Chapter 1 – the Existence, Distribution and Type of Fixed Retailing
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THE NON-ELITE CONSUMER AND ‘WEARING APPAREL’ IN HEREFORDSHIRE AND WORCESTERSHIRE, 1800-1850 ALISON E M TOPLIS, BA (Hons), MA A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2008 This work or any part thereof has not previously been presented in any form to the University or to any other body whether for the purposes of assessment, publication or for any other purpose (unless otherwise indicated). Save for any express acknowledgments, references and/or bibliographies cited in the work, I confirm that the intellectual content of the work is the result of my own efforts and of no other person. The right of Alison Toplis to be identified as author of this work is asserted in accordance with ss.77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. At this date copyright is owned by the author. Signature……………………………………….. Date…………………………………………….. Abstract The routine consumption patterns of ordinary consumers in the first half of the nineteenth century, particularly those in the provinces, have been neglected. This thesis sheds light on this area by investigating one particular commodity, clothing. To undertake this, a range of archival sources, visual evidence and surviving dress relating to the counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire have been examined. The data has enabled an analysis of the consumption of clothing in different locations within the two counties, including county towns, industrial regions and villages, to be carried out. The results have highlighted the many different methods of clothing supply available to the non-elite consumer, which included shop retailing, itinerant selling, illicit networks and clothing distributed via the Poor Law and charity. The thesis demonstrates firstly that the non-elite consumer could obtain clothing from a variety of outlets, using different acquisition methods. Secondly, it shows that this clothing varied in both style and the way it was manufactured, often depending on the supply network utilised. The thesis questions assumptions about the availability of ready-made clothing, the nature of retailing clothing in rural areas, the decline of hawking and peddling, the non-elite use of clothing shops and non-elite consumers’ relationship with fashion. It emphasizes that non-elite consumers had a complex relationship with their clothing, influenced in part by personal preference, gender, economic circumstances and stage in the life-cycle. This thesis shows the multifarious ways non-elite, provincial consumers acquired and wore their clothing. i Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................ v Acknowledgements.................................................................................................viii Introduction................................................................................................................ 1 Historiography ....................................................................................................... 1 Aims ....................................................................................................................... 9 Definitions and Concepts ..................................................................................... 10 Methodology ........................................................................................................ 15 The Approach................................................................................................... 15 The Sources...................................................................................................... 17 Newspapers .................................................................................................. 17 Directories.................................................................................................... 20 Court records................................................................................................ 23 Old Poor Law Records................................................................................. 25 Other Sources............................................................................................... 26 Content ................................................................................................................. 26 Chapter 1 .................................................................................................................. 28 Clothing Shops and Non-Elite Consumers .......................................................... 28 Worcester ......................................................................................................... 28 Geography of the city and distribution of shops .............................................. 32 Worcestershire towns....................................................................................... 37 Hereford ........................................................................................................... 45 Geography of the city and distribution of shops .............................................. 46 Herefordshire towns......................................................................................... 51 Worcestershire and Herefordshire villages ...................................................... 55 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 66 Chapter 2 .................................................................................................................. 69 The Shopkeeper and the Non-Elite Consumer..................................................... 69 Worcester ......................................................................................................... 69 Hereford ........................................................................................................... 80 Promotion to the non-elite consumer ............................................................... 92 ii Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 99 Chapter 3 ................................................................................................................ 102 Selling by Non-Fixed Traders............................................................................ 102 Defining hawkers and pedlars........................................................................ 102 Circumventing the licence ............................................................................. 104 Goods sold...................................................................................................... 116 Travelling drapers .......................................................................................... 118 Markets........................................................................................................... 124 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 130 Chapter 4 ................................................................................................................ 132 The Informal Market I - Paupers........................................................................ 132 The Informal Market and the ‘Economy of Make-shifts’.............................. 132 The dress of paupers ...................................................................................... 134 Claiming clothing under the Old Poor Law ................................................... 135 The market town: Bromyard .......................................................................... 139 Rural villages: Castlemorton and Abbey Dore .............................................. 142 Industrial towns: Droitwich and Kidderminster............................................. 149 Clothing provision in workhouses ................................................................. 156 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 158 Chapter 5 ................................................................................................................ 161 The Informal Market II - Charity....................................................................... 161 Rural charity................................................................................................... 163 Urban charity.................................................................................................. 165 The Jarvis Charity .......................................................................................... 169 Charity schools............................................................................................... 174 Annual gifts and self-help clubs..................................................................... 176 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 182 Chapter 6 ................................................................................................................ 185 The Informal Market III..................................................................................... 185 Illicit Networks............................................................................................... 185 Motivations for and attitudes to clothing theft............................................... 186 The disposal of stolen clothes .......................................................................