TEXTILE WORKERS IN BRITAIN

Textile Workers in Britain

Abstract

This paper compares the experiences of textile workers in cotton and wool in Britain from the mid 17th century to the mid 20th century. The paper emphasizes the contrast between the responses of labor in Lancashire and Yorkshire to industrialization and shows that despite the similarities of technology, workers in cotton and wool adopted different strategies.

Textile Workers in Britain

Opening Statement

The most significant of these contrasts was the development of trade unionism by 19th century Lancashire cotton workers and the absence of effective trade unionism in Yorkshire wool until 1914. The paper examines why given their similar geographical and technological background these responses of labor were so different.

Textiles in Lancashire and Yorkshire around 1700

The wool textile production before 1700 was a feature of many parts of England, but concentrated mainly in Yorkshire, East Anglia and the West Country. The period 1500-1700 witnessed a number of developments in textile production. Growth in production took place largely outside the towns, certainly outside those towns where guild restrictions existed. Government legislation influenced both wages and apprenticeship with local magistrates given a role in their determination.

So important was wool to Britain's prosperity that the seat on which the Lord Chancellor sat in the House of Lords was known as the Woolsack. Nor was the period, 1500-1700, static in terms of economic change. The development of new cloths, the "new curtains" enabled Britain to compete more effectively in the European continent. The industry was also boosted by the arrival of Protestant refugees from Catholic countries, especially France, who introduced new textile traditions to England. The general effect was to stimulate trade and encourage economic growth.

During the 18th century the wool industry continued to expand in Yorkshire, which was developed as a major center of wool production.The use of the term 'wool industry' is something of a misnomer. Effectively the industry was divided between woolen textiles and worsted, the division being dependent on the type of wool used. As significant as the expansion of woolen textiles in Yorkshire was the rapid development of the worsted industry around Bradford. Before wool production eighteenth century were concentrated in East Anglia, but as the century progressed Yorkshire began to compete successfully with East Anglia, in wool.

Yorkshire is located in the North of England to the east of a line of hills, the Pennines, which runs down the centre of England. To the west lies Lancashire which was much less economically developed than Yorkshire up to 1700. The cotton industry, which was established in Lancashire during the 18th century, arose out of an existing textile tradition based on wool and linen. Cotton developed in Lancashire after 1700 for a number of reasons. Demand for cotton goods had been encouraged by imports from India but the powerful wool lobby had successfully lobbied for protection.

Prior to 1700 the development of textiles in both Lancashire and Yorkshire was closely associated with agricultural production. There were many marginal producers in agriculture on both sides of the ...