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.

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

I'm having one fitted next week so will let you know after that... :-0 Kevin. ----- Original Message ----- From: "BARRY HARRISON" <bharrison11@ROGERS.com> To: <BUCKS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, October 18, 2004 3:26 AM 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/ > >

In message <000201c4b433$b6c82bc0$a3ebfea9@mums>, Kirsten Friis Holm Hawkes <kirstenh@iprimus.com.au> writes >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? article about straw plaiting in Bucks Ancestor last winter, with long list of local plaiters round Aston Clinton. Aslo Shire Album on the trade. -- Eve McLaughlin Author of the McLaughlin Guides for family historians Secretary Bucks Genealogical Society