The Boot and Shoe Trades in London and Paris in the Long Eighteenth Century

St. James's in the London West End, for instance, in 1828 no less than 127
shoemakers were in workhouses, a sudden increase compared to only 3 in 1826,
just before the 'Free Trade Act' was passed. The correlation between the crisis in
the London shoemaking trade and the increase in the importation of French
shoes was evident. French shoes were sold in London not only by shoe retailers,
but also by haberdashers and local dealers. A London wholesaler was importing
12,000 pairs of French shoes at a time; another was selling ninety pounds worth
of French shoes per day and a third was selling 5,000 pairs every week.'7
In a rather apocalyptic way, Dacres claimed that the crises affected the entire
shoemaking trade, from the smart shop to the "mere seller of the cheapest sort of
article, such as are manufactured in Northampton".' 8 In reality it was mainly the
metropolitan shoe market that suffered from the French competition. Nearly 50
per cent of the shoes imported from France entered Britain through the port of
London. Dover was the second port (39 per cent), while a small 10 per cent
entered Britain through other ports, mainly Bristol and Liverpool. The South of
England, and London in particular, were the place where French shoes were sold.
English provincial shoemakers expressed instead a certain degree of concern for
the French competition in the international markets. Bristol shoemakers, for
instance, reported that:
orders for the Colonies (forming some time a very considerable Branch of your
Memorialists' Business) have recently been wholly discontinued; and that Boots
and Shoes of foreign manufacture are now substituted for the Colonial Markets,
it having been ascertained by shippers that foreign boots and shoes (whereon the
Duty has been paid) can be exported to the Colonies at a much lower price than
the Manufacturer of this Country would have to pay for the mere manufacture of
similar articles.'9
17 j D. Dacres, The boot and shoe trade of France, cit., p. 11.
18 Ibid, p. 8.
'9 PRO, BT 6/175, f. 12.
256