Spinning / weaving in Armagh

[liscoole]

My great great grandmother Eliza Jane McConnell stated on the 1901 census that she was born in county Armagh.

Her parents John McConnell and Ann Neill were originally from Derriaghy and married there in 1845. Both were weavers by trade. Eliza was born in 1856.

I am wondering whether the reason for them being in Armagh in 1856 was because of the weaving industry. Any ideas how I might find out more about this? I would really like to find Eliza's baptism record but have no idea which church she might have been baptised in.

many thanks

[gaffy]

Well, if you consider that the heyday of linen was from the late 1700s to the late 1800s and that County Armagh was right in the thick of the linen triangle, then there is a fair chance that this influenced where they were.

There's lots to find on the web about the historical context, the inward population movement, the transition from domestic handloom to factory powerlooms etc. Try searching with permutations of 'Armagh' 'linen triangle' 'linen history' 'weaving' 'handloom' and the likes.

BTW, the marriage I noticed on familysearch for John McConnell and Ann Neill took place in Lisburn in 1849.  There is a marriage for a John McConnell in Lisburn in 1845, but it is to a Mary Anne Oneill... 

[liscoole]

Thanks Gaffy, yes you're right they married in 1849, I was just remembering off the top of my head and got it wrong  (John McConnell's marriage to Anne was his second, he was listed as a widower, so Mary Anne ONeill was perhaps his first spouse)

Thank you for the suggestions, its a great way of finding out more about the trade in general. Im just wondering if there's a way to find out more about their life in particular in Armagh, possibly even to find out which mill or factory they worked at and then narrow it down to a church - (they were church of Ireland)

I suppose thats a long shot really. Thank you for your help

[liscoole]

Having had a look into this it seems that the Richardson's mill in Bessbrook might have been a strong contender.

[hall and walsh]

Hi,
I have a weaver from Corcreaney in my family c 1850.
Is there a resource that describes the different places he might have worked? Is it more likely that he would have had a loom at home or by the 1850s did more people work in big mills?
Thanks for any advice.

[gaffy]

Have a read a this:

http://www.lurganancestry.com/linenindustry.htm

The 1850/60s was just the beginning of the end, with the decline in hand loom weaving drawing out over half a century.
 
I know from my own ancestry that Gilford Mill (Dunbar McMaster) had a huge effect on the local economy including as far out as Corcreeny in Donaghcloney parish.

In the 1830s, a contemporary source describing the parish of Donaghcloney, mentions a mill and bleach green belonging to a John Brown that was capable of finishing 10,000 pieces of linen per annum - this provided employment to 16 men. Apart from this, it would appear that handloom weaving was widespread, with reference to the fact that it was uncommon to find a house without a room called the shop - this being the room where the loom was and where the inhabitants were employed in the manufacture of damask, cambric, etc.

[hall and walsh]

Thanks for your help,
 

[Rena]

Have a read a this:

http://www.lurganancestry.com/linenindustry.htm

Being nosey and having some Scottish ancestors in the weaving trade and also ancestors who lived on the European mainland who milled Flax for a living I had a look on the website - what a great find - can't believe it also gives names!!!

During my research I found Flax stalks were used to make the famous Irish linen and seed heads were crushed in the mills (water mills and wind mills) for the oil they contained.   It was during this research that I came across a death record which recounted how one woman's long dress had been caught up with the flax that she was pushing into the mill's grinding stones, two men grabbed her and tried to pull her to safety, all to know avail; she was crushed and ground to death, the men lost their arms and bled to death.

My Scottish ancestors lived along the River Clyde - baptisms showed they moved to where new industrialised mills had been erected.  When industrialisation started to take a hold in the 1790s in Scotland the cottage industries associated with weaving started to decline because they couldn't compete with the cheap prices.   As soon as a new industrialised mill was erected, the census show there were great influxes of peoples from other parts of Scotland and Ireland who had moved for the work provided.

[liscoole]

Thank you everyone for your interesting input.

It does seem that if you were a weaver, you went where the work was.  Its likely my ancestors learned on a hand loom from their parents and then as hand looms declined they had to go to work in a mill.

The founder of the Bessbrook Mill John Richardson was originally from Lambeg where he had another business concern before he purchased the derelict burnt out mill at Bessbrook. It seems that he even built a model village to house his workers, so it is no wonder that people were willing to come to Armagh from all arts and parts to work there.