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The advent of factories 1820-1900

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Transition to factory production
Framework knitting was traditionally carried out in workers' homes. Hosiers supplied yarn to the workers, children commonly wound the yarn onto bobbins, men knitted it into stockings and women seamed and embroidered the stockings. The industry could keep the whole family occupied.  More >>

The development of steam powered technology
During the early nineteenth century, framesmiths began to make discoveries that paved the way for steam power to be applied to knitting technology. William Lee's frame required a sequence of horizontal and vertical moves to be made by the framework knitter in order to produce knitted goods. The automation of these movements was difficult, particularly when steam engines provided only rotary motion. However, Brunel, a French engineer and father of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, built a machine in 1816 that arranged the needles in a circular form rather than a flat bed.  More >>

Workshop to factory
The development of steam-powered knitting machines encouraged firms to invest in new machinery and buildings to house these large machines. Companies that had previously only operated warehouses to collect goods brought in by knitters now had large premises from which workers manufactured their goods. Pagets of Loughborough established their first steam-powered factory in 1839 followed by Hine & Mundella in Nottingham in 1851. Corah established its St Margaret works, Leicester in 1865 and I & R Morley opened its first factory in Nottingham in 1866.  More >>

Regulation of the workplace
Growth in the number of factory workers across Britain during the nineteenth century raised awareness of factory conditions. From 1833 a series of Factory Acts were passed by Parliament to control working hours and who could work in factories. The knitting industry remained largely unaffected by the early acts as before the 1850s it was still a domestically based industry.  More >>

Women at work
Women played an important role from the earliest days of the knitting industry. While men operated the frames, women performed other tasks related to the knitting process. Generally they wound yarn onto bobbins, or seamed and finished the stockings. This division of work continued and evolved in the factories. High quality fully-fashioned work continued to be produced by men operating William Cotton machines. Women seamed, sewed and mended as before, and also took on new tasks. Many framework knitters considered the new circular machines and cut-up work an inferior part of the industry and this work was often undertaken by women.  More >>

Raising standards
Since the fifteenth century patents have been granted to encourage inventors to make new discoveries. The award of a patent provides the inventor with legal protection against others copying the idea within the kingdom. The Crown controlled early patents and applications were often refused if the monarch did not like the idea. William Lee had his application turned down by Elizabeth I because she thought Lee's frame produced an inferior product and could threaten jobs in the hand knitting industry.  More >>

The rise of the trade unions
Trade unions made an early appearance in the hosiery industry. An association of framework knitters in the midland counties existed as early as the 1770s. At this period they were closely connected with the friendly societies that developed in the towns and villages throughout the region. In those early years the unions were a spontaneous response to threats of cuts in traditional wage rates.  More >>