According to Mr. Mitchell’s report in 1839, there were in the city and its vicinity 5,075 looms, of which 1,021 were unemployed; and of the 4,054 looms then at work, there were 3,398 in the houses of the weavers, and 650 in shops and factories. Indeed, by far the greater part of the looms belonged to families having only one or two. The operatives at these looms comprised 2,211 men, and 1,648 women, with 195 children. In that year two silk mills employed 731 hands; three worsted mills, 385 hands; two woollen mills, 39 hands; and one cotton mill, 39 hands, making eight mills, employing 1,285 persons.
An abstract of a census of the Norwich weavers, furnished by a report of the commissioners on handloom weavers, published in 1840, will best show the nature and the relative amount of the fabrics then made by hand. Bombazines employed 1,205 workers, of whom 803 were men; challis, Yorkshire stuffs, fringes, &c., 1,247, of whom 510 were men; gauzes, 500, chiefly women; princettas, 242, nearly all men; silk shawls, 166, of whom 74 were men; bandana, 158, of whom 86 were men; silk, 38, including 16 men; jacquard, 30; worsted shawls, 26; woollen and couch lace, 22 each; camletees, 20; horsehair cloth, 17; lustres, 3; sacking, 45. Total of weavers 4,054, including 2,211 men, 1,648 women, 108 boys, 77 girls, and 10 apprentices. Their gross wages, when fully employed, have ranged from 8s. to 25s. weekly; those engaged on fillovers, challis, and fine bombazines, earning from 15s. to 25s. weekly; but deducting “play time” and expenses, the net wages did not amount to 8s. weekly. Mr. Mitchell reported that the industry and morals of the operatives had suffered much from party spirit, riots, and strikes. Of late years the workers at their looms have been very industrious and quiet, while they have endured great privations. Since 1840 a large number of the operatives have gone into the boot and shoe trade, which offered better prospect of at least a decent livelihood.
Present State of the Trade.
Most of the old worsted fabrics formerly made in such large quantities have become obsolete, and lighter mixed fabrics are now produced in great variety, in silk, wool, mohair or cotton, or composed of three or four kinds of yarns. The goods are known under the names of cloths, kerseys, linseys, winseys, coburgs, crapes, gauzes, nets, paramattas, camlets, bareges, balzarines, grenadines, challis, llamas, poplins, poplinettes, tamataves, optimes, crinolines, cloakings, and shawls in great variety. Wool, mohair, and cotton yarns are chiefly used in most of the fabrics, except crapes and gauzes. The larger proportion of the woollen yarns are made here from English wool. Poplins are made of silk and worsted; poplinettes, of silk and cotton; bareges, of silk and worsted; tamataves, of worsted and cotton; grenadines, of twisted worsted and silk; coburgs, of cotton and worsted; paramattas and bombazines, of worsted and silk; llamas, of an inferior kind of wool with cotton warp; thibet cloths, of worsted warp and weft; winseys and linseys, of worsted with cotton warp; balzarines, with cotton warps and worsted shoot; malabars, of cotton warp and woollen shoot, thirty-two inches wide. All the fabrics, however, may be included under the three classes of tammies, tamataves, and nets. The tammies are woven fabrics, in which the warp and the weft simply cross, but in the nets there is a twist in the warp. The tamataves are partly the tammy woven and partly the net. In former times the trade was comparatively steady, because plain fabrics in single colours were more in demand than any other; but of late years, this branch of business has been very fluctuating, owing to the changes of fashion and the desire for novelty, both in the fabric and in the pattern of every article. New patterns are now, therefore, constantly being produced. All preparations and processes are only for the coming season, and it is found necessary to alter the pattern, the colouring, the finishing, and even the names of the goods, to suit the markets.
