Search This Blog

Monday, 29 September 2014

Calico Print Workers

My latest feature for Who Do You Think You Are? magazine (October issue) is about Lancashire calico-printing workers, and how to research your ancestors in that branch of the textile industry
Originally, calico was printed by hand. The cloth was stretched across a printing table, wound round a roller at each end so that the cloth could be wound on ready for the next length to be printed. The printer had a child helper, a ‘tierer’, who dipped a small brush in a pot of colour, then brushed the liquid colour evenly onto a sieve or drum floating on a bed of water. The printer then placed an engraved wooden block or copper plate (with a handle on the back), onto the sieve so that it picked up the dye. The block was then pressed firmly onto the fabric to create a pattern. Block-printing was a slow process; it could take all day to produce just six pieces of cloth printed with a plain pattern

The first recorded calico printer in Manchester is William Jordan, ‘callique-printer’ at Little Green in 1763; the trade in Lancashire gained a strong foothold the following year at Clayton’s factory in Bamber Bridge, near Preston.
The days of block printing were numbered when roller or cylinder-printing was patented by Thomas Bell in 1783. A rotating cylinder was dipped into a trough of colour dye; next, a long steel rule or ‘doctor’ removed excess colour from the cylinder. The cloth to be printed was pressed against the dye on the engraved cylinder by means of a roller, so that the pattern was continuously printed on it as it moved along. Children were employed in the print-work factories, too.
Now hundreds of pieces of cloth could be printed in a day.  
Hoyle’s Mayfield works at Manchester employed over 200 workers in the 1830s, including over 40 children; the children earned 2s 6d per week when learning the trade, then 3s 6d when ‘fully instructed.’
You can find out more about the lives of child print-workers in my book Young Workers of the Industrial Age, and the Lancashire textile industry here.


Illustrations from author's collection:


Block printer and tierer or ‘tear girl’ (above, left). Children as young as six worked for twelve hours or more helping block printers. Charles Knight’s Pictorial Gallery of Arts Vol. I, (c.1862). 
A calico printworks at Manchester in the 1890s (above, right), and a view of Hoyle's printworks from London Rd Station (left). Both illustrations by H E Tidmarsh, Manchester Old and New Vol. II, (Cassell & Co., c. 1894).

30 comments:

Lindy said...

This is very interesting. My great great grandfather William Jordan 1834 was a Calico Printer as was his father Squire Jordan 1801. Squire was born to a widow Ann Jordan nee Woods whose deceased husband was called William Jordan and he lived in the Rochdale area. Squire was registered as Baseborn, this just adds to the overall mystery. Squire had a half sister Rosa who was William Jordans legitimate daughter, she had illegitimate twin daughters to a manufacturer called 'Bearn'. Rosa made blankets but I can't find what Mr Bearn manufactured!!!

Sue Wilkes said...

Hi Lindy, Many thanks for commenting. What an interesting family tree! Where was Mr Bearn living? If you know, then you could try checking to see if his name was in a historical trade directory.

Lindy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lindy said...

It was Jonathan Beaver not Bearn...I found a Woollen Mill. The three generations of women worked in a blanket factory according to census records.

Lindy said...

Sorry I had an update so I deleted the previous comment. I managed to find a woollen mill in the area with a reference to John Beaver, I think he must have been a descendant and the name was Jonathan Beaver not Bearn. The trio of ladies were blanket finishers.

Sue Wilkes said...

Hi Lindy, Sorry you had to wait for a reply, but I've been away on holiday. If you know the name of the woollen mill, you might be able to find some info about it here on the Graces Guide website, https://gracesguide.co.uk/Main_Page.
It has lots of interesting info.

eleanor said...

Thank you for this. Two of my male ancestors worked for Thomas Hoyle & Sons in the mid-19th century and their respective children, both born about 1860, married. So I presume they (and/or their fathers) met at the print works.

Sue Wilkes said...

Dear Eleanor, Thank you for commenting. That's really interesting. There's some info here about Thomas Hoyle's Mayfield Print Works, https://mayfieldmanchester.co.uk/history/.

Betsy said...

If you are interested in more details about Thomas Hoyle & Sons, let me know.

Sue Wilkes said...

Hi Betsy, Thank you very much indeed for commenting.

Sally Bonnie said...

Hi Sue not sure if you are still picking up comments here , my 3rd great grandfather was a Calico print designer John Gloag born 1801 in Scotland and moved to Mcr , his daughter was a silk I think presser but it’s hard to read so may be another word and his son a card cutter of silk, I would love to try and discover any of his designs , could you advise how I might go about this , it’s my paternal grandmothers family , she was a lace maker and most of her pre ious generation were cabinet / coach makers or involved in printing , after 50 years of not being creative I’ve stumbled into discovering I am , and at the same time also discovered I come from creative ancestors . best wishes and thanks Sally Bonnie

Sally Bonnie said...

Hi Sue not sure if you are still picking up comments here , my 3rd great grandfather was a Calico print designer John Gloag born 1801 in Scotland and moved to Mcr , his daughter was a silk I think presser but it’s hard to read so may be another word and his son a card cutter of silk, I would love to try and discover any of his designs , could you advise how I might go about this , it’s my paternal grandmothers family , she was a lace maker and most of her pre ious generation were cabinet / coach makers or involved in printing , after 50 years of not being creative I’ve stumbled into discovering I am , and at the same time also discovered I come from creative ancestors . best wishes and thanks Sally Bonnie

Sally Bonnie said...

