A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



deal of distress in many places, the rates being 

 quite lOs. in the pound. 



There may have been some silk-weaving in 

 Northampton even in the eighteenth century, 

 for we hear in 1783 the complaint* that — 



' Such was the spirit of p^rty, such the ingratitude 

 of the town of Northampton, such their dislike to 

 encourage their only friend, and such their hatred to 

 Lord Spencer, that they nominated one Trotman, a 

 ribband weaver, who had lately had some money left 

 him, to oppose Lord Lucan his father-in-law.' 



The contemptible weaver was, however, suc- 

 cessful, and the august relative at the bottom of 

 the poll. It is also certain that twenty years 

 before this election there was a considerable silk 

 manufacture at Towcester.' 



About' the year 1820 silk- weaving was intro- 

 duced from Coventry to Desborough. At first 

 the workmen walked to Desborough and back 

 again to Coventry, but small manufactories were 

 soon started, and afterwards larger ones were 

 built at Kettering, Rothwell, and Desborough, 

 most of which are now used as shoe factories. 

 The weaving was done on the old handloom, 

 and despite the creation of the factories many 

 of the workmen had looms in their own houses, 

 whilst some of them used the jacquard loom for 

 ornamented silks and velvets. The various 

 kinds of articles woven in silk were coloured 

 silk plushes, black plushes for silk hats, plain and 

 coloured silks, black and coloured velvets, figured 

 velvets, terries, plain and figured satins. This 

 industry employed a large number of hands in 

 the three towns mentioned above, forming prac- 

 tically their staple trade ; but owing to the 

 keen competition of the French, silk-weaving 

 gradually declined until it ceased about the 

 year 1868, causing serious distress among the 

 operatives. 



Carpet-weaving was carried on at Burton 

 Latimer in the mills now used as flour-mills by 

 Messrs. T. & J. Wallis. About 1830 the 

 embroidery of nets for ladies' dresses was intro- 

 duced from Nottingham at Rothwell, Des- 

 borough and Clipston. This trade supplanted the 

 working of pillow lace, which had been exten- 

 sively carried on in this part of the county. 

 The material embroidered was cotton net for 

 dresses, and later a silk net figured with very 

 elaborate designs for ladies' veils. 



This net embroidery flourished until about the 

 year 1866. The very elaborate cloth waistcoats or 

 vests that were in vogue during the first half of the 

 nineteenth century were likewise embroidered 

 at Desborough, but the industry died out with 

 the fashion about 1850. There was also a 



' Northampton. Boro. Rec. ii, 507. 



* B. Martin, Nat. Hist, of Eng. ii, 130. 



' We are indebted to the courtesy of Mr. J. R. 

 Moore of Desborough for valuable notes on silk- 

 weaving. 



considerable amount of linen spun and woven 

 in this district. 



In Northampton weaving and wool-combing 

 was, during the latter half of the eighteenth 

 century, gradually replaced by the shoe industry. 

 In what is known as the Spendthrift election in 

 1768 the number of Northampton weavers who 

 polled was 133. After this the number of 

 weavers in Northampton gradually diminished, 

 until we find in Kelly i Directory for the year 

 1864 the name of a solitary weaver, one John 

 Adams, who worked at Kingsthorpe. This in- 

 dustry seemed to have had a little more tenacity 

 at Kettering, and it lingered on sporadically in 

 the south-western portion of the county, for 

 there were silk weavers at Maidford, and a 

 family of plush weavers at Chalcombe near 

 Banbury. 



Another trade which may be mentioned as 

 allied in some sense to weaving was the knitting 

 of hosiery. As early as January, 1277, ^^ \^2Mc 

 Adam le Hosiere witnessing a Northampton 

 deed.^ Fuller,' in the seventeenth century, 

 mentions that the town produced ' if not the 

 best, the most and cheapest boots and stockings 

 in England.' As late as 1763 the stocking 

 manufacture at the county town was ' not in- 

 considerable,' while at Peterborough it formed 

 with cloth-making the constant employment of 

 the poor.' At Daventry in 1809 there was a 

 considerable manufacture of silk stockings.^ 



In dealing with the history of the textile manu- 

 factures of the county it is necessary to mention 

 that in Northampton a cotton-mill was started 

 about the year 1743 by a Mr. Wyatt of Birming- 

 ham and Mr. Edward Cave, the editor of the 

 GentlemarCi Magazine, to maufacture cotton by 

 an invention of spinning by rollers. This 

 machine was invented by VVyatt thirty years 

 before Arkwright took out his patent for a 

 similar machine in 1769. The mill at North- 

 ampton was under the management of a 

 Mr. Yeoman, Mr. Cave being the moneyed 

 partner, while the inventor, Mr. Wyatt, resided 

 most of the time in London endeavouring to dis- 

 pose of the yarn. Disorder, negligence, and mis- 

 management were the natural result of the 

 absence of the principal, who, however, fortunately 

 for us, left behind him a manuscript book which 

 contains many interesting particulars of the 

 cotton-mill at Northampton. From it we learn 

 that the work at Northampton was moved by a 

 water-wheel ; that the engines consisted of several 

 frames bearing 250 spindles and bobbins ; that 

 the bobbin revolved upon the spindle, and that 

 each was moved by a separate wheel and pinion 

 containing, the one sixty-four teeth, the other 



* Add. Ch. 22358 (B. M.). 

 ' Worthies (1662), 279. 



' B. Martin, Nat. Hist, of England (1763), ii, 124, 

 128. 



' Pitt, Gen. Survey Agric. Northants, 243. 



334 



