WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 



• jdaniage of the people, infomuch that the merchants that 



buy the fame, and carry them out of the realm to fell to 



ftrangers, be many times in danger to be flain, and fome- 



:times imprifoaed and put to fine and ranfom. Therefore it 



is ordained, that no plain cloth tacked and folded (hall be 



fet to fale within the fame counties." The fame aft permits 



certain cloths of coarfe wool to be made of the breadth 



of three quarters, and appoints one weight and meafure 



through the kingdom, except in the county of Lancafter. 



Another ftatute, in the fame reign, allows every perfon to 



make cloth of what length and breadth he will, provided the 



aulnage and other duties are paid, and it be meafured and 



;fealed by the king's aulnager, and contain no deceit. The 



:kinds of worfted goods which might or might not be 



exported, were alfo fpecified in this ftatute. During this 



reign it appears, notwithftanding the increafe of our trade, 



ithat we annually exported about one hundred and thirty 



thoufand packs of wool, paying a duty of one hundred 



and fixty thoufand pounds. 



In the 4th of Henry IV. the cloths made in London 

 and the fuburbs were ordered to have a feal of lead attached, 

 and in a fubfequent ftatute no cloths were to be folded be- 

 ,fore the aulnager had fet his feal to them. In the following 

 reign, the narrow cloths, called the dozens of Devonftiire 

 and Cornwall, are ordered to pay cocket cuftoms, after the 

 rate of broad-cloths. 



In the reign of Henry VI. the exportation of woollen 

 iyarn is prohibited, and this prohibition feems to have been 

 jjn full force when wool was allowed to be freely exported. 

 ' The only reafon affigned for this is, that the yarn paid no 

 duty. During this reign two cloth-fearchers were appointed 

 jfor every hundred throughout the realm, who were to in- 

 fpeA and feal all cloth, taking one penny for each. This 

 proves that the manufafture of woollens had fpread over a 

 great part of the kingdom. It is probable that this infpec- 

 tion extended to all cloths made in private families, which 

 : were fent to the fulling-mills. 



I The worfted trade was alfo increafing rapidly at this time : 

 ' four wardens of vvorfted-weavers were appointed for the city 

 of Norwich and two for the county of Norfolk, who were 

 to make due fearch of worfteds, and of what length and 

 breadth they were made. In the fame reign it was ordained, 

 that " if our woollens were not received in Brabant, Holland, 

 and Zealand, then the merchandize growing or wrought 

 within the dominions of the duke of Burgoine ftiall be 

 prohibited in England, under pain of forfeiture." Hence 

 we learn, that we very foon began to fupply thefe fame 

 countries with woollens and worfteds, from which we had 

 received workmen a century before. 



In the third year of Edward IV. the woollen trade had 

 increafed fo much, that the importation of woollen cloth, 

 caps, &c. was prohibited. Woollen caps or bonnets were 

 then univerfally worn ; they were either knitted or made of 

 cloth, and a large quantity of wool muft have been con- 

 fumed in their fabrication. About the year 1482, hats 

 made from felts were introduced ; but the manufafturers of 

 caps, called the cappers, continued a powerful body a cen- 

 tury afterwards. In the fame reign, tlie wardens of worfteds 

 at Norwich were doubled, or increafed to eight. 



The manufafture of fine broad-cloth muft have been con- 

 fiderably improved about tliis time ; for in the fourth of 

 Henry VII. it was thought prudent to d-A a maximum on 

 the price of fine cloth, by which every retailer of cloth 

 who ftiould fell a yard of the fineft fcarlet grained cloth 

 above fixteen ftiillings, or a yard of any other coloured 

 cloth above eleven ftiillings, was to forfeit forty ftiillings per 

 yard for the fame. 



In the year 1493, in confequence of a quarrel between 

 Henry VJI. and the archduke Philip, all intercourfe be- 

 tween the Englifli and Flemifh ceafed, and the mart for 

 Englifti goods was transferred from Antwerp to Calais. 

 This interruption to the regular courfe of trade wasTeverely 

 felt by the woollen manufafturers. Lord Bacon, mention- 

 ing the renewal of the trade with Flanders, which took 

 place again in 1496, fays, " By this time the interruption of 

 trade between the Englifti and Flemifti began to pinch the 

 merchants of both nations very fore. The king, who loved 

 wealth, though very fenfible of this, kept his dignity fo far 

 as firft to be fought unto. Wherein the merchant adven- 

 turers likewife did hold out bravely ; taking off the com- 

 modities of the kingdom, though they lay dead upon their 

 hands for want of vent." The merchant adventurers he 

 defcribes as " being a ftrong company, and underfet with 

 rich men." It is not, however, very probable, that this 

 company would continue to purchafe goods without a pro- 

 fpeft of gain. Thefe merchant adventurers were divided 

 into two bodies ; thofe of London, which were the moft 

 powerful ; and the merchant adventurers of England, who 

 paid a fine to the former on all goods fold at the foreign 

 marts. 



In the reign of Henry VIII. the wooUen trade, and par- 

 ticularly all kinds of worfted manufaftures, appear to have 

 been in a very flouriftiing ftate, though trade fnffered feveral 

 fevere checks from the wars in which we were engaged. 

 In the year 1527, Henry having entered into a league with 

 France againft the emperor Charles V., all trade with Spain 

 and the Low Countries ceafed. The goods fent to Black- 

 well-liall found no purchafers, the merchants having their 

 warehoufes filled with cloths ; the poor manufafturers being 

 thus deprived of employment, an infurreftion took place in 

 the county of Sufl'olk, where four thoufand of them affem- 

 bled, but were appeafed by the duke of NorfoUt. The 

 merchants were fummoned to appear before cardinal 

 Wolfey, who in the name of the king reprimanded them in 

 an angry tone for not purchafing the goods brought to 

 market, and threatened them that his majefty would open a 

 new mart at Whitehall, and buy of the clothiers to fell 

 again to foreign merchants ; to which menace one of them 

 pertinently rephed, " My lord, the king may buy them as 

 well at Blackwell-hall, if it pleafes him, and the ftrangers 

 will gladlier receive them there than at Weftminfter." — 

 " You fiiall not order that matter," faid the cardinal ; " and 

 I ftiall fend into London to know what cloths you have on 

 your hands, and by that done, the king and his council ftiall 

 appoint who fliall buy the cloths, I warrant you." With 

 this anfwer the Londoners departed. Grafton's Chro- 

 nicle, vol. ii. p. 1 167-8. 



Tiie interference of the cardinal raifed the fpirits of the 

 manufafturers for a time, but originating in ignorance of 

 the nature of trade, it could only liave a temporary effeft, 

 and goods fell again till a truce between England and 

 F'landers was made for the benefit of trade. This faft 

 ftiews the dependance of England, even at that time, on the 

 export of manufaftured woollens. In this reign we find 

 Lancaftiire and Cheftiire firft named as feats of the nianu- 

 fafture of coarfe woollens ; tliey are mentioned, together 

 with Cornwall and Wales, a; diftrifts where friezes were 

 made. It appears from various references, that Norfolk 

 and Suffolk were then flourilhing feats of tlie worfted ma- 

 nufafture, and of all goods made with a worfted warp. 

 Wardens were allowed to the towns of Yarmouth and 

 Lynn, but with a felfifti reftriftion, that tlie pieces v/ere to 

 be dyed, fpun, or callendered in the city of Norwich. In 

 the laft year of this reign, an i^. was pafTed to prevent any 

 1 2 perfons 



