working life of women seventeenth century - School of Economics ...

TEXTILESon spinning for their living, and who are thereforecalled here spinsters. The first care of the farmers'wives was to provide woollen stuffs for the use oftheir families, but a certain proportion of their yarnfound its way to the market. The clothiers at Salisburywho made the better grades of cloth were said to" buy their yarn of the finer kinds that come to themarket at from 17d the lb. to 2s. qd, made all of thefiner sortes of our owne Welshire wool, and is spun byfarmers' wives and other of the better sorte of peoplewithin their owne houses, of whose names wee keepdue Register and do write down with what cardes theypromise us their several bundles of yarne are carded, anddo find such people just in what they.tel1 us, or canotherwise controule them when wee see the proofeof our cloth in the mill, . . . and also some veryfew farmers' wives who maie peradventure spinnesometimes a little of those sortes in their own housesand sell the same in the markett and is verie currentwithout mixture of false wool1 grease, etc."'Probably a larger supply of yarn came from thefamilies of husbandmen where wife and childrendevoted themselves to spinning through the longwinter evenings. Children became proficient in theart at an early age, and could often spin a good threadwhen seven or eight years old. This subsidiary employmentwas not sufficient to supply the demand foryarn, and in the clothing counties numbers of womenwere withdrawn from agricultural occupations todepend wholly upon their earnings as spinsters.The demand made by the woollen trade on the labourof children is shown by a report from the Justicesof the Peace of the Boulton Division of the Hundredof Salford, . . . "for appreI +ices there hathbeene few found since our last cer,ificate by reasonof the greate tradeing of fustians and woollen clothl S.P.D., cclxvii , 17, May z, 1634. Certificate from Anth~ny~Wither, Commissioneror reiormation of clothing.TEXTILESwithin the said division, by reason whereof the inhabitantshave continual1 employment for their childrenin spinning and other necessary labour about thesame."'Those who gave out the wool and collected the yarnwere called market spinners, but the qualifying term" market " is sometimes omitted, and when men arereferred to as spinners it may be assumed that they areorganising the work of the spinsters, and not engagedthemselves in the process of ~pinning.~ Though thedemand for yarn generally exceeded the supply, wagesfor spinning remained low throughout the seventeenthcentury. A writer in the first half of the eighteenthcentury who urges the establishment of a nurseryof spinners on the estate of an Irish landlord admitsthat their labour is " of all labour on wools the mostsparingly paid for."3Wages for spinning are mentioned in only three ofthe extant Quarter Sessions' Assessments, and itis not specified whether the material is wool orflax :1654. Devon. 6d. per week with meat and drink,or IS. qd. without them.488. Bucks. Spinners shall not have by the day morethan qd. without meat and drink.1714. Devon. IS. per week with meat and drink,2s. 6d. without them.These rates are confirmed by entries in account' S.P.D., ccclxiv., 122, July, 1637.' Somerset Q.S. Rec., Vol. III., p. 56, 1648. Complaint . . . by . . . lhosChambers, Randall Carde, Dorothy Palmer, Staphen Hodges and Wm. Hurman, personsymployed by Henry Denmeade servant to Mr. Thos. Cooke, Clothier for the spinning ofcerten wool and convertingc it into yarn6 and twzstinge it thereof for the benefitt of the saidMr. Cooke that theire wages for thesame spinninge and twistrnge bad been deteyned fromthem by the said Mr Cookc . . . it is ordered that the said Mr. C. doe forthwithPay to the said 460s. Chambers the some of dowerteene shillings to the said RandallCarde the some of nync shillings and fown pence, to the said Dorothy Palmer tbe some ofeighteen shillings and one penny to the said Stephen Hodges the some of nyne shillingsand four pence and to the said Wm. Human the some ofnync shillings."chcme toprevent the runmug 4f Zrub wwh to France, p. 19.