Artisans Abroad: British Migrant Workers in Industrialising Europe, 1815-1870

301 Pages·2023·6.851 MB·English

by  Fabrice Bensimon

Artisans Abroad

Artisans Abroad
British Migrant Workers in Industrialising
Europe, 1815–1870
FABRICE BENSIMON
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Acknowledgements
This book has been a long time in the making and I have incurred many debts
duringtheresearchandthewriting.
ImustfirstthankMargotFinnwhogaveadviceatallstagesoftheprojectand
was most helpful and inspirational. I am also most grateful to Constance
Bantman, Julian Hoppit, Sandrine Parageau, Rachel Rogers, Callie Wilkinson,
and an anonymous reader for reading the text, and for their valuable comments
andcorrections.
Other friends and colleagues have provided useful advice on specific chapters
andissues,especiallyJaneHumphriesontheeconomy,ColinPooleyandMarjory
Harper on migration patterns, Robert Poole and Katrina Navickas on politics,
Chris Whatley on linen and jute workers, Arnaud Page on food and drink,
François Bourmaud on sports, Nicola McLelland on language issues, Anaïs
Albert and Manuela Martini on female labour, and Maurizio Gribaudi on 1848.
This book has most benefited from exchanges with all of them. Of course, all
remainingerrorsaremine.
ThisresearchprofitedgreatlyfromexchangeswithMalcolmChase(1957–2020),
who is sorely missed. Over the years, many other friends and colleagues have
given valuable advice: Joan Allen, Richard Allen, Sylvie Aprile, Jean-Claude
Caron, Laurent Colantonio, Alain Corbin, Michel Cordillot, Mark Crail, Martin
Crawford, Pierre-Jacques Derainne, Delphine Diaz, Caroline Douki, Claudine
Ducol, Chris Evans, Rainer Fremdling, Alexandre Frondizi, Nancy Green, Emma
Griffin, Louis Hincker, Joanna Innes, Alvin Jackson, François Jarrige, Philippe
Minard,JeanneMoisand,PaulPickering,IorwerthProthero,PhilippeRygiel,Jean-
ClaudeSergeant(1943–2014),AnnThomson,DavidTodd,andJulienVincent.
AMarieSklodowska-CuriefellowshipatUniversityCollegeLondon(2016–2018)
enabled me to carry out this research. At UCL, the feedback of Catherine Hall,
Keith McClelland, Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, and especially Margot Finn,
wasalsoappreciated.JaneHumphries,MarkGreengrass,MilesTaylor,andFrank
Trentmannhavebeenhelpfulinturningtheresearchintoabook.
I have benefited from the advice of many archivists and historians in various
places: Ian J. Kerr (1941–2020) and David Brooke (1935–2013) on the railways;
StanleyD.ChapmanandSheilaMasononlaceinNottinghamandIlkeston;Serge
Chassagneoncottonmasters;Marie-PierreCariouinLanderneau;JohnBarzman
in Le Havre; Jean-Pierre Emo in Malaunay; Nicole Duboc in Pissy-Pôville; Eric
Geerkens in Liège; Noël Gavignet, Anthony Cadet and Mary Wood in Calais;
Gillian Kelly and the Australian Society of the Calais Lacemakers in Australia;
vi 
Philip Emerson, Richard Gaunt, Dawn Whatman, Christopher Richardson
(1947–2020) and Rosie Wileman in Nottingham; Audrey and John Carpenter
in Loughborough; Michel Croguennec in Grand-Quevilly; Thérèse Boulanger in
Grand-Couronne; Maureen Morris in Brighton; Natalia Da Silva Pereira in
Brussels; Alexandra Cransac in Aveyron; Yannick Marec in Rouen; Carol
Morgan and Mike Chrimes at the Institution of Civil Engineers in London;
AnnieLauranton Fourchambault; Annick Michaud on theCarmichael business
in Ailly-sur-Somme; Bénédicte Meurice on John Leavers; Jarmo Peltola on
Finland; Rosalind Frogley on George Good; Maureen Morris in Brighton;
Gérald Mennesson in Dunkirk; Christine Proust and Céline Van Lierde-Carbon
inCoudekerque-Branche.
SomeofthisworkwaspresentedatseminarsandconferencesandIamgrateful
to the convenors of these events and to all those who offered comments and
questions, like Owen Ashton, Joan Allen and Richard Allen in Newport, Rachel
HammersleyinNewcastle-upon-Tyne,CatrionaMacdonaldinGlasgow,Matthew
Roberts and Antony Taylor in Sheffield, Chitra Joshi in Delhi, Christina de
Bellaigue and David Hopkin in Oxford, Marianne Amar, Nancy Green and
Paul-AndréRosentalinParis.Thisworkhasalsobenefitedfromexchangeswith
colleaguesintheRevued’histoireduXIXesiècle,intheCentred’histoireduXIXe
siècle, in the British history seminar in Paris, as well as with some students,
especiallyAnh-DaoBuiTran,LéaLeboissetier,LeilaRaffieeandBéatriceRobic.
SomepartsofbookareexcerptedfromarticlesIhavepublishedovertheyears:
“British workers in France, 1815–1848”, in Past and Present (n° 213, November
2011, pp. 147–189); with Christopher A. Whatley, “The thread of migration: a
Scottish-FrenchlinenandjuteworksanditsworkersinFrance,c.1840–c.1870”,in
the Journal of Migration History (n° 2, 2016, pp. 120–147); “The emigration of
British lace makers to continental Europe (1816–1860s)”, in Continuity and
Change. A Journal of Social Structure, Law and Demography in Past Societies
(n° 34.1, April 2019, pp. 15–41); «“À bas les Anglais!” Mobilisations collectives
contre des Britanniques, de la monarchie de Juillet à la révolution de 1848», in
Diasporas.Circulation,Migration,Histoire(n°33,2019,pp.75–90);“Womenand
childreninthemachine-madelaceindustryinBritainandFrance(1810–1860)”,
in Textile. Cloth and Culture (vol. 18, 2020, pp. 69–91); and “John Leavers
(1786–1848)”, The Nottinghamshire Historian, No.109, Autumn/Winter 2022,
pp. 34–47. To the editors of these journalsgo mythanks for theirpermission to
usethematerialpresentedhere.
ThanksalsotoMilesIrvingatUCLforthemaps,tothevariouscolleaguesand
institutions that have provided pictures, and to Cathryn Steele and Kalpana
SagayanathanatOUP.
MypersonalthanksgotomyauntFloriseL’Homme.Thisbookisdedicatedto
myparents,ArianeL’Homme(1939–2018)andPaulBensimon.
Contents
ListofFigures ix
ListofTables xi
ListofMaps xiii
Introduction 1
1. ‘Takingtheirlabourandarttothebestmarket’:ThePolitical
EconomyofBritishEmigrationtotheContinent 16
2. ‘ThethreeprincipalmanufactoriesatParisareconductedby
Englishmen’:TheSectorsofWorkers’Emigration 56
3. TheGenderofMigration:Women,Children,andTextiles
acrosstheChannel 104
4. ‘Notoneofus...isabletospeakmorethanafewwordsofthe
language’:Language,CulturalPractices,andReligion 138
5. ‘Drivenfromhisnativelandtoseekemploymentunderaforeign
despotism’:Unionists,ChartistsandInsurgents 171
6. ‘ÀbaslesAnglais!’:IntegrationandRejection 207
Conclusion 238
Bibliography 255
Index 279

