Quaker Women, the Free Produce Movement and British Anti-Slavery Campaigns: the Free Labour Cotton Depot in Street 1853 – 1858
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Quaker Women, the Free Produce Movement and British Anti-Slavery Campaigns: The Free Labour Cotton Depot in Street 1853 – 1858 A. P. Vaughan Kett PhD 2012 With funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council Abstract Using archival materials in the Library of the Religious Society of Friends in London (LRSF) and the Alfred Gillett Trust, at the shoemaking firm of C. & J. Clark (AGT), this thesis makes an empirical investigation into the ‘Free Labour Cotton Depot’ in the village of Street, in Somerset in the West Country of England. The ‘depot’ was a stall, set up in the village temperance hall and was founded and run by Eleanor Stephens Clark, the Quaker wife of the shoemaking pioneer, James Clark. Between1853 and 1858 the ‘Street Depot’ sold a highly specialised range of cotton goods, chiefly cotton cloth by the yard. The goods appealed to particular clientele, for they were verified as ‘free labour,’ and made from cotton grown by waged, or ‘free’ labour, rather than slave labour. This catered to customers who wished to participate in the ‘Free Produce Movement,’ which was a consumer-led strategy, set within the transatlantic anti-slavery movement in the nineteenth century. Via the case study of the Street Depot, the thesis examines the British Free Produce Movement, and specifically its campaign against slave-grown cotton, from the 1830s to the 1860s. It examines the trading history of the Street Depot and it scrutinises the complex transatlantic free cotton supply chain, which provided free labour cotton cloth. It examines the Quaker and women’s networks that operated within the movement, and it situates the work of the Free Produce Movement within the wider transatlantic campaign to end slavery. It examines the hitherto unrecognised anti-slavery work of Quaker wife, Eleanor Clark, and it explores her deeply-held moral opinions. The thesis also analyses the free produce cotton clothes worn by the Clark family, which it views as practical expressions of anti-slavery sentiment. It draws conclusions on the relationship between middle-class Quaker women, free produce activism, practical expressions of anti-slavery feeling and clothing made from free or ‘ethical’ cotton cloth. 1 Figure 1.1 Black-and-white copy of an original photograph, dating to 1858. It shows the Clark family of Street, arranged in a line, dressed in free labour cotton clothing. List of Contents List of Illustrations 3-9 List of Appendices 10 Acknowledgments 11 Author’s Declaration 12 Chapter One: Introduction 13-34 Chapter Two: The Free Labour Cotton Depot in Street, 1853 – 1858 35-77 Chapter Three: The Free Produce Movement in Britain, 1830s – 1860s 78-117 Chapter Four: Eleanor Clark and Anti-Slavery Activism, 1830s – 1870s 118-157 Chapter Five: The Clark Family and Free Labour Cotton Dress, The Late 1850s 158-195 Chapter Six: Conclusions 196-205 Bibliography 206-232 Appendices 233-303 2 List of Illustrations (at the end of each chapter) Chapter One (after page 1) Figure 1.1 Photograph of Eleanor and James Clark and their 12 children, in the garden of their home in Street (1858). Image: Author’s own, from a black-and-white copy of the original (1980s), permission thanks to LRSF. Original: Picture Collection, LRSF, from an original in the Museum of Shoemaking, C. & J. Clark, Street. Chapter Two (after page 77) Figure 2.1 Printed circular for, ‘The Free Labour Cotton Depot in Street’ (1853). Image: Author’s own, permission thanks to LRSF. Original: LRSF, MS Box 8:4, 1. Figure 2.2 Printed advertising circular, for ‘The Street Temperance Hall,’ (1863). Image: Author’s own, from McGarvie, Michael. The Book of Street. A History From the Earliest Times Until 1925. (C. &J. Clark, 1987) p. 135. Original: Unknown. Figure 2.3 The Street Temperance Hall, seen today (2010). Image: author’s own. Figure 2.4 Card containing manufacturer’s samples of free labour cotton cloth, in heavy woven designs (1853). Image: author’s own, permission thanks to LRSF. Original: LRSF, MS Box 8:3. Figure 2.5 Card containing manufacturer’s samples of free labour cotton cloth, in lightweight plain and printed designs (1853). Image: author’s own, permission thanks to LRSF. Original: LRSF, MS Box 8:3. Figure 2.6 Card containing manufacturer’s samples of free labour cotton gingham cloth, in different designs (1853). Image: author’s own, permission thanks to LRSF. Original: LRSF, MS Box 8:3. 