter Nightingale (a relative of Florence Nightingale and former accountant to Richard Arkwright) and John Smedley, father of the man the brand is named for. The mill began spinning cotton before converting to wool, and in 1825 it introduced one of the first fully-fashioned knitting machines, which the company used to produce the original Long Johns. It's remained a family business ever since, now run by the eighth generation of Smedleys, with around 300 people still making the garments in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire.