When looking through censuses for relatives, it's amazing the number of mini history lessons you come across! Have a look at the following two census returns, these are for 1861, for the village of Foleshill, in those days it was a separate village, but now it's part of Coventry.
Quite a few villages had their own crafts that they earned their living from. In Foleshill it was silk ribbon weaving, with the whole family taking part!
1861 census at Brick Kiln Lane, Foleshill. William Pickering Head 50 Silk Ribbon Weaver Sophia “ Wife 38 Silk Picker. Eliza “ Dau. 15 Shute Filler. Hannah “ Dau. 13 Shute Filler. William “ Son 11 Ribbon Loom Turner Mary Ann “ Dau. 8 Scholar. Thomas “ Son 1
And -- Living Next Door:-
Benjamin Pickering Head 33 Silk Ribbon Weaver. Catherine “ Wife 32 Silk Picker. Joseph “ Son 10 Ribbon Loom Turner. Mary J. “ Dau. 5 Scholar. Dinah “ Dau. 3 Esther “ Mother, Widow. 65 Shute Filler. Hannah Smith Sister in Law 21 Silk Picker.
Notice how the work is distributed around the age groups. The two men, William and Benjamin, who incidently are brothers, being the sons of Esther, are the actual weavers. The women, wives Sophia and Catherine, with sister in law Hannah Smith, are the silk pickers, a very important art to be able to pick good quality silk.
The two older girls, Eliza and Hannah, and William and Benjamin's mother Esther, (who probably used to be a silk picker, until her eyes began to wear out.) are in charge of filling the shutes.
The two boys, William and Joseph, are in charge of turning the ribbon loom. As they aren't classed as scholars, that means they must have already left school. Most children left at about the age of ten, as you look around the censuses you find an awful lot of ten and eleven year old ag. labs. (agricultural labourers), and not just the boys, some girls were ag. labs. before they became servants.
Radstone
In the village of Radstone, near Brackley, the craft was lace-making, here is a typical census, this time for 1851.
1851 census at Radstone, Brackley. James Shortland Head 42 Woodworker. Ann “ Wife 43 Lace-maker. Sarah “ Dau. 21 “ John “ Son 17 Ag. Lab. Martha “ Dau. 13 Lace-maker. Mary Ann “ Dau. 11 “ Jane “ Dau. 9 “ James “ Son 7 Scholar. Ann “ Dau. 5 “ William “ Son 3
The difference here was that Lace-making seemed to apply solely to the females of the household. Looking at this census you'll notice that the mother, Ann, and four of her daughters, with the youngest being Jane, aged 9, are all lace-makers. This was repeated throughout most of the cottages in the village.
There were many other crafts around, in one village I noticed, most of the men made hand-made nails! I wonder when all this came about, and how the choice of craft was decided on.
I might not know when it all started, but I do know how it all ended! From about the early 1860's factories were starting to be built, so you got the silk- ribbon factory, the lace-making factory, etc., and suddenly the villagers were left high and dry! If you follow the censuses through, you'll notice how fast it all happened. Houses in the villages became empty, as people left to find work elsewhere, a few were able to find work actually in the factories, but their wages would have been very low! It must have been a very harrowing time, and the start of the disappearance of true village life.
History in the censuses, have a look around and you'll find a lot more, it's very interesting!