Differing Responses to an Industrialising Economy - eTheses ...

the study area’s needle masters learnt to be adaptable and to respond quickly to market
forces, making needles or hooks, as required. 33
I hope this survey has made a new contribution in the study of occupational
structure in various ways. Firstly, I have made a detailed commentary on use of various
occupational descriptors and their changed usage over time. Secondly, I have demonstrated
that marriage licence data can be used as an alternative source for occupational
information. Thirdly, my survey has highlighted the different responses of different
communities and put the needle trade into perspective. S. Jones’s study looked at early
needlemakers up to 1750. I have added to his findings in various ways. Firstly, I have
traced the later developments in the needle trade, including the shift in geographical focus
brought about by the use of suitable water-mills to scour needles. The use of a wider range
of sources than that used by Jones has enabled me to discover the timing of some
significant developments in the trade, for example the diversification into pinmaking and
fish-hook manufacture in the mid-eighteenth century and the first references to division of
labour at around the same time. My use of inland revenue apprenticeship books has
confirmed the participation of women and children in the trade before 1750 and has
demonstrated that the trade was spreading in Feckenham and Tardebigge parishes before
1750 as well as in Studley and Coughton parishes. My discussion of the early needle
industry shows some similarities with the metalware trades discussed by Frost and
Rowlands, but also some contrasts. The needle industry was later on the scene than some
33 P. Jones discusses this quick response by Birmingham manufacturers in P. Jones, Industrial Enlightenment,
(Manchester, MUP, 2008), p. 42.
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