The Fabric of Life: Linen and Life Cycle in England, 1678-1810 Alice
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The Fabric of Life: Linen and Life Cycle in England, 1678-1810 Alice Dolan Submitted to the University of Hertfordshire in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of PhD June 2015 1 Abstract ‘The Fabric of Life: Linen and Life Cycle in England, 1678-1810’ is structured around the human life cycle to draw out the social and cultural importance of linen for all ranks of society. Human and object life cycles are juxtaposed in the thesis to analyse co-dependent activities and processes rather than focusing on one facet of daily life. For thousands of years flax was a staple fibre, used for textile production in many parts of the globe. Cotton only overtook linen as the most popular textile in England at home and on the body during the nineteenth century. This thesis examines the preceding century to reveal why linen remained a daily necessity in England between 1678 and 1810, a period which encompassed a series of significant changes in the production, trade and use of linen. Linen was ubiquitous as underwear, sheets, table linens and for logistical purposes therefore it provides a unique insight into the early-modern world; a means of understanding the multifaceted experiences of daily life, of integrating understandings of the body, domestic, social, cultural and commercial activities. This thesis is social history through the lens of linen, reading a society through its interactions with a textile. Title page image: Winterthur Museum, 1970.0346.002, Pillow Case, linen, America, marked in 1818. [image removed for copyright reasons] 2 Abbreviations BL: British Library BM: British Museum BRO: Berkshire Record Office CCA: Canterbury Cathedral Archives KHLC: Kent History and Library Centre LMA: London Metropolitan Archives LRO: Lancashire Record Office OBP: Old Bailey Proceedings Online OHC: Oxfordshire History Centre NYCR: North Yorkshire County Record Office SRO: Somerset Record Office V&A: Victoria and Albert Museum WAA: Worcester Archives and Archaeology Service WYASW: West Yorkshire Archive Service, Wakefield YCA: York City Archive 3 Measures Lengths Spindle / spangle: 4 hanks or 14,400 yards (yarn) Hank: 3,600 yards (yarn) Ell: an English ell was 45 inches Yard: 36 inches Weights Stone: 14 pounds Pound / lb.: 16 ounces (oz.) Ounce: 16 drams Volumes Bushel: 8 gallons (used for seed, grain and other goods) Gallon: 4 quarts or 8 pints Quart: a quarter of a gallon or 2 pints 4 Contents Title Page 1 Abstract 2 Abbreviations 3 Measures 4 Contents 5 List of Illustrations 8 List of Tables 13 Acknowledgements 16 Introduction 18 Consumption of Linen 35 Methodology 43 Flax to Cloth: Fibres and Nomenclature 50 Chapter Overviews 68 Chapter 1. Infant Clothing: Age, Seasonality, Materiality and Fibres 71 Billet Books 73 Seasonality 78 Age 82 Decoration 84 Dressing Foundling Infants 97 5 Chapter 2. Childhood: The Foundling Hospital, Child Labour and the 107 Textile Business, 1758-1772 Household Textiles 116 Production and Provisioning 119 Cloth for the London Foundlings 138 Linen for the London Foundlings 141 Chapter 3. Family Life: Temporal Influences on Domestic Linen 147 Production and Care The Latham Account Book 152 Spinning and Growing Flax 156 1724 to 1741 158 1742 to 1754 162 1755 to 1767 166 Bleaching and Washing 170 Chapter 4. Adult Daily Life: Respectability and Decency 178 Novels 183 Quantity 191 Quality and Textile Type 196 Chapter 5. Adult Daily Life: Logistical Linens 209 Barras 215 Wrappers 219 Sacks 226 Money Bags and Purses 231 Chapter 6. Passing On: The (Un)emotional Status of Linen 239 Literary Linens 248 Pawning Linens 250 Wills: Passing On After Death 256 Memorialisation Through Objects 259 6 Chapter 7. ‘At first nothing could be more shocking’: The Impact of the 267 1678 Act for Burying in Woollen The Impact of the Burying in Woollen Acts 274 Economic Benefits 276 Religion 277 Custom 280 Social Cachet and Vanity 281 A Case Study of Cucklington and Henstridge, Somerset 283 Conclusion 291 Appendix 1. The 1660 Book of Rates Valuations for Calculating Import 297 Duties on Linens Appendix 2. Hundreds – a Linen Quality Description 301 Glossary 304 Bibliography 315 7 List of Illustrations All museum objects originated in Britain unless otherwise stated. Detailed origins are provided in the captions. Figure Illustration 0.1 Foundling 14444, textile swatch, plain linen (henceforth without 18 ‘textile swatch’), 1759 0.2 Graph of the average cost of a spindle of linen yarn from Perth, 33 1741-1776 0.3 Foundling 13396, striped cotton-linen, 1759 47 0.4 Flax grown in the garden, from William Salmon, Botanologia 51 (London, 1710-1711) 0.5 Flax grown commercially, from William Salmon, Botanologia 51 (London, 1710-1711) 0.6 Flax brake, from Louis