Week 22: My ancestor was a lacemaker

[Jill on the A272]

Week 22: Lacemaker



Did someone in your tree make Nottingham or Honiton lace or use a lace pillow at home?

This is an opportunity to showcase a lacemaker from your family tree, you might want to offer a short biography and speak about their work eg
Name
Birth location/date
Family background
Where you've found them on the census
Their workplace/employer
Any tips on researching this occupation?

[Next week: Collier/miner]

[Lin Fisher]

My Great Grandfather William Everitt was a lace dyer or dipper depending on the census records.
He was born on 15th December 1873 in Nottingham to William and Sarah Ann Everitt. Haven't found a baptism for him
In 1901 and 1939 he was a Lace dyer and on 1911 a lace dipper.
He married Clara Brammer Whiles on 1st Feb 1897 at St Philipps Church Nottingham.
Clara died and he married Eliza Dale, a neighbour who was a widow, in 1930.
Couldn't find a death for him but eventually found Clara's burial in a cemetery a bit out of town and in the same grave was Tom William Everitt of the right age. Could find a death for a Tom but there was one for John William. When it came his daughter Lucy had registered the death.

Also on 1911 census, Clara was a lace hand.

[Jill on the A272]

Ann Robinson nee Minney (my husband's 2x great grandmother) was one of four teenagers making lace in their parents Christopher and Martha Minney's home in Denton, Northamptonshire in 1841, she is quite likely to have been taught the skill by her mother although Martha is not recorded as a lacemaker.

By 1851 Ann had married Christopher Robinson, a farm labourer and had three children and had no occupation but was lacemaking again in 1861 with Lucy Ann (14), Sarah Ann (12) and Martha (9) as well as Elizabeth (7) Mary (6) , James (4) and George* (2) as scholars and the youngest, Jane (1).

Ten years later baby Jane was 10 and working along side her mother Ann as a lacemaker, the boys were ag labs and the other daughters had left home and another two children, William and Elizabeth had been born, eldest daughter Lucy had married but was still lacemaking and was visiting her mother along with her toddler.

By 1881 she had moved to Castle Ashby, and is no longer recorded as a lacemaker.

A lace pillow and bobbins was one of the last birthday presents my mother gave me before she died over 30 years ago and I learned to make torchon lace so have a little appreciation of the laborious process which requires brass pins to avoid rust, and a paper pattern to show where to place the pins and many bobbins. A good light is also crucial and I have seen pictures of women sitting in their doorways lacemaking. For indoor use there were glass globes of water which were supposed to magnify candle or lamplight.

*George wasmy husband's great grandfather and became a coachman, he and his cousin Christopher went to work in Sussex which is where he met his future bride.

[Lin Fisher]

There are quite a few people in my tree that were Lace Hands or Lace Menders. Dad said his Mum, May Everitt nee Hurt, did it at home when her children were little.

Looking at census a lot of his Aunts seem to do it as outworkers. Too many to name though.

[Lin Fisher]

Bit late but just found another one.

Thomas Dumelow was baptised on 11 June 1795 at St Edward King and Martyr, Castle Donington Leicestershire to Thomas and Ann nee Glover. He was my 4 x G Grandfather. He married Hannah Millet at the same church on 30 May 1819. The had 6 children all born Castle Donington. The last child Mary, my 3 x G Grandmother was born in 1831. They were all in Nottingham by 1838 as their eldest daughter married there.

On 1841 and 1851 census he was a Lacemaker, probably working in one of the big factories here. Before that he was a FWK.

He died on 11 March 1858 of Bronchitis and registered by Mary my G Grandmother.

Haven't mentioned before but there is an industrial museum at Wollaton Park in Nottingham that has lace making machinery there and a lot of history on the industry. Nottingham also has a whole are called the Lace Market where a lot of the factories were. A lot are still standing and some are lovely buildings.

[Rusty]

I used to make Honiton Lace, just motifs nothing big, I really enjoyed doing it.

My husband's family were lacemakers in Bethnal Green, their name was Elliott and someone suggested that it could be a corruption of a French name but so far I haven't found any evidence of that.

[cbcarolyn]

whilst I don't have any lacemakers in my family I thought I would give a 'shout out' to Bedfordshire, I hadn't realised that it was quite big in the county, and was still taught in schools in I think as late as the 50s, maybe have been earlier.

I recently went to this museum in Olney and they had quite a lot on the history of lacemaking:

https://cowperandnewtonmuseum.org.uk/lacemaking/