"Breeches Maker" in 1790-1797 Cambridge Directory

[Keith Sherwood]

Hi again, Annie,
Thanks very much for spreading the net for me...
As far as I know, Edward wasn't one of the JOHNSON family that I'm trying to track down, but all grist to the mill, nevertheless...
keith

[liverpool annie]

They had leather breeches maker's apprentices in Lancashire ........  

Working men in this period wore fustian (a mixture of linen [warp] and cotton [weft]) and light cottons. Jackets were mostly fustian. In 1739 the notorious highwayman Dick Turpin ordered a new fustian frock (jacket) and breeches for his execution at York Castle. Breeches and trousers were usually made from cotton corduroys and velveret. Joseph Coleman, a skilled labourer, possessed '4 cloth coats, value 20s (approx £54.37 at 1997 values); one velvet waistcoat value 3s (£8.16 at 1997 values); one nankeen waistcoat value 3s (£8.16 at 1997 values) 2 pairs fustian breeches value 3s (£8.16 at 1997 values); one pair of nankeen breeches value 3s (£8.16 at 1997 values)'

By 1785 types of cotton fabric generally available included corduroys, jeans, nankeens, erminetts, thicksets, corded tabby and jeanette. There were thirty varieties of cords, velveteens and veleveretts ranging from 2s (£5.44 at 1997 values) to 11s/6d (£31.78 at 1997 values) a yard (90cm). Cotton breeches replaced leather and buckskin from about 1785 as Frances Place, a leather breeches maker's apprentice, ruefully noted in his diary. After 1750 increasing numbers of men's shirts were manufactured from check, stripe and plain shirting materials and in 1784 calico shirts came back into fashion.

http://www.spinningtheweb.org.uk/m_display.php?irn=207&sub=clothing&theme=clothing&crumb=Utility%20wear

[Keith Sherwood]

Annie,
You really had to know your fabric/ material if you were in this kind of business in the late 18thC.  Thanks for all that extra research!
keith
I wonder whether anyone helped themselves to Mr Turpin's newly made jacket and breeches after he'd disappeared into eternity...

[Gaie]

Just to put the sparrows amongst the moles, this chappy was a tailor and breeches maker:

http://www.rootschat.com/links/04bp/

Gaie

[Gaie]

How to make breeches, from VintageSewing 1940s - a specialist job apparently.

http://www.rootschat.com/links/04bq/

[liverpool annie]

Are you taking orders Gaie ?? 

To answer the question of what happened to Dick Turpins new clothes ... I think this is it !! 

Convicted on two indictments, Turpin was sentenced to death. Pleas from his father to have the sentence commuted to transportation fell on deaf ears. Before his execution, Turpin bought himself a new outfit of fustian cloth and a pair of pumps. On the eve of his death, he hired five men for 10 shillings each to act as his mourners. He disposed of his belongings to friends and acquaintances, one of whom was a married woman in Lincolnshire.

http://www.britannia.com/BritHeritage/turpin.html

[Keith Sherwood]

Annie,
Perhaps we'd better instigate a scavenger hunt on Rootschat to try and track down who this mysterious Lincolnshire married woman was...
...and Gaie, I'll soon be picking up a needle and thread and giving this breeches thing a go!
It certainly appears from all this lovely input that an apprenticeship to be a breeches maker was a more than respectable and required skill to master.
keith

[Keith Sherwood]

Hi again, Everyone,
Got very lucky when I appeared at the CCRO yesterday afternoon when I discovered that the CFHS had extremely recently extracted and transcribed from TNA  the Apprenticeships for Cambridgeshire between certain dates (forgot to note down what these were exactly, naughty me).
These would be examples of where money had simply changed hands between the family of the individual to be apprenticed and the man or woman whom he/she would serve the apprenticeship under.  As opposed to the arrangements made by the Parish and which appear in details about the Poor Law dealings - these tended to be more of an agricultural nature.
So, a date of indenture of 22nd August 1767, with a further date of registration of 26th September 1767 for a John JOHNSON to a William BRICHENO of Over, a glover.
Now, before you all start laughing at the possibility of a man with a surname such as the glover above MIGHT have been involved in "breeches making", you're absolutely right...
In another entry he appears again as a "breeches maker", but with his name spelt as BICHENO.  There was also another "breeches maker" in Over called Wm. BENTLEY at the same time.
The apprenticeship cost his family £12 12s (about £1200 in modern values, I believe), and was to be for 7 years.
I had a bit of a scan through the Over Parish Chest afterwards and saw mention of a Reuben BICHENO on 09-10-1766.
So, take your pick - I think I prefer Mr BRICHENO the Breeches maker (from Italy, originally...?)
Anyway, it all fits together quite excellently for identifying John JOHNSON and the link between Over and eventually Cambridge...
Very best wishes,
keith
N.B. Interesting that Mr B. is termed both a glover and a breeches maker depending on which apprenticeship, and surely suggests that he worked in leather or some kind of animal skin.

[annieoburns]

My gr grandfather was in the census of 1891 as a teenager in London and described as an 'apprentice to breechmaker'.  He served his time in Harrods apparantly military and horsemen would have been his customers.  So still a fashionable trade even in late Victorian times.  When he died in 1954, he was described as a 'journeyman tailor'