ENGL 
Statistics. few nails are made in the town itself; but in Dudley, 
=~" Westbromwich, and idge, and in all the country 
Naile, mesipe these places, thes ing of nails is the chief em- 
i tis su in the nailery district, 
at 30,000 are This manufac- 
— 
week. Nails used to be exported to the United States, 
None are sent to the Continent. This trade, which 
formerly used to be very extensively diffused over most 
parts of England, is now almost entirely confined to 
- the nei of Birmi There are, how- 
ever, manufactures of them at Ps le Dean, in Glouces- 
tershire, Halesowen in Shr ire, and some other 
places. They were also made at Chowbent, in Lanca~ 
shire, till the cotton trade superseded them. 
‘ Fe ae at which manufactures were established 
at Birmingham, is comparatively recent; but Sheffield 
has been the for iron manufactures since the 
year 1297, at which time fulchion-heads, arrow-piles, 
and an r sort of knives called whittles, mention- 
ed by Chaucer, and still known by that name in the 
of England, were made. But it was not till to- 
wards the middle of the 17th century, that the articles 
of razors, knives, and files, for which it is at present so 
deserv: famous, were manufactured. It has been 
that for near a century succeeding, the 
Sheffield manufacturers discovered more tee 2 than 
ingenuity or enterprise ; and it was not till the middle 
of the last century, that they ed an immediate 
trade with the continent. About this time also, buttons 
Sheffield. 
of plated tea-urns, and candlesticks, 
were first Since this period, the manufact 
of Sheffield have been progressively advancing. * 
(Iii hamdovare? tnatufactate le ‘iot' confined to the 
town of Sheffield, but is over a district called 
Hallamshire, which extends six or seven miles to the 
west of it. ee i — are under the 
management @ corporation, 
the Company of Cutlers of Hallamshire. This 
corporation was established in 1625, and an amend- 
ment was made to it in 1791. It is governed by a 
master, two wardens, six searchers, and twenty-four 
assistants: The master is elected annually, on the last 
T in A having previously through 
eaten prions ea tei 
Tn the neighbourhood of the town, a number of 
works are erected on the river Don, for forging, slitting, 
and Lape ey the iron and steel for the manufactures, 
These in several from the manufactures of 
mingham. Birmingham. In the first place, and brass, as 
well as iron and steel, are wrought in the latter place ; 
whereas, at Sheffield, very little of the former metals are 
used. Secondly, Phe articles made at Sheffield are more 
generally articles of real utility ; some undoubtedly are 
toys, Lastly, Its ar- 
are much larger than those of Birming- 
following list of the principal trades in Shef- 
field, if compared with the list we gave of the trades of _ 
, will point out in what they agree, and in 
VoL. IX. PART 1. 
Difference 
between 
AND. 9 
what they differ: Knives, scissars, anvils, silver and plat- Statistics. 
ed goods, skaits, joiners tools, saws, fenders, fire-irons, 
horn-buttons, horn ink-stands, bit-maker, razor straps, List of ma- 
files, stove-grates, candlesticks, steel-refiners,wool-shears, "factures. 
haft-presser, silver-smiths, braziers, and _ tin-smiths 
tools, cut-nails, es, shovels, scythes, sickles, table- 
fork-blades, snuffers, cork-screws, nut-crackers, steel 
cats and dogs, lancets, desk-knives, tea-pot handle and 
knob manufacturer, buttons, coach-harness, weighing 
_ machines, brass ink-pots, powder flasks, shot bolts, bayo- 
nets, wafer-seals, saw-files, shoe, cooks, and butchers | 
knives, combs, &c. &c. ; 
The plated ware made at Sheffield, (with the excep- Remarks. 
tion of plated saddlery,) is deemed much superior to 
that site at Birmingham : their files also have long 
been in the highest te ; of the scythes and sickles, 
which form an extensive branch, the coarsest are sent 
to Russia; and a finer sort were |-to America. 
The conversion of iron into steel, forms a very consi- 
derable branch of the manufactures of this town ; and 
the mechanics who are expert at this process, receive 
as large wages aw any that are given. Great of 
the mantfactures are carried on by men of capi- 
tal; and not so generally in wor! or factories as 
is the case in Birmingham. 
The population of Sheffield, and the manufacturing 
district round it, is estimated at 60,000 ; and it is com- 
uted that 18,000 are directly employedin the different 
lraaches: the rtion of men to women is nearly 
as two to one. Ay he gress value of the manufactures is 
supposed to be upwards of L,1,000,000, probably 
L.1,200,000 ; of these about one half are for home con- 
sumption ; one-third used to be exported to America, 
of these, knives, forks, and saws, formed a large pro- 
portion ; and the remainder were principally exported 
to the continent. Prior to the introduction of machi- 
nery, this place was observed to abound in cripples, 
but it is by no means the case at present. 
Files have been mentioned as an article, in the ma- Files. 
nufacture of which Sheffield excels: they are also made 
of a superior quality, and in great numbers, in Lanca- 
shire, particularly at Prescot : cutlery and steel goods 
are manufactured at Salisbury. Cirencester is noted 
for its curriers knives, which are highly valued through- 
out Europe and America, At A ord in Yorkshire, 
formerly the seat of an extensive pin manufactory, the 
wire-drawing business is now carried on with consider- 
able success; this trade is also followed at various other 
laces. Pins are manufactured at Gloucester, Reading, 
Enetfield, Warrington, Waltham Abbey, Bristol, Lon. 
don, &c. Needles at Redditch and Feckenham in Wor- 
cestershire, Alcester in Warwickshire, &c. Fish-hooks 
at Carlisle. Iron hoops at Crayford in Kent, &c. Tin- 
lates at Caerleon, en, and Kidwelly ; the 
fast place is particularly noted for this manufacture, the 
tinned iron plates which are made there, being sent not 
only to every part of the kingdom, but to every trading 
port in Europe. 
The av: amount of the real value of the different 
articles, e of iron and steel, annuall , is 
between L.3,000,000 and L.4,000,000 ; the value of ar- 
ticles manufactured of copper and brass ex , seems 
rather to be on the decline; in the years 1799 and 1800, 
the official value was between L.800,000 and L.900,000; 
whereas for three or four years past, it has varied be- 
tween L.200,000 and L.300,000. The value of all the 
articles made of iron may safely be rated at L.10,000,000; 
and the number of persons employed at 200,000. The 
- 
Value. 
