> There were lots of lacemakers in Beds and Bucks in 19th C. While it is very true that people travelled and moved seeking employment, you should be very careful assuming there was synergy between lacemaking in Beds/Bucks and Nottingham. Lacemaking in the Beds/Bucks areas was a traditional hand-made cottage-based industry. Nottingham was the centre for machine-made lace; it had no hand-made tradition in that craft. The skills were very different and, while the hand-made was largely the product of women and girls, machine lacemaking was considered "men's work". The hand-made was eventually eclipsed and largely destroyed by Nottingham-centred machine-made - until its revival as a hobby-craft in the 1970s. Ironically, the hand-made now prospers as a hobby while the Nottingham machine lace making has almost vanished. As a further irony, my wife runs a business supplying the hobby lacemaker - you guessed it, from here in the Nottingham area ! David Hallam david@beeston-notts.co.uk www.beeston-notts.co.uk