A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



earn 8/. to lo/. per week. Mr. H. Marshall has him- 

 self paid six or seven pounds per week for shoes made 

 in the gaol, but it was stated the other day by 

 Mr. Thomas Marshall that he had paid as much as 

 thirty pounds at a time to the governor for work of 

 the same kind.' 



The competition arising from these prison-made 

 goods was much objected to, and was subse- 

 quently dealt with by legislation. 



In 1843 three journeymen shoemakers were 

 brought before the magistrates charged with 

 intimidation to prevent others from receiving 

 work from their employer, J. P. Lloyd of the 

 Parade, Northampton. It appeared that Mr. 

 Lloyd's shop was on strike, and for some time 

 past the premises had been watched and work- 

 men repeatedly insulted and threatened. The 

 charge was dismissed on the men promising that 

 the watch should be taken off. This is the 

 earliest instance of ' picketing ' met with in the 

 local shoe trade. 



About the year 1847 a new method of shoe- 

 making was introduced from America by which 

 the uppers and bottoms were fastened together 

 by means of wooden pegs. The upper was lasted 

 in the ordinary way and the sole tacked on, 

 and the pegs driven right through sole, upper, 

 and insole. These pegs were made at first by 

 hand, and baked in an oven for shrinkage. 

 When driven into place in the slightly dampened 

 leather, the wood swelled and held everything 

 fast ; the ends which projected through the 

 insole were removed by special tools. The pegs 

 were soon imported ready-cut from America, 

 which had quickly provided a machine for their 

 manufacture. 



The result was an excellent boot for hard wear, 

 and soon partly replaced the cheap hand-sewn 

 goods. The latter were far from satisfactory ; 

 the low wages paid for making them had 

 resulted in producing a very shoddy article. 

 Earls Barton was soon prominent in ' pegged 

 work ' and obtained large orders from Liverpool. 

 For seamen's and firemen's boots the style is still 

 popular, and for footgear that is constantly wet 

 the wooden peg is more durable than any 

 stitching. 



To show the gradual development of the trade 

 during the third quarter of the nineteenth cen- 

 tury, we give the following summary compiled 

 from old directories and other sources : 



The numbers denote boot and shoe manu- 

 facturers only and not bespoke bootmakers. 



There were boot agents for the making up of 

 ' basket work ' in Bozeat, Ringstead, Slapton, 

 Brackley, Burton Latimer, and Rushden ; and 

 shoe work also was made in Walgrave, Holcot, 

 Harpole, Kislingbury, Piddington, Rothersthorpe, 

 Wootton, Wollaston, Roade, Bugbrooke, Tow- 

 cester, and Yardley Hastings. 



On 25 February, 1850, a meeting of journey- 

 men shoemakers to the number of over 1,000 

 was held at the New Hall. The speeches at 

 the meeting do not appear from the report 

 [Northampton Herald of 2 March, 1850) to have 

 been either inflammatory or revolutionary in 

 tone. Indeed, considering the grievances the 

 workmen were suffering, one is surprised at their 

 moderation. 



Briefly the complaints are : Continual reduction 

 of the men's wages through competition between 

 master and master ; the use of the truck system j 

 the necessary employment of young children by 

 their parents that a bare living might be earned. 

 A provisional committee was formed to draw 

 up a plan of organization of workers. In the 

 year 1857 the continual rise of the price of 

 leather caused the boot manufacturers serious 

 trouble, and a meeting was held in London 

 on 19 January to arrange for a general advance 

 in the price of boots. 



In the same year an article appeared in the 

 Herald^ of 10 October deploring the bad state of 

 trade in Northampton. It appears there were few 

 orders for the Indian market, Australian trade was 

 not satisfactory, and owing to the unreasonable de- 

 mands of the officials of the army boot-purchasing 

 department, Northampton manufacturers were 

 refusing to accept any government contracts. 

 Just complaint was made as to the impossibility 

 of satisfying the government officials, who, not 

 having any practical knowledge of the trade, 

 imposed conditions and restrictions of an almost 

 prohibitive nature. It may be said that the 

 groan of the army contractors of 1857 echoes 

 even in 1906 ! 



The same year was eventful for another 

 reason — the attempted introduction of labour- 

 saving machinery into the boot industry. A 

 machine for the 'closing* of boot uppers had 

 been patented by W. F. Thomas & Co., and 

 the manufacturers of Northampton were prepared 

 to give it a trial. 



At a mass meeting of operatives held on the 

 Market Square on 9 November, 1857, ^^^ 

 object of which was to oppose the introduction 



' Northampton Herald, 10 Oct. 1857. 



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