Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs An examination of the Halifax textile industry in a period of intense technological change, 1700 to 1850 Thesis How to cite: Humphreys, Valerie (1989). An examination of the Halifax textile industry in a period of intense technological change, 1700 to 1850. PhD thesis The Open University. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 1988 The Author https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Version: Version of Record Link(s) to article on publisher’s website: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21954/ou.ro.0000ded9 Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk UNRESMC%'D Valerie Humphreys, Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Open University. AN EXAMINATION OF THE HALIFAX TEXTILE INDUSTRY IN A PERIOD OF INTENSE TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE, 1700 to 1850. I Offered for the Degree of Ph. D., in the discipline of History. Submitted on 31st December, 1988. Aotiio641orrioer: Aouni 3 Oatir, 0[ 5ubmission. 12jhqI22mbp-y1186 Taix c+hviard -.R6% ftru&ýj Im PAGE NUMBERING AS ORIGINAL An examination of the Halifax textile industry in a period of intense technological change, 1700 to 1850. Abstract of thesis. Land in Halifax parish was steep and infertile, partible inheritance was traditional, and the inhabitants resorted to industry. By 1700 the occupational structure indicates exceptional industrialisation. The study examines developments as additional products were introduced, each with distinct origins and technology, and industry transferred from cottages to factories. In 1700 Halifax industry was rural, its product woollen kersey, its driving force the larger-scale clothiers who made goods themselves, put work out, and bought from smaller producers. They sought markets and built up networks of mercantile contacts. Accumulated capital enabled them to extend the product range with worsteds, to meet new and growing demand for lighter- fabrics, which required more labour than kersey. Factors which prompted the emergence of industry facilitated early adoption of new technology. Water power was exploited to enhance output of existing industry, and reduce its costs. The earlier possibilities for machanisation, and for growth, presented by cotton manufacture were taken, and a new industry introduced. Land formations which provided water power delayed urbanisation and adoption of steam power in Halifax, where industry remained dispersed. Natural advantages, at that time, lent impetus to industrial growth in Bradford, and the centre of the worsted industry moved there. Greater diversification into separate branches of textiles, each made in wide product ranges, compensated in Halifax. The determination of Halifax manufacturers had expanded hand industry, and assisted its successful transfer to factories. They foresaw changes in taste, and produced suitable goods. Costs were reduced, and output increased, by their adoption of new methods. During the transition, they had a pool of skill on which to draw; on its completion they relied on power, and lower grades of labour,. which might, later, be found better elsewhere. -r =C V) 7; 1 1 0 F- ýD Z Q) U- eJ WO f YI\ d ", 0 %.O 21 _. -c- 1 % %. 0ý-Z UI. u lý Ul 1= c t% ýp, U -7:ý-; l 0 0 / -I -, # lb - -- wl 2 .. OOP ::z v tr I Jj6H6 t tlez -, LUL. /ý 1% % 00, 00 I-Q. _0 0 I cz Jo- CE %6 f Ll- V) Cr3 . , Acknowledgements. There are many people I have to thank for their help and encouragement in the completion of this study. John Magson, formerly of Calderdale Museums Service, taught me to spin, and aroused my interest in the history of the Halifax industry. The unfailing courtesy and wide knowledge of the staff of Calderdale Central Library, and particularly that of the Archivist, Dr Alan Betteridge, has been of great assistance. I owe much gratitude to the Open University, both as an institution, and to all of the individuals with whom it has brought me in contact. My externalsupervisor, the late Jack Reynolds of Bradford University, was always ready with kind and practical advice and constructive criticism. I must also thank my family for their support, encouragement, and constant forbearance. Valerie Humphreys. ii Tables included in the text. vi Maps and diagrams included in the text. Viii Chapter 1. The Halifax textile industry, the "-*'- basis of the study. 1 , Chapter 2. The processes of manufacturing textiles by hand. 11 Chapter 3. The organisation and scale of the hand textile manufacture, with particular reference to Halifax parish. 29 The development and extension of 'Chapter_4. the Halifax textile trade in the 18th century. Case studies and trends. 60 Case studies: Joseph Holroyd. 61 George Stansfeld. 65 Samuel Hill. 66 John Firth. 80 Jonathan Hall 89 John Sutcliffe. 91 Jonathan Akroyd. 