Mr. G. Jay is the largest manufacturer of mohair yarns in this city; and in the years 1867 and 1868 he could not execute all the orders he received. This arose from the great care bestowed on the preparation of the material at the Albion Mills, in King Street, and from the softness of the water which imparts a glossy, silky appearance to the yarns. Mohair fabrics came suddenly into use, and for some years prior to 1860, elegant tissues were produced here. These, however, soon went out of fashion. All the yarns spun here are now sent to France and Germany, where they are woven, with silk, into velvets, and then imported into this country. The velvet jackets which are now in fashion have caused a great demand for these yarns, and sixty-five frames at the Albion Mills are constantly at work. We are only surprised that the yarns are not used in the city in the manufacture of velvets, large quantities of which are imported every year.
Norwich was the first place in all England where the manufacture of fillover shawls was carried on to any great extent. For a long time the weaving of these shawls was a tedious, slow process. A great improvement in the mode of weaving was, however, discovered by a straw-hat maker of Lyons, named Jacquard, in the year 1802, by which means the drawboys were entirely dispensed with and the tackle simplified. The new invention was received as a boon in England, and at length was introduced into this city, where it has been applied to the production of splendid fillover shawls, by Clabburn, Sons, and Crisp. We regret, however, that these elegant articles of ladies attire have recently gone almost entirely out of fashion.
The Late Mr. T. O. Springfield carried on the wholesale silk business to a very large extent, having almost a monopoly of the market, and he supplied with dressed silk almost all the manufacturers in this city. This silk was very largely used by Grout and Co., in the manufacture of crape, gauzes, aerophanes, &c., and by others in the working up of mixed fabrics, especially bareges, grenadines, and various light tissues. The same wholesale business is now continued by Mr. O. Springfield, in Norwich and London. It is estimated that the annual value of dressed silk used in this city is over £100,000.
Messrs. Middleton, Answorth, and Co., have a large factory in Calvert Street, another in Bradford, and a wholesale warehouse in London. They formerly made all kinds of mixed fabrics in this city, and now they produce large quantities of paramattas, grenadines, opera cloakings, and fancy cloakings, hair cloth for crinolines, and curled hair for stuffing sofas. Crinolines have been made in great quantities by this firm, the warp being cotton and the weft horsehair. The demand for them has, however, somewhat abated. This firm has largely increased their trade in hair-cloth, which is used for general stiffening purposes. In the southern states of America, the gentlemen wear large trousers, which require to be expanded like ladies’ dresses; and, therefore, the larger portion of these goods are sent to the southern states of America. The same firm has also introduced haircloth in many patterns and colours for covering furniture, in sofas, chairs, &c. There is an enormous importation of horse-hair into England from Russia, and from the continent of South America, where horses run wild in the great plains called “Pampas.” The horses are caught and divested of their tails, which are brought into this country in a very rough state; the hair is dressed and woven into a variety of fabrics which are in great demand. The trade in horse-hair cloth is almost a new trade in the city and might be greatly extended. Some fabrics are made all horse-hair, and some mixed with spun silk, in stripes, and colours, and very pleasing patterns.
Mr. J. Burrell has built a small mill near the Dereham Road, where he carries on the manufacture of horse-hair cloth by means of peculiar looms and machinery. He imports horse hair, and prepares it for stuffing seats of chairs, sofas, &c. He also weaves horse hair into cloth for various purposes. Mr. Gunton also carries on the same kind of manufacture in St. Miles’; but the trade is yet on a small scale in this city.
Messrs. Clabburn, Sons, and Crisp, in Pitt Street, manufacture shawls in every variety, and also paramattas, bareges, tamataves, balzarines, poplins, fancy robes, ophines, grenadines, and mixed fabrics generally. The fillover long shawls produced by this firm, on a Jacquard loom, gained the gold medal at the first Paris Exhibition, and also at the London Exhibition in 1862. No description could convey an adequate idea of these splendid fillover shawls, which are made by a patented process, so as to display a self colour and a perfect design on each side. They were on view at the Paris Exhibition, in 1867, but not for a prize, Mr. W. Clabburn being selected as one of the judges, so that his firm could not compete.