Manchester United was formed as Newton Heath LYR F.C. in 1878 by the workers in the Carriage and Wagon Works of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway's Newton Heath depot.[5] In 1901, the club was in over £2,500 of debt and facing a winding-up order;[6] however, they were saved by local brewer John Henry Davies, who changed their name to Manchester United in 1902.[7] After Davies' death in 1927, the club fell into financial difficulties once again, but James W. Gibson stepped in as a new financial benefactor in 1931.[8] Gibson himself died in 1951, but while his widow, Violet, inherited the ownership of the club, its control passed to director and former player Harold Hardman.[9]