West Riding – Western Rhineprovince, 1790-1840: Diverse Paths to ...

West Riding – West of the Rhineland, 1780-1840 16
Alfred Reckendrees, University of Cologne reckendrees@wiso.uni-koeln.de
needed, of course, a little sum of money because he must buy the wool, he must fee the
fuller, and, if necessary, he had to pay wages for external help. These conditions limited
the productivity of these small clothiers; and it is estimated that most of them could produce
only one or two pieces of cloth a week - if they worked hard and continuously. 49 An
important element of the domestic system was the domestic clothiers real property, which,
though generally small, offered the possibility of credit. 50
During the 18 th century a class of medium-sized clothiers had developed from the small
clothiers, some of whom even produced twenty cloths a week. These class of clothiers employed
a greater number of journeymen and apprentices. Depending on the order situation
spinning and weaving was carried out in the houses and “loom-shops” of the clothier and
by domestic workers. Of course, the organisation of work differed a little bit from the
small business clothiers. In the medium-sized business the clothier was more concerned
with the purchase of raw material, organisation of work, and selling his products. Nevertheless,
he usually dyed his wool or the cloth in the piece and he operated the loom at least
from time to time. 51 A third group of clothiers, the merchant clothiers, established their
business especially in the larger towns.
There was no standard size of a clothiers business but it is estimated that ‘on an average a
clothier probably employed at least ten persons.’ 52 Nevertheless, the degree of integration
into the firm was widely independent from scale: The local markets or wool-dealers provided
the clothier, either running a small or a medium-sized business with raw material.
The clothier organised carding, spinning, and weaving. For the purpose of lower qualities
the clothier even dyed the wool himself. The production was situated in the workshop or in
the house of the clothier who perhaps temporarily extended his capacity of production by
domestic workers. If domestic workers were employed, they received the material from the
clothier and they were paid by piece rates, but generally the system of the West Riding was
rather a Kaufsystem than a putting-out system. There were at least 3.500 broadcloth manufacturers
in the mid 18 th century West Riding. 53 The smaller and medium-sized clothiers
provided the local markets, especially the cloth halls erected in the 18th century with
fulled, but non-finished cloth. Fulling was done in specialised fulling mills against wage.
Dyeing in the piece was also a specialised business as well as dressing the cloth (raising,
shearing, tentering, and pressing). Sometimes the dyers were engaged in dressing but the
cloth dressers were usually independent artisans with own capital not working on commission.
54 The main customers of the clothier were the merchants. It is possible to distinguish
three groups of them: travelling merchants supplying shops all over England, merchants
49
Heaton, Yorkshire (1965), 294p.; Lipson, Woollen Industries (1921), 71-78; Jenkins, West Riding
(1975), 5p.
50
See the discussion of the “web of credit” in Hudson, Genesis (1986).
51 Heaton gives two examples; in one case the clothier employed journeymen (spinners and weavers)
working at home and paid by piece rate, in another case, the clothier owned a spinning jenny and three
looms that were operated in his own workshop; Heaton, Yorkshire (1965), 295p.
52 Lipson, Woollen Industries (1921), 72.
53 Hudson, Genesis (1986), 61.
54 Hudson, Genesis (1986), 31p.