97 Trends in the 18th century textile industry. 99 Chapter 5. The development of the industrial base, and the change to powered industry. 108 Chapter 6. Mechanidation in the Halifax textile industry. 153 (a) Woollens. 154 (b) Worsteds. 168 iv (c) Cotton. 185 (d) Silk. Chapter 7. Textile workers in Halifax parish in 1851. 196 Chapter 8. A comparison of the development of Halifax and Bradford, and of the West Riding wool textile industry with that of Norwich and the West Country. 216 Chapter 9. Conclusions: growth and development in the Halifax textile industry, and its place in the context of British economic growth. 259 List of abbreviations used in the footnotes 279 Footnotes 280 Appendix 1. Samuel Hill of Soyland, goods offered, 1754 and 1755. 313 A2pendix 2. John Firth, goods received, 9 June, 1750 to 31 August 1751. 320 Appendix 3. Mills in Halifax parish in 1758. 324 Appendix 4. Mills in Halifax parish, to 1850. 326 Appendix 5. Tables for individual townships in Halifax parish, showing details of the_ occupation of individual persons, aged '8-and over, included in a ten per cent systematic sample of households, taken from Census Enumerators' Books, 1851 353 Bibliography, 377 'I Tables included in the text. Percentage of men with textil'e-related occu- pations, Halifax parish, 1650-1750. 4 Percentage of males in textile-related occu- pations, Halifax parish. Breakdown. 45 Cloth dressers' inventories, 1689-1769 48 IV. Zonal size distribution of surviving invent- ories of persons engaged in woollen and worsted manufacture, 1689-1769. 50 V. The number of pieces of kersey, dozens, bays, and stuffs and shalloons exported from Hull, 1689-1772. 55 Vi. Samuel Hill, pieces despatched during 1744. 70 VII. Samuel Hill, goods despatched, 1748-1751. 72 VIII. Goods despatched by John Firth, 27 April, 1739, to 23 January, 1740/41. 81 IX. Bills drawn by John Firth, 1739-1740/41. 83 X. Halifax parish. Number and putpose of textile mills known to have been in use, 1790-1850. 119 XI. Distribution of worsted power looms, Yorkshire, 1835. 174 Xii. Halifax parish. Details of occupation of individuals included in sample of ten per cent of households in Census Enumerators' Books, 1851.197 vi XIII. Worsted workers in sample population, Halifax parish, 1851. 202 XIV. Age and sex structure of workforce in textile mills, Halifax parish, 1835. 202 XV. Power available, and hands employed, Halifax and Bradford, 1835,1838, and 1841. 224 XVI. Date of establishment of worsted and woollen mills, Halifax and Bradford, to 1835. 229 XVII. Occupation of electors, from Poll Books, Bradford and Halifax, 1835. 233 XVIII. Population in Registration Districts, Halifax and Bradford. 235 XIX. Percentage of population engaged in any textile occupation, 1841. 236 XX. Adult occupation, textile manufacture, Registration Districts, Bradford and Halifax, 1851,1861. 238 XXI. Textile occupations, Bradford and Halifax Boroughs, 1851 and 1861. 239 XXII. Norwich, Halifax and Bradford, numbers occupied in textiles, 1851 and 1861. 248 XXIII. Employees in woollen factories in the West Riding, the West of England, and Scotland, 1835-1856. 257 vii Maps and diagrams included in the text. Wool textiles exported through Hull, 1690- 1771. 54 Map. Water power used in 1758, Halifax parish. 120 Map. Woollen fulling a nd finishing mills, 1758. 121 IV. Map. Textile mills in 1800, Halifax parish. 122 V. Map. Textile mills in 1810, Halifax parish. 123 Vi. Map. Textile mills in 1850, Halifax parish. 124 VII. 1. Relative amounts of so ap drawback received, Halifax and Bradford, 1810-1850. 226 VII. 2. Percentage of drawback paid to Districts receiving more than 10 per cent of total paid in 1850. 226, I viii 1 Chapter 1. The Halifax textile industry, the basis of the study. - The-textile industry in the old parish of Halifax, an area about 20 miles from east to west, and 16 from north to south, and roughly co-extensive with the present Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, had three principal branches. To the long-established production of woollen cloths, manufacture of worsteds was added, in about 1700. Cotton manufacture was taken up in the middle of the 18th century, at first, as a small- scale output of luxury fabrics. By 1850, factory production of woollen, worsted and cotton goods was well established. In each branch of manufacture wide ranges of goods were made, although transition from domestic to factory manufacture was not complete. A little linen was manufactured in the parish, there was also an interest in silk spinning, and the production of carpets was gaining importance. Halifax parish was chosen as an area in which to examine changes in the textile industry, between 1700 and the middle of the 19th, century, because of the many facets the industry exhibited within a confined geographical and administrative area.