University of Guelph thesis template - Atrium - University of Guelph

use of ‘tradesman weaver’ or ‘country customer weaver’ and ‘housewife weaver’ to differentiate
the two types of weavers when differentiation is necessary.
In Middlesex County, Campbell had 80 weaver colleagues who were recorded on
Schedule 1 and 6 of the 1871 census. The greatest concentrations were in the townships of
Biddulph with 19 weavers; McGillivray with 10 and Lobo with 8 (Appendix 1.16). I arrived at
this total by cross referencing Schedules 1 and 6 and removing duplicate weavers. 80
Weavers
who appeared in both Schedules 1 and 6, including John Campbell, amounted to twenty-two or
37% of the total. The majority of weavers in Schedule 1 were men, 69%, while the majority of
weavers in Schedule 6 were women, 65%. 81
When combining Schedules 1 and 6, males were
the majority at 56%. 82
The average age of Middlesex weavers was 51 years old – Campbell was
65 in 1871. 83 In Middlesex County, weavers in Schedule 1, born outside of Canada accounted
for 83%, while 38% were born in Scotland, higher than the provincial total of 18% for immigrant
Scottish weavers (Appendix 1.01). Evidence from Middlesex supports the traditional belief in
the literature that tradesmen or country customer weavers were male, immigrant and although
there is no evidence to prove this, perhaps also apprenticed. 84
It would be interesting to discern
(Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, Revised Edition, 2006), 88. Nancy Grey Osterud, Bonds of Community: The
Lives of Farm Women in Nineteenth-Century New York, (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1996), 12.
80 In Middlesex County Schedule 1, there were 59 weavers, Schedule 6 recorded 52 industrial textile establishments, ranging from
handloom weavers to woollen mills. Forty-six of the listings appeared to be handloom weavers with descriptions such as:
weaving, handloom, weaving shop, weaving loom, weaving factory, cloth manufacturer and weaver. Although I speculated
whether all of these descriptions meant handloom weaving, they contained similar data suggesting similar output. For example,
Thomas S. Murray’s weaving factory had one employee and he had an income of $350 consistent with the other entries. I used the
list of Textile Producers from Bloomfield and Bloomfield, Middlesex County Industries, 43. Using census linkage, I was able to
clarify some of the names that were unclear and incorrectly transcribed by the Bloomfields, e.g., Adam Auto is Adam Auld; James
Anderson is James Auterson; Mrs. M.J. Rumohs who was listed with a question mark was located in the census with this spelling.
81 Forty-two weavers out of 60 were male in Schedule 1. 30 out of 46 weavers were women in Schedule 6.
82 Forty-five out of 80 weavers were men from Schedule 1 and 6 combined.
83 Take note that Campbell’s age is incorrect in the 1861 census by three years, in the 1871 census by four years, but correct in the 1881
and 1891 censuses contributing to the confusion about Campbell in all secondary sources. Campbell’s actual age is documented
on his death registration in Registrations of Deaths, 1869-1938. MS 935, reels 1-615. Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada. Archives of Ontario, Series MS935, Reel 61. Campbell’s birth certificate also confirms is date of birth: Old Parish
Records from Glasgow City, 644/01 0200 0297.
84 Burnham and Burnham, Keep Me Warm One Night, 11, 179.
72