Kidderminster wow, it Worcestershire. Thats what I thought when they changed "Act of Settlement" which regulated migration to the cotton areas...people from the South flooded the areas.
And yes Flemish in Bolton, I think those were Continental Prostestants, Huguenots right, who came to England because of religious persecutions in Spanish Netherlands, its 1500 right??? They were in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire as well. I am not quite sure where else they settled in Lancashire.
Worcestershire is in the English Midlands. One of the earliest textile mills was in Northamptonshire (East Midlands) in 1742.
The Huguenots who settled in Bolton in 17th century were the 2nd wave of Flemish immigrants to the town. The original ones arrived in 1330s. They are also credited with introducing clogs to Lancashire.
The Huguenot Flemish wore fustian, a rough cloth made of cotton and linen. (Wikipedia)
There is uncertainty about when the cotton industry began in Britain.
John Le'land's 1540 account mentions cotton around Bolton, but he may have meant wool. Cotton was being produced 100 years later. At this time Bolton was becoming a centre for the emerging cotton industry. It was a cottage industry.
www.bolton.org.uk/industry.htmlAdam Pendlebury mentions cotton in his will of 1608. This is one of the earliest mentions of cotton in England. See A Brief History of Bolton (Manchester & Lancashire Family History Society)
www.bolton.mlfhs.org.uk/History.phpAccording to "Children and Cotton" on New Lanark website, bales of cotton first arived in Britain in 1775. (This is unsourced.)
See also:
Spinning the Web - The Story of the Cotton Industry
www.spinningtheweb.org.ukFollow the Yarn (website of Harris Museum, Preston)