Crommelin, An Essay Towards Improving 52 the Hempen and Flaxen Manufactures (Dublin, 1705) 0.7 Author using eighteenth- or nineteenth-century brake 52 0.8 William Hincks, ‘The Common Method of Beetling, Scutching and 53 Hackling the Flax’, 1791 0.9 Scutched and heckled flax 54 0.10 Author using late eighteenth-century heckle 54 0.11 Infant cap, linen, 1689-1700 54 0.12 ‘Snow and Slete’ diaper design from ‘The Weaver’s Guide. Linen 56 designs of Ralph Watson of Aiskew’, late eighteenth century 0.13 ‘the Planting in the Forest’ damask design from ‘The Weaver’s 56 Guide’ 0.14 Foundling 14464, linsey-woolsey, 1759 60 0.15 Checked and striped Flemish and German linens, c.1783-1784, 61 holland 0.16 Checked and striped Flemish and German linens, c.1783-1784, 61 three hollands 0.17 Infant shirt, linen, eighteenth century 62 0.18 Shirt, linen, 1750-1800 67 0.19 Shift, linen, 1730-1760 67 8 1.1 Foundling 13358, checked (appears to be) cotton-linen, 1759 73 1.2 Baby doll, c.1710-1740 74 1.3 Detail of baby doll (1.2), shirt and petticoats, c.1710-1740 74 1.4 Detail of baby doll (1.2), cap and forehead cloth, c.1710-1740 74 1.5 Detail of baby doll (1.2), roller, c.1710-1740 74 1.6 Foundling 15637, plain linen with embroidery, silk ribbon, printed 79 linen, silk, 1760 1.7 Foundling 13751, printed flannel, 1759 80 1.8 Foundling 12428, printed cotton-linen, 1759 80 1.9 Foundling 15615, checked wool, 1760 80 1.10 Infant cap, linen and bobbin lace, c.1700-1760 85 1.11 Infant cap, linen and hollie point lace, 1689-1700 85 1.12 Infant cap, linen and hollie point lace, eighteenth century 85 1.13 Foundling 15643, plain linen, 1760 86 1.14 Foundling 15656, printed cotton, plain linen, 1760 86 1.15 Infant shirt, linen with bobbin and hollie point lace, eighteenth 87 century 1.16 Infant shirt, linen with lace, c.1700-1760 87 1.17 Infant shirt, linen and Binche bobbin lace, eighteenth century 88 1.18 Detail of Infant shirt (1.17), showing an embossed design 88 1.19 Infant shirt, linen, eighteenth century 88 1.20 Bib, linen and bobbin lace, eighteenth century 90 1.21 Bib, linen, eighteenth century 90 1.22 Magnified image of bib (1.21), linen, eighteenth century 90 1.23 Magnified image of bib (1.21), linen, eighteenth century 90 1.24 Foundling 14495, plain linen, 1759 91 1.25 Foundling 13319, printed cotton-linen, 1759 93 1.26 Foundling 12354, printed linen, 1759 93 1.27 Foundling 13362, printed cotton-linen, 1759 93 1.28 Foundling 14422, checked cotton-linen, 1759 93 1.29 Foundling 14419, printed linen, 1759 93 1.30 Foundling 12425, printed cotton, 1759 93 1.31 Waistcoat, dimity and printed cotton-linen,1770 95 9 1.32 Detail of Waistcoat, (1.31), dimity and printed cotton-linen, 1770 95 1.33 Foundling 13359, flannel, 1759 95 2.1 John Sanders ‘Views of the inside of the Chapel of the Foundling 110 Hospital’, 1774 2.2 Detail of ‘Views of the inside of the Chapel of the Foundling 110 Hospital’ (2.1), 1774. 2.3 T. Jefferys, ‘Regulations for the Foundling Hospital’, Gentleman’s 110 Magazine (1747) 2.4 Samples of frieze and broad cloth produced at Ackworth 112 manufactory, 1762 or 1763 2.5 The number of shirts, shifts and stockings produced p.a. at 136 Ackworth Manufactory, 1761-1770 2.6 The number of shirts and shifts and pairs of stockings produced per 136 child under the care of Ackworth, 1761-1770 3.1 Account book of Richard Latham of Scarisbrick, Lancashire, 1724 151 3.2 Foundling 13298, brown linen, 1759 159 3.3 The number of weeks spent spinning flax p.a. by the Lathams, 160 1724-1741 3.4 The number of weeks spent spinning flax p.a. by the Lathams, 163 1742-1754 3.5 Maximum annual expenditure on flax by the Lathams, 1724-1767 164 3.6 The number of weeks spent spinning flax by the Lathams p.a. 167 1724-1766 3.7 Perth flaxen yarn spindle price series, 1741-1767 167 3.8 Detail of sheet (3.9), linen, early nineteenth century 168 3.9 Sheet, linen, early nineteenth century 168 3.10 Annual expenditure on flax and soap, 1724-1767 172 3.11 Maximum annual expenditure on soap, 1724-1767 173 4.1 Flax and hemp fibres 202 4.2 Magnified flax fibres 202 4.3 Magnified hemp fibres 202 4.4 Tow fibres 202 5.1 Magnified sheet, linen, America, 1818 213 10 5.2 Magnified bag, linen, Pennsylvania, 1820 213 5.3 Magnified fire bag, bast fibre, America, 1820-1850 214 5.4 Checked and striped Flemish and German linens, c.1783-1784, 216 barras 5.5 Detail of barras, c.1783-1784 (5.4) 216 5.6 Checked and striped Flemish and German linens, c.1783-1784, 217 barras number 2 5.7 Checked and striped Flemish and German linens, c.1783-1784, 217 barras number 3 5.8 Checked and striped Flemish and German linens, c.1783-1784, 217 barras number 4 5.9 Parcel wrapper, bast fibres, 1761-1793 220 5.10 Detail of parcel wrapper (5.9), bast fibres, 1761-1793, underside 220 5.11 Detail of parcel wrapper (5.9), bast fibres, 1761-1793, seal 220 5.12