Hi Barry, Try these sites, I think everyone with North Bucks ancestors would have a few lacemakers in the family. Bob NZ http://www.2020site.org/lace/ http://www.mkheritage.co.uk/cnm/lace/ http://www.craft-show.co.uk/demonstrations/Lace_Making/ ----- Original Message ----- From: "BARRY HARRISON" <bharrison11@rogers.com> To: <BUCKS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, October 18, 2004 3:26 PM Subject: [BKM] Information about lace makers > I have a Sarah Hawkins (Widowed) who was listed in the 1841 Wooburn Green, Bucks census as lace makers. Also, I have her son Charles, listed as a paper maker. Would anyone be able to give me a bit of information about the lace makers and/or paper makers and their work in Bucks? > Thank you for your help. > B. Harrison, Canada > > Kirsten Friis Holm Hawkes <kirstenh@iprimus.com.au> wrote: > This was from John Harris in 2000. Good info about Straw Plaiters! > Kind regards > Kirsten > > > > > > In the 1881 census one of my relatives was listed as a straw platter > > Does anyone know more about what this occupation involved? > > In brief Julie, yes -- 'cos over t'other side of the River Ouse have these > census entries on some rellies: > Sarah Neal Straw plaiter Leighton Buzzard 1871; > Ann Proctor Straw plaiter Billington 1861, 1871, 1881; > Eliza Kiteley Straw Plaiter Leighton Buzzard 1851. > > and while the example below is from Bedfordshire, by and large, the work > and related conditions would have been fairly similar over your rellie's way > in Buckinghamshire. Details such as where and how the straw plait was sold > and how the styles of weave may well have differed, yes, but the cottage > industry nature of the occupation would have been virtually identical. > > OK so what did I find out about their work? -- or to put it another way to > answer your question what was involved in their straw plaiting occupation? > > What follows is based on an extract from the family history I'm putting > together. It should answer most of your questions. > > In Bedfordshire one girl in three was employed as a straw plaiter. In > Bedfordshire 30% of girls between 10 and 15 were down as straw plaiters in > the 1871 census. Many children started work at an early age, some > youngsters the censuses list were as young as five. In 1861 when their > father, a railway labourer, was away, the Proctor family in Billington are > shown as being all straw plaiters. As well as Ann their mother (listed > above) the enumerator included Ann 10, Catherine 7, and young John 7. In > 1867 the Factory and Workshops Regulation Act made the minimum age eight. In > 1878 this was raised to ten (though often ignored). > > In the mid 19C straw plait was in great demand for hats. These were made in > Luton. In the 1870s the peak had been reached. Changes in fashion in favour > of smaller straw hats and bonnets for women tipped the industry into > decline: as you will see, by 1900 Chinese and Italian imports of a cheaper > but higher quality straw plait had all but eliminated the cottage industry - > much as lace-making, button-making, glover-making and chair-making were > likewise to be overtaken by their manufactured, machine made counterparts. > > Wives and children of agricultural labourers provided much of the work force > for the straw plaiting industry. In 1860 an official report noted that a > 'well ordered' family engaged in plaiting could 'obtain as much or more than > the husband who was at work on a neighbouring farm'. > > Workers were exploited and the industry dominated by the employment of women > and children. The child plaiter normally learnt the basic skills of the > craft at home from his or her mother before being sent 'usually at four > years old, some at three and half' to "plait school" at a cost a few > pennies, usually two or three pence a week. Plait school was little more > than a child-minding business run in a local cottage that exploited the > children at the menial tasks of preparing the straw. Often some of the > mistress 'teachers' were unable to plait nor teach plaiting themselves. > Their sole job was to keep the children working as hard as possible and > slaps and canings were regarded as a normal part of the disciplinary > process. > > The materials, the bundles of split and bleached or dyed straw was supplied > by the parents who bought them from the dealers - and it was the parents who > arranged for the sale of the plaits their children made. To make the > material local wheat straw was split by a special tool, cut into 9" lengths, > made into bundles, bleached to a an off-white, pale yellow with sulphur > smoke ----- and then to make it pliable, it was moistened just before use. > The best straw for was grown in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and > Hertfordshire. > > In a village like Billington almost all the women and children were engaged > in straw plaiting in the 1850s, 1860s and 1870s. Gathered in small > huddles > in their cottages, each carried a bunch of splints under the left arm, > pushed close up to the armpit, the elbow having to be kept fairly close to > the body > to keep the bundle in place. Starting a plait was tricky, but once > started, experienced hands moved their fingers quickly, turning 'splints', > over and under, with a moments pause now and again to 'set in' a new splint. > So the rhythm went relentlessly on. It was hard grinding graft. > > Colours and movements depended on the pattern being made. Every now and then > the straw plaiter would have to align two splints and she would do this by > passing them between the lips to moisten them before laying them flat again. > If they were careless, the sharp edge of the straw could cut the lip or > tongue. Children when they were still learning often cut themselves this > way until they learnt the knack better. Having their mouths full of splints > did not debar them from talking nor from the pleasure of joining in a little > gossip since all her companions would also be her friends. > > Older children were expected to produce