SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 



London for their supplies ; 239 whilst from Nottingham itself nine carriers 

 departed weekly, plying not only between the city and the neighbouring 

 counties, but going also to Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, and London. 240 

 Small local industries, such as basket-making 241 and the cultivation of 

 liquorice, 242 sprang up in a way which suggested a community alert and 

 resourceful, prepared to make the best of its opportunities, but the great 

 industry which was beginning to absorb most of the energies of Nottingham- 

 shire was, of course, stocking-weaving. 



In its earlier stages, this trade must have been exceedingly profitable. 

 In Anne's reign 2s. 6d. and $*. 6d. a day were said to be the average wages 

 throughout England earned by a workman making plain hosiery. On the 

 whole, the workmen outside London, working only four days a week, could 

 earn about io.f. 243 In a county like Nottingham, peopled by small holders, 

 beginning to have a hard struggle for existence, a home industry producing 

 such brilliant results naturally spread fast and far. There were, however, 

 serious drawbacks : the hire or purchase of the frames was a heavy expense, 

 and the necessity for a long apprenticeship naturally checked the influx 

 of workers. 



The question of apprenticeship had always been a difficult one in this 

 trade. The London Company (which was invariably at feud with the Not- 

 tingham hosiers) objected as early as 1641 to the introduction of non-appren- 

 ticed hands in Nottingham. In 1710 two manufacturers, Cartwright and 

 Fellowes, removed from London to Nottingham, one with twenty-three, the 

 other with forty-nine apprentices. The London Company attempted to 

 crush the manufacture ; but the decision went against them. The industry 

 was fairly established in Nottinghamshire, and the complaint now was that 

 the apprentices were growing too numerous ; a statement which shows the 

 Nottinghamshire opinion of the benefits of the trade. One man invariably 

 had twenty-five. The parishes saw a chance of relieving themselves of a 

 burden, and offered 5 a piece to apprentice pauper children. Meantime 

 the general trade increased rapidly ; by 1750 the number of frames in 

 Nottinghamshire had risen to i,5oo. 244 



Nor were stockings the only articles made : fancy articles, mittens, 

 gloves, and so forth, were woven ; and wages for this skilled and complex 

 work ranged from 5^. to 6s. a day in the early i8th century. 2 ' 5 These times 

 of brilliant prosperity, however, could not last. The increase of workers 

 seems to have outstripped the increase of trade. Already between 1740 and 

 1750 complaints were heard of a fall in wages. 246 In 1745 the London 

 Company obtained another charter whereby a seven years' apprenticeship 

 was necessary before working, and frames were to be hired from none but 

 members of the company. Though the Nottingham employers and county 

 gentlemen complained loudly of this, the journeymen, probably desirous of 

 seeing their competitors restricted, supported the company. 247 The number 

 of apprentices and unskilled workers continued, however, to increase, and 

 wages appear to have decreased. The ' stockinners,' impatient of this 



m Deering, Vetus Ntttinghamia, Sec. 5. " Ibid. 



"' Ibid. " J. Holland, Hilt, of Worktop, 6. 



"' W. Felkin, Hist, of Machine-wrought Hosiery and Lace Manufacture, ji. 



' Ibid. 73, 75, 76. '" Ibid. 82, 3. 



146 Ibid. 8z. '"Ibid. 76-81. 



2 2 9 7 38 



