I recently came across a rather long poem written
anonymously by someone from Keighley in 1834, which gives a vivid insight into
the life of a weaver, and his family around this time, as the industry moved
from the cottage to the mill.
There are many examples of 18th and 19th Century BANCROFT families
earning a living from hand loom weaving in their homes, before the invention of
machinery, which made production on a large scale possible in the mills, and
spelt the demise of this cottage industry.
An insight into the living conditions of a hand loom weaver
in the nearby village of Heptonstall, is graphically described in the following
extract from the book 'The History of the typhus of Heptonstall Slack' by S
Gibson:
" The reminiscences of a Heptonstall Handloom Weaver, born in 1809, shows just how low was his standard of life in this period. His cottage had no under-drawing, was cold and damp, and snow blew in during the winter. His bedding consisted of two cotton blankets, a rough cotton quilt and pillows filled with chopped straw. Furniture consisted of a three-legged table, two old chairs, two three-legged stools and a chest of drawers. Food was monotonous and poor and utensils were scanty. His porridge pan doubled as a frying pan. Owing to a shortage of knives and forks, some of the family ate with their fingers. There were a few broken cups and saucers, and old teaspoon and a jug for fetching milk. The diet consisted of porridge, old milk, treacle, potatoes and oatcake. For dinner he had fried suet with salt and water for gravy. Occasionally he had tea or coffee, but normally drank a brew of mint, hyssop or tansey from the garden. He worked an 11 and a half hour day for 6/6d per week."
" The reminiscences of a Heptonstall Handloom Weaver, born in 1809, shows just how low was his standard of life in this period. His cottage had no under-drawing, was cold and damp, and snow blew in during the winter. His bedding consisted of two cotton blankets, a rough cotton quilt and pillows filled with chopped straw. Furniture consisted of a three-legged table, two old chairs, two three-legged stools and a chest of drawers. Food was monotonous and poor and utensils were scanty. His porridge pan doubled as a frying pan. Owing to a shortage of knives and forks, some of the family ate with their fingers. There were a few broken cups and saucers, and old teaspoon and a jug for fetching milk. The diet consisted of porridge, old milk, treacle, potatoes and oatcake. For dinner he had fried suet with salt and water for gravy. Occasionally he had tea or coffee, but normally drank a brew of mint, hyssop or tansey from the garden. He worked an 11 and a half hour day for 6/6d per week."
Only in the 1840's, in the woollen industries, did the power
looms in the factories competed fully and directly with hand looms. Until that
time the two existed side by side, with the hand loom weaver reduced to being
an auxiliary of the factory, but not yet driven out of existence by
competition. Their role was to take up the slack in boom times, and to bear the
first brunt of recession. They also acted as a check on the wages of power loom
weavers, most of whom were women.
The owners of these newly set up mills were known for their
exploitation of their workers, and especially the children who worked for them,
and this is vividly shown in the poem.
Here are the first few verses of the poem:
'Draw near, honest
people, of every degree
And listen a little, I
pray unto thee
While I shall attempt
to unfold in my tale
A few of the tricks
which in England prevail
Then first, for the
weavers, a set of poor souls
With cloths on their
backs much like riddles for holes
With faces quite pale,
and eyes sunk in the head
As if the whole race
were half famished for bread
Indeed, when these
wretches you happen to meet
You think they were
shadows you see in the street
For thin
water-porridge is all they can get
And even with that
they are often hard set…..
The weaver stands
staring, the master shouts out
“ Come take this five
shillings, or else go without
For charity’s sake, I
employ you you know
Or else to the
workhouse you’d soon have to go”
At last the poor
weaver is forc’d to submit
This workhouse has
frightened him out of his wit
So take it and think
so, tho’ it only small
Five shillings are
better than nothing at all'
The full poem, all 50 pages, can be downloaded here, but please be aware that much of
it is a bit rambling and not just relevant to the life of a weaver.
A Hand-Loom Weaver |
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