Now! Then! “My neighbours would think I was going to ruin if they could not smell my factory children half an hour after they had gone down the lane”

13 January 1812: “My neighbours would think I was going to ruin if they could not smell my factory children half an hour after they had gone down the lane”

B. 1812/01/18. To the Printer of the Leeds Mercury. Leeds Mercury. Leeds. Get it:

Excerpt

There are few situations in England where the labouring classes possess so many advantages as those employed in the woollen manufacture in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The plenty and cheapness of fuel, and the fair price of labour give them a great superiority over the working manufacturers in the west of England. Yet they present to the eye of a traveller an appearance of greater wretchedness than many classes of the labouring poor who have not the same means of enjoyment in their power. This proceeds from the great inattention to personal and domestic cleanliness, and the apology which is made for it is the nature of the manufacture, which they say obliges them “to be constantly in the midst of grease and dirt.” In some of the factories in the west which I have seen, the cleanness of the floors, the neat dress of the men and women employed, and the absence of all offensive scent, presents a remarkable contrast with the same kind of manufactures in Yorkshire. To effect this, the wool, even for coarse army goods, is scoured previous to any other process, and the amount of the quantity of oil used is not more than one-third of what is requisite when the wool is carded in an unscoured state; this oil is also of the best kind. The expense of scouring is amply repaid by the saving in oil and in the wear of the machinery. By this means also the cloth will scour to a brighter white, and will take a richer colour than can be obtained from the same cloth made of unscoured wool. In coloured cloths much might be done to diminish the dirt of the subsequent processes by greater attention to wash the wool from the loose particles of the dyeing materials which are mixed with it. The floors might be kept much cleaner than is generally the case, and warm covered baths would add very little to the expense of an engine, and contribute much to the health and comfort of the children employed.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Abbreviations

Comment

Yet the belief that the Luddite disturbances this year were purely about preventing productivity gains or promoting anarchy.

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Original

To the PRINTER of the LEEDS MERCURY.

SIR,-There are few situations in England where the labouring classes possess so many advantages as those employed in the Woollen Manufacture in the West-riding of Yorkshire, when the trade is not injured by absurd and impolitic Councils, Orders, and Restrictions. The plenty and cheapness of Fuel, and the fair price of labour, give them a great superiority over the working Manufacturers in the West of England. Yet, with these advantages, they present to the eye of a traveller who passes through the country, an appearance of greater wretchedness than many classes of the labouring poor who have not the same means of enjoyment in their power. This proceeds from the great inattention to personal and domestic cleanliness, and the apology which is made for it is the nature of the manufacture, which they say obliges them “to be constantly in the midst of grease and dirt.”

As a reformation in this respect can only be expected to commence amongst the more opulent and intelligent Proprietors of Mills or Factories, I address the following hints to their consideration: Many of the processes in the Woollen Manufacture are capable of being carried on in a much cleaner manner, and with more advantage than the usual modes in Yorkshire; this is evidenced by the practice of the Manufacturers in the West of England, particularly in white cloths.

In some of the Factories in the West which I have seen, the cleanness of the floors, the neat dress of the men and women employed, and the absence of all offensive scent, presents a remarkable contrast with the same kind of manufactures in Yorkshire.* To effect this, the wool, even for coarse army goods, is scoured previous to any other process, and the amount of the quantity of oil used is not more than one-third of what is requisite when the wool is carded in an unscoured state; this oil is also of the best kind. The expence of scouring is amply repaid by the saving in oil and in the wear of the machinery. By this means also the cloth will scour to a brighter white, and will take a richer colour than can be obtained from the same cloth made of unscoured wool. In coloured cloths much might be done to diminish the dirt of the subsequent processes, by greater attention to wash the wool from the loose particles of the dyeing materials which are mixed with it. The floors might be kept much cleaner than is generally the case, and warm covered baths would add very little to the expence of an engine, and contribute much to the health and comfort of the children employed.

There is another consideration which will, perhaps, have more weight. I have no hesitation in stating, that more than one-half of the accidents by fire in the Woollen Factories of Yorkshire, have been occasioned by inattention to cleanliness. The waste or the sweepings of the floor, consisting of wool and dirt impregnated with oil, is frequently collected into a heap and suffered to remain in some part of the building’s during the summer months these heaps are very liable to take fire spontaneously, particularly if any moisture find access to them. By the experiments of some able French chemists, it has been ascertained that wool or woollen refuse when oiled and piled up, will inflame of itself at a low temperature. This is more speedily effected by animal than by vege table oils. Every maker of coarse cloth knows very well that woollen cloth or wool worked with whale oil, very soon turns brown or becomes discoloured, if suffered to remain for a very short time piled in a greased state. This is the first step in the process of inflammation. The Agents for Insurance Offices ought, on this account amongst other objects, to attend to the state of cleanliness in which Woollen Factories or Mills are kept. The want of personal and domestic cleanliness, which I have also noticed, proceeds from the dirt and stench to which the men, women and children are habituated in the Woollen Manufactory, and with this is united the total want of neatness or external decoration in the outsides of the houses, or in the gardens of the labouring poor in the West-riding. Those who are interested in the improvement and happiness of their fellow-creatures, ought not to consider cleanliness as. the least of the virtues. About fifty years since the Bills of Mortality in London amounted to 52,000 annually; they now average about 17,000 only. This astonishing diminution in the number of deaths in the Metropolis is chiefly attributed to a better supply of water and a greater attention to cleanliness than formerly.

With this part, which deserves the serious reflection of all persons engaged in extensive Manufactures, or who superintend the police of large towns, I shall at present conclude.

Yours,
B.
London, Jan. 13th, 1812.

* Mentioning this circumstance to a Yorkshire Manufacturer, he replied, “This is all very true, Sir, but my neighbours would think I was going to ruin if they could not smell my Factory-children half-an-hour after they had gone down the lane.” The same permanence of odour, may indicate the thriving state of some Woollen Factories in the neighbourhood of Leeds.

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