Tonight is the second installment of St Chads Parish Records and is looking at Thornton’s best dressed.
I was surprised at the number of people involved in clothing production as I thought at this date most would have been produced at home.
Flax Dresser
1789-1791 – Joseph Wilcock
Now I have to confess when I first read this I thought it as something to do with candles .. shows what I know! A flax dresser is someone who prepares the fibres from the flax plant before they are spun into linen.
The first process is 'thrashing the flax' to remove the seeds which were used elsewhere. The flax is then ready for 'retting' which is where the inner stalk is rotted away to leave the fibres. This is usually done by soaking the flax in water and due to the terrible odour produced was done in running water where possible but ponds where not. Another method was to lay the bundles out in the fields and allow the dew to collect on it .. this took the longest time ( about a month) but produced the highest quality flax fibres.
Dressing the Flax
This is where the straw is removed from the fibres and consists of 3 steps:
Breaking – this is where the flax is beaten to soften it.
Scutching – the flax is hung up vertically and a scutching knife is swung down the fibres to remove pieces of stalk.
Heckling – the remaining fibres are pulled through various different sized heckling combs which get smaller and finer.
After the last comb there are 2 grades of flax: the fibres pulled throught he comb are the finest and the fibres and stalks ‘combed out’ called ‘tow’ produce a lower quality coaser fibre as they still contained some stalks.
Weavers
1784-1787 – Oliver Holden
1788 – ....... Simon Holden – cotton weaver
1789 – ....... William Bullen
1790-1796 – John Gregson
1797 – ....... William Gregson
As some of the weavers have the same surname it is likely that they could have been working together. With the port of Skippool nearby the raw material could have been grown locally or imported. Simon Holden is listed as a ‘cotton weaver’ which at the time also reffered to a type of finish on woolen cloth and did not necessarily refer to the fabric although again actual cotton could have been imported.
Taylors
1783 – ....... Christor Collinson
1783-1787 – Thomas Hornby – Trunnall (Trunnah)
1784 – ....... George Hornby
1784-1790 – Nicholas Hodgson (alias Tully)
1786-1797 – James Cowel
Again 5 taylors is more than I would have thought for Thornton with most of the population being farm/land workers. I do like an alias though.
Shoe Makers
1783 – ....... Richard Greenalgh
1790-1791 – Lawrence Anyon
1797 – ....... William Sharples
I was a little disappointed not to see a clog maker or cobbler amongst this lot.
Cordwainer
1793 – John Pearson
Again I will show my ignorance as I thought this was to do with ropes.
A cordwainer is someone who makes things from high quality leather and especially fine boots for the upper classes and nobility. This is definitely not your common or garden shoe maker unless of course he was just bigging himself up!
Now for the Quiz
Where in Thornton am I ? ...
Answers here as usual
as always melanie some interesting fact,s there, when you think of all the trouble they went to to dress the good folk of thornton, you wonder why they bothered when you look at some of them today lol.
ReplyDeleteHi Mike
ReplyDeleteCan't you tell I don't have any new pics or docs at the mo .. had to cobble something up. I do my family tree so know how importnat Parish Records are. I also get to learn things along the way.
cobble something up, i see what you did there.
ReplyDeleteHi Re; the name Hornby,The family lived at Hills cottages on Skippool Rd, for generations. the last one Jenny died a few years ago I think she was the last member. Osne of her brother lived in one of the Lambs hill Bretherton cottages,knew the family well.
ReplyDeleteMelanie,
ReplyDeleteThroughout the mediaeval period and beyond Britain was famous for its sheep rearing and wool/cloth production. That's what made us rich. Lancashire in particular had its cotton mills (because of the fells and streams and stuff you see to keep 'em powered). Prior to the mills cottage industries in weaving were all the rage, especially in Lancashire and Yorkshire because of the damp atomosphere. (Don't ask me...it's something that's required for the process apparently.) So, on the whole, it's not that surprising there were so many people connected to the clothing industry in 18th century Thornton when you think about it.
Hi James
ReplyDeleteA good Thornton name is Hornby.
Hi Brian
Thanks for that. I think I just imagined lots of wives sat at home spinning yarm or working a loom from the sheep on their farm but I suppose they were too busy with other things for that.
Just remembered there was a clogmaker/shoe maker/ Cobbler on the corner of Briar rd,/Victoria rd. in the 30s/40s,Briar Rd;was well named a single track only passable on foot from the Lawson Rd end.In those days all farm workers wore clogs, and many others workers in Thornton. Very durable and cheap to repair,A pair of clogs could be re-ironed in a mater of minutes, there were diferent size irons for different size clogs.
ReplyDeleteThere I go again, spouting a load of trivia.
Hello james,
ReplyDeletenot trivia at all i find what you have to say very interesting indeed.
Hi James
ReplyDeleteNot trivia. It always gets noted down.
Had a drive round this afternoon, blowed if i can find your red door.Thought i'd found it at 4 lanes end, but alas no.
ReplyDeleteHi James
ReplyDeleteHave just posted the answer and it was near Four Lane Ends so you were in the right area. I hadn't realised that the door would be left open during the day till later which made it a bit more difficult.