about thirty yards of plait a day. > Those more skilled could do more, especially if they had more simple > patterns. But those that failed to reach their target might be kept at work > until their fingers became quite sore and bleeding with the effort 'to get > the required yards of plait finished'. Several varieties were woven - > plain, single-plait, pearl, bird's-eye and whipcord to name but a few. More > intricate plaits could command as much as 2s 6d a yard when trade was good, > The most proficient plaiters might produce as many as four hundred yards of > the simpler patterns a week. To do this much women had to sit in bed at > four o'clock on a summer morning and plait for an hour or two before rising. > > In winter, plaiting continued in the dim light of candles - and was hard on > their eyesight. Plaiters, usually in family or kinship groups huddled > together in the one living room of their cottage -- and under their heavy > skirts an earthenware pot of coals glowed to provide warmth. > > In 1863 a twelve year old girl from nearby Eaton Bray, where Ann Proctor's > parents were born described a typical working day to officials: > > "At the plait school that I am now at I go only from 8 till 12, and from 1 > till 4" , but mother sets me the same to do as I did at school where I > stayed till 9 o'clock, viz thirty yards, ten in each of the three school > times ... We sit very screwed at school. Get 10d a score, and dare say I > clear about 5s a week after paying fro straw. Have two sisters younger and > a brother older than I am who plait. He goes to the writing school in the > day, and does ten yards afterwards, which takes him till 10 o'clock at > night. There are I think, seven plait schools in the village, three of them > large. All but three of them have night schools, one till 8 the others till > 9, and their hours in the day are the same as where I am. Was never at > reading school. Can read the Testament but not without the spelling." > > All too often infringements of the Factory Acts were common. Children would > slip out of the back when anyone official called - which was rare - while > the number plaiting at home was too great to be dealt with by the police. > When caught plait school mistresses often had fines paid by a farmer since > this enabled him to pay lower wages to his labourers. It followed that > attendance of these children at school was very low and very difficult to > enforce. Only with decline of the plait industry was this problem solved. > > Sales would take place either at one of the special weekly plait markets > held at Luton or to itinerant or local dealers who were often also > shop-keepers. Often plait would be bartered for goods in the shop. > > In 1748 straw purchased for 6d could be made into plait worth 8s - 9s and > could earn GBP10 - GBP30 per year. Plaiters lived on a diet of bread, > cheese, and bacon. A good wage for an experienced agricultural labourer, > depending on their part of the country, was then around GBP28 - GBP32 per > year. > > Straw plaiting was a domestic industry. They produced an interim raw > material - flat plaits of straw that were purchased by a middle man, usually > from the nearby market town who sold it on to straw hat manufacturers. Work > was done inside the home by families and sold to the travelling buyers. > > This craft replaced the older cottage industry of carding, spinning, reeling > and knitting of wool that had become redundant by the introduction of wool > processing and weaving machinery in Yorkshire in the early 19th century. > > Straw plaiters started at an early age. By 1860 straw plaiting had become > an important source of work and income in Bedfordshire, where Luton and > Dunstable were the great centres of trade and a major centres of straw hat > manufacture. > > Numbers of straw plaiters falls in the second half of the 19th century. In > Bedfordshire numbers declined from 20,701 in 1871 to as few as 485 in 1901. > This caused by cheap plaits from China and Japan - and fashion changed to > smaller hats and the use of other materials. Craft was killed by machines > in 1874, Far East competition and fashion for felt hats > > By end of Victorian age female cottage industries made little contribution > to household incomes. > > Julie, hope this helps. > > Aye, > > John > in a dark Milton Keynes where it's too cloudy to see the stars. > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Dave Frampton [mailto:david@watford.karoo.co.uk] > Sent: Sunday, 17 October 2004 7:23 PM > To: BUCKS-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: [BKM] Interests > > > Researching: > BIGSBY KNIGHT PLUMMER WAGER WARRELL BALDWIN, BEESON PRICE & PEARCY. All in > and around Chenies, Chesham, Chesham Bois and Beaconsfield. > > I particularly looking for the following: > > Burials in Chenies 1700 - 1800 for WAGER. Can anyone help? > > Does anyone know anything about Straw Plaiters? > > I am trying also to enlarge my knowledge of the social history of the area > 1600 - 1900. Does anyone know of a good site tucked away somewhere. All > the main sites are far too general. > > Many thanks > > Dave Frampton > > > ____________________________________________________________________________ > This email and all attachments have been electronically scanned by Kingston > Communications' email Anti-Virus service and no known viruses were detected. > ____________________________________________________________________________ > > > > ==== BUCKS Mailing List ==== > Your signature should be no more than 3 lines long and should not include > surname interests which are outside the scope of this List. > > > > > > ==== BUCKS Mailing List ==== > View or download up to 20000 archive photos of Buckinghamshire from the Bucks County Council web site at: http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/photo_database > > > > ==== BUCKS Mailing List ==== > BGS Website: http://www.bucksgs.org.uk/ > BFHS Website: http://www.bucksfhs.org.uk/ > Bucks Genuki Website: http://met.open.ac.uk/genuki/big/eng/BKM/ > >