3 Figure 2.7 Photograph of the Clark family in a line, dressed in free labour cotton (1858), with caption added by C. & J. Clark. Photograph: author’s own, permission thanks to the AGT, C. & J. Clark. Original: Museum of Shoemaking, C. & J. Clark, Street. Figure 2.8 See above, with children’s dates of birth of added. Figure 2.8 (a) Detail of Figure 1.1. Figure 2.9 Photograph of the Clark family in a group, dressed in free labour cotton (1858). Image: author’s own, permission thanks to AGT at C. & J. Clark. Original: AGT, HSHC 55. Figure 2.10 Digitally enhanced version of the above (2010). Image: author’s own, permission thanks to AGT at C. & J. Clark, and with thanks to Rachel Kett for digital enhancement. Original: AGT, HSHC 55. Figure 2.11 Piece of printed free labour cotton calico, printed with cone design, in purple, white and red (1855). Image: Author’s own, permission thanks to LRSF. Original: LRSF, MS Box 5:17. Figure 2.12 (a) Woman’s gown and jacket made from white cotton muslin, printed with cone design in red, pink and dark purple (1854-1858). Image: Courtesy of Manchester Museums and Galleries. Original: Gallery of English Costume, Manchester. Figure 2.12 (b) Woman’s gown made from checked cotton muslin, printed with black and mauve flower and cone design (1850-1860). Image: Courtesy of Manchester Museums and Galleries. Original: Gallery of English Costume Manchester. Figure 2.13 Cotton muslin, printed with brown flower design (1857). Image: author’s own, from Tozer, Jane and Levitt, Sarah. Fabric of Society. A Century of People and Their Clothes 1770 – 1870. (Manchester & Powys: Laura Ashley, 1983) p.40. Original: Gallery of English Costume, Manchester. 4 Figure 2.15 Printed advertising flyer for a ‘Free Labour Cotton Depot’ in Bath (c.1853). Image: Author’s own, permission thanks to LRSF. Original: LRSF, MS Box 8: 4, 2. Chapter Three (after page 117) Figure 3.1 Ceramic sugar bowl, advertising contents as made by free, not slave, labour (1791-1792). Image: Author’s own, permission thanks to Merseyside Maritime Museum. Original: International Slavery Galleries, Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool. Figure 3.2 Lady’s silk work bag containing anti-slavery tracts, printed with ‘slave mother’ motif, made by the Female Society for Birmingham (1820s). Image: Author’s own, permission thanks to Bristol Empire and Commonwealth Museum ‘Breaking the Chains,’ exhibition (2007). Original: Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Figure 3.3 Ceramic ‘kneeling slave’ medallion, by Josiah Wedgwood (1787-1807). Image: Courtesy of the National Maritime Museum, London. Original: National Maritime Museum, London. Figure 3.4 Embroidered picture of kneeling slave, by Esther Stewart (1836). Image: Author’s own, permission thanks to Bristol Empire and Commonwealth Museum ‘Breaking the Chains,’ exhibition (2007). Original: Private collection. Figure 3.5 Paper ticket used by the American Free Produce Association, Philadelphia, USA. Image: Courtesy of Holcomb, Julie. “”There is Death in The Pot!” Women, Consumption and Free Produce in the Transatlantic World 1791-1848” (unpublished PhD Dissertation, Baylor University, Texas, 2010), p. 212. Original: Middlesex County Historical Society, Middletown, Ct., USA. Chapter Four (after page 157) Figure 4.1 Photograph of Eleanor Clark, posed with knitting (1850s). Image: author’s own, permission thanks to AGT at C. & J. Clark. Original: AGT, HSHC 55. Figure 4.2 Photographic visiting card of Sojourner Truth, posed with knitting (1864). 5 Image: Courtesy of Library of Congress, Washington, USA. Original: Library of Congress, Washington, USA Figure 4.3 Baby’s gown, made from free labour white checked cotton muslin (1840s-1850s). Image: Courtesy of Philadelphia History Museum, USA. Original: Philadelphia History Museum, USA. Figure 4.4 Paper label, ‘Free Labour Cotton,’ attached to baby’s gown, see above. Image: Courtesy of the Philadelphia History Museum, USA. Original: Philadelphia History Museum, USA. Figure 4.5 Glass lantern slides, showing scenes from Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1853). Image: Courtesy of University of Exeter. Original: Special Collections, the Library, University of Exeter Figure 4.6. Illustrations from Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1853), design by Billings, engraved by Baker, Smith and Andrew. Image: Author’s own, thanks to Rare Books, Jubilee Library, Brighton. Original: Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin or Life Among the Lowly. Illustrated edition. (London: Sampson Low, Son and Company, 1853) pp. 426 and 475. Chapter Five (after page 195) Figure 5.1 Photographic visiting card of Queen Victoria, by Southwell Brothers, London (1850s). Image: Courtesy of Manchester Museums and Galleries. Original: Gallery of English Costume, Manchester. Figure 5.2 Photographic visiting card of Eleanor Clark (c.1850s). Image: Author’s own, permission thanks to LRSF. Original: LRSF, Archives of Friends’ Institute, volume A-C. Figure 5.3 Photograph of Amy Jane Clark Thorp and her sister Mabel Clark (c.1861). Image: Author’s own, permission thanks to AGT. Original: AGT HSHC 39. Figure 5.4 Photographic visiting card of Anne Pike (1865). Image: Author’s own, permission thanks to LRSF. Original: LRSF, Archives of Friends’ Institute, volume P-Q. 6 Figure 5.5 Photograph of Ann and Eliza Stephens (c.1840s-1850s). Image: Author’s own, permission thanks to AGT at C. & J. Clark. Original: AGT, BC 0277. Figure 5.6 Photographic visiting card of Elizabeth Webb of Bristol, and her daughter (c.1850s).