Hi Sue not sure if you are still picking up comments here , my 3rd great grandfather was a Calico print designer John Gloag born 1801 in Scotland and moved to Mcr , his daughter was a silk I think presser but it’s hard to read so may be another word and his son a card cutter of silk, I would love to try and discover any of his designs , could you advise how I might go about this , it’s my paternal grandmothers family , she was a lace maker and most of her pre ious generation were cabinet / coach makers or involved in printing , after 50 years of not being creative I’ve stumbled into discovering I am , and at the same time also discovered I come from creative ancestors . best wishes and thanks Sally Bonnie

Susan Compton said...

My great great grandfather (hope I've got that right) was Joseph Compton who married Elizabeth Hoyle and was absorbed into the company of Thomas Hoyle and sons. Joseph Compton was an insurance broker at the tyof his marriage. I'm interested in whether he was a Quaker before his marriage? and why so many of the extended Hoyle family changed their religion? Any help would be greatly appreciated

Sue Wilkes said...

Hi Susan, Thank you for leaving a comment. I'm afraid I don't know about the Hoyles' changes to their religion. I'm afraid it is much easier to find out what our ancestors did, rather than why they did it!
It's possible that the Quaker Family History Society https://newtrial.qfhs.co.uk/ has more info on the Hoyle family, if you haven't already contacted them. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Susan Compton said...

Hi Sue, thank you for the reply. I've found out that the change of religion was probably to do with the Quaker Crisis.
Now I'm wondering how a fortune of 60,000 pounds left by Joseph Compton in 1872, , son in law of Thomas Hoyle jnr, could dwindle to 3,000 by 1913? I gather the business was closed by 1910 so maybe that's why? Any help with this would be appreciated. Thanks

Sue Wilkes said...

Hi again Susan, it's very difficult to say where all the money went - that's a long time period - it could be anything from bad trading conditions to gambling debts or even legal fees for a protracted lawsuit! You could try searching the local newspapers between those dates to see if there's any info on the family. All the best, Sue.

Susan Compton said...

Just letting everyone know that some of the calico designs were registered and the records are held at the National Archives I think

G.Mlx said...

The V & A has some designs by John Lowe, who was a partner of my gt.gt.gt.gt. grandfather Thomas Phillipps of Shepley Hall, who had sold his calico business to John Lowe and retired to Broadway after the birth of his son Thomas Phillipps, later Sir Thomas Phillipps Bt. https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O164887/panel-john-lowe/

Sue Wilkes said...

Thank you for commenting - that's really interesting to know!

Sue Wilkes said...

And what a gorgeous wedding design!

Tony Whittaker – My Family Genealogy said...

Hi. Just a quick comment after finding your blog. My family research has taken me to family in Rossendale working in the calico industry (early 1900s), in another direction to a partner in print works at the famous Bannister Hall and also an owner at Lowe Mill (Calico) in Whittle Le Woods (the 2 latter in the early 1800s). Not well documented elsewhere but now have newpapar cutiings and directories etc. My next job is probably trying to put together a timeline for their involvement :-)

Sue Wilkes said...

Many thanks for commenting, Tony. The Manchester Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester has pattern books for the Rossendale firm, I think. https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/documents/aa110007873/pattern-books-from-the-calico-printers-association-collection

Anonymous said...

My great great great great great grandad was John Mercer, I'm now trying to make sure my own children are aware of their background. This is all very helpful

Sue Wilkes said...

Thank you for commenting!

Anonymous said...

Hi Sue,
My g-grandad was an apprentice calico printer in 1871 with a James Curran at Stretford in Manchester.
My g-g-granduncle was Samuel Farrer who owned Lower Kem Print Works at Whittle-le-Woods in the 1850's and 60's.
My male line of ancestry is European/Armenian, from the same.period, almost certainly a calico dyer.
Is there any way of finding my g-grandpa's apprenticeship indenture records?
Many thanks,
Steve Farrar.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Sue Wilkes said...

Hi Steve, Thank you for commenting. Try having a search for Samuel Farrer on the National Archives Discovery catalogue https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/, and you could also try searching Lancashire Archives Red Rose Collections https://redrosecollections.lancashire.gov.uk/home?WINID=1742488802763. I would search by your ancestor's name, and if that fails try searching with the name of the print works to see if any of its records have survived. Hope this helps. All the best, Sue

Anonymous said...

Thank you Sue,
I've got a fair bit of info on Samuel Farrar. He was originally from the Halifax area, Pudsey/Calverley to be more accurate, and married a Mary Nightingale.
She was a fair bit older than him and they both clearly 'fibbed' a bit about their respective ages in the Census records.
She was not exactly a widow, her first husband had been 'transported' for stealing a watch.
My g-g-grandmother was Sarah Farrer, also from Pudsey, and Samuel was her uncle.
The name of my.g-g-grandfather is not known, but DNA 'matching' and 'ethnicity' data from multiple ancestry providers show a clear progression from the North Caucasus, to Armenia and the Levant, through France into Holland.
Very closely matching the migration routes of the Armenian Dyers and Printers as they followed the development of Calico cloth producing mills in Europe.
Very little of what I've found would have been possible without using DNA analysis which takes a bit of time to master, but is exceptionally useful to amateur genealogists.
I think.my g-g-grandma met up with an 'Armenian' dyer at Whittle-le-Woods, probably brought in by Samuel Farrar as a designer, but frustratingly there is gap in any records of the 1850s and 1860s, until their son, my g-grandfather, shows up in the 1871 Census as an apprentice to James Curren, a Manchester calico designer.
Samuel's factory at Lower Kem.Printworks is quite well known and I'd be interested to hear any thing about in the period 1851-1871.
Many thanks for your time,
Best regards,
Steve Farrar

Sue Wilkes said...

Thanks for the extra info, Steve. I've published your comment in case anyone else can help with your research. All the best, Sue.