The early English cotton industryDaniels, George W. (George William)
History
The early English cotton industry
Daniels, George W. (George William)
Cotton machinery; Cotton trade -- Great Britain
As regards the fustian manufacture, Ogden implies that, at first, it
was not carried on in Manchester to any extent, and in this respect
his statement is supported by that of Fuller in 1662. Referring to an
early date, Ogden states that “Fustians were made about Bolton, Leigh,
and the places adjacent, but Bolton was the principal market for them,
where they were bought in the grey by Manchester chapmen, who finished
and sold them in the country.”[101] When we get to 1772, however, it
is evident that there were a large number of fustian manufacturers
in the town,[102] and in the petition which resulted in the 1736
“Manchester Act” “manufacturers of fustians in the town of Manchester”
were certainly prominent. Ogden’s account of the matter is that the
smallware “manufactory has not been sufficient to employ large capitals
without the aid of some other branch. The fustian trade has been added
to it, first as an auxiliary, and then embraced as a principal, where
there was capital to support it.”[103]
[Footnote 101: _Ibid._, p. 74.]
[Footnote 102: _Infra_, p. 67.]
[Footnote 103: Ogden, _ibid._, p. 82.]
Probably the development which took place was, that as fustians
came to be printed, and their manufacture extended, some smallware
manufacturers turned part of their capital into that trade, and
later adopted it altogether, while others no doubt began in business
as manufacturers of fustians. Thus by the middle of the eighteenth
century, and particularly by 1772, the three branches of trade in
Manchester could be fairly clearly distinguished from one another,
although at that date some manufacturers were engaged in more than one
of the three trades.[104]
[Footnote 104: _Infra_, p. 67.]
The term fustian, it may be noticed, comprehended a large range of
goods of which herring-bones, pillows for pockets and outside wear,
strong cotton ribs and baragons, broad-raced linen thicksets and tufts,
dyed, with white diapers, striped dimities, and lining jeans, are
mentioned by Ogden.[105] Cotton thicksets and cotton velvets were also
attempted, but in neither of these was much success attained until the
later years of the eighteenth century owing to lack of better methods
of dressing, bleaching, dyeing and finishing.[106] If thread[107] and
sail-cloth[108] are added to the commodities which have been mentioned,
also woollens, which were mainly produced in the districts directly
north and north-east of Manchester, probably the principal textile
goods manufactured in Lancashire until the seventies of the eighteenth
century have been included in the list.
[Footnote 105: Ogden, _ibid._, p. 75.]
[Footnote 106: _Ibid._, pp. 75, 77.]
[Footnote 107: _J.H.C._, pp. 76-78, 1737. In his evidence on a petition
relating to linens, threads, tapes, etc., John Marriot, threadmaker,
Manchester, stated that the thread manufacture in Lancashire had more
than doubled during the preceding twenty-four years.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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