List of Figures
1.1 GeorgesDufaud(1777–1852) 17
1.2 ‘VoyagedeLeursMajestés.—VuedesforgesdeFourchambault’,
LeMondeillustré,12July1862 19
1.3 ‘Hereandthere:orEmigrationARemedy’,Punch,15July1848 26
1.4 Modelofanearlysingle-tiertwist-netmachineclaimedtohavebeen
madebyJohnLevers 29
1.5 ThomasHollis,‘Makinglace’,no.4(undated,probably1850s) 31
1.6 Bythe1820s,thehiringofNottinghamworkersbytheCalaisindustry
wasalreadywellorganised 39
1.7 ObituarypublishedintheNottinghamReview(2October1840,p.4) 39
2.1 TheLanderneauflaxmill,1849 67
2.2 Thelinenfactory‘LaFoudre’inPetit-Quevilly 67
2.3 TheCarmichaelworksinAilly-sur-Somme,1846 69
2.4 A‘permisdeséjour’forAnneArther,aScottishspinneratthe
Landerneauflaxmill,21November1851 72
2.5 Thewool-combingdepartmentinHolden’smillinReims 73
2.6 Thewool-cardingworkshopinHolden’smill 74
2.7 ABritishpuddlerinFourchambault(late1830s) 77
2.8 FrançoisBonhommé,VuedesForgesdeFourchambault(c.1840) 77
2.9 FrançoisBonhommé,VuedesForgesdeFourchambault(c.1840)(detail) 78
2.10 ManbyandWilsonmadethishallmarkinthe1820s,celebratingtheir
business,atatimewhengaslightingwasjuststartinginFrance 79
2.11 AnEnglishblacksmith’sapplicationforajob(Journalducommerce,
18April1827) 81
2.12 ‘TheBuildingoftheBarentinViaduct’,adaguerreotype(1845or1846) 86
2.13 Malaunayrailwaystation,designedbyWilliamTitein1843 87
2.14 Malaunayrailwaystation,herein1917 87
2.15 TheopeningoftheRouen–DieppeRailway 89
2.16 ‘Casket,presentedtoW.B.Buddicom,1852’ 89
2.17 ‘Spadesaretrumps’,Punch,13January1855,vol.28,p.15 91
2.18 TannersatworkbytheriverBièvre 95
2.19 TimothyClaxton,posingasagentleman 97
2.20 WilliamDuthie(1819–70) 101
2.21 Agoldsmith’sworkshopinParis,1822 102
3.1 ThepreparingdepartmentoftheLanderneauflaxmillin1849 110
3.2 ThewindingworkshopintheLanderneauflaxmill 110
3.3 ‘Lace-runnersorEmbroiderersatwork’;PennyMagazine,March1843 120
3.4 ‘LaceMaking.EngravedbyT.Hollisfromadaguerreotype’ 121