Lace makers from Nottingham

[Cate]

I wondered if anyone could give me background information on the circumstances of Nottingham lacemakers in the 1850S.

My ancestors, Nathan Knight (born 1806 Leicestershire)  married Emma Skeavington (born 1810 Derbyshire) in Dover, Kent in 1831.

By 1832,  when their first child was born, they had moved to Calais, France. Family oral history has it that Nathan was responsible for inventing a lace making machine. Their subsequent children were born in Lyons, Calais, Boulogne and Roubaix all in France, the youngest in 1845.

Emma's parents, originally form Derbyshire, were also in France - they died there in the 1840S.

By the time the next child is born in 1850, they are back in Nottingham. They emigrated to Australia in 1855 following the earlier emigration of their eldest son Christopher. I don't know what year he emigrated but he died in Victoria, Australia, in 1854.

I would be very grateful for any information. .

[Listerdale]

I do not know if you will be able to obtain any information from the Industrial Museum at Wollaton Hall, Nottingham.

There is a room full of old Lacemaking machine and photographs of Lacemaking Factories.  I visited the Museum last year.

Wollaton Park
Courtyard Stables
Wollaton
Nottingham
NG8 2AE
Tel: 0115 915 3900
Fax: 0115 915 3940

I believe that it belongs to the Nottingham City Council.

Website http://www.wollatonhall.org.uk/  then click on the 'Industrial Museum'

Listerdale

[Cate]

Thanks for that Listerdale - I will check it out.
Cate

[silvery]

Did you see this one

http://www.angelfire.com/al/aslc/

and this one may be of interest

http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART46254.html

[silvery]

That angelfire link looks just up your street.  I have no lacemaking ancestors but the history of it is really very interesting.  I see you are in Australia so it looks really relevant.   

I have seen people making lace, and I had a friend who took it up for some additional interest to her embroidery, and it looks really complicated.

There is a mention in one of the articles of being 'paid by truck'. so I paste this in - from Wikipedia


The rise of manufacturing industry saw many company owners cashing in on their workers by paying them in full or in part with tokens, rather than coin of the realm. These tokens were exchangeable for goods at the company store, often at highly-inflated prices. The Truck Act of 1831 made this practice illegal in many trades, and the law was extended to cover nearly all manual workers in 1887.

Apologies if you are acquainted with the truck acts.

[Cate]

They are great links Silvery - thankyou so much for that.

And no - I didn't know about the truck acts so that is another snippet of information to add to the file.


Much appreciated 
Cate

[Jane Eden]

Hi

Please see the link

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,59229.0.html

Jane

[Cate]

Thankyou for the link Jane- I see I have a lot of reading to do there!

I made an enquiry at Charnwood Museum and received this information:

"We did have an exhibition about the lacemakers entitled “The Lacemakers’ Story: Loughborough, Luddites and Long Journeys”. This was created by members of the Friends of Charnwood Museum who undertook extensive research into this part of history. Their research included tracing family migrations to Calais and Australia. Your family’s journey is a familiar one.

 The exhibition is currently on display at Donnington le Heath Manor House in Coalville until 4 March 2008. It will then go on display the Record Office for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland from 10 March to 30 April 2008."

Has anyone seen this exhibition?

Thanks again
 Cate

[Sherwood]

This book makes a good read.  I found a copy in the local library:

Mason, Shiela A, 1994, Nottingham Lace 1760s to 1950s, Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd., Stroud, Glos. ISBN 0 9524500 0 3

Sherwood.