Linen and Life Cycle in England, 1678-1810 Alice Dolan

339 Pages·2016·3.11 MB·English

by  Alice Dolan

The Fabric of Life: Linen and Life
Cycle in England, 1678-1810

Alice Dolan

Submitted to the University of Hertfordshire in
partial fulfilment of the requirements of the
degree of PhD

June 2015

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Abstract
‘The Fabric of Life: Linen and Life Cycle in England, 1678-1810’ is structured around
the human life cycle to draw out the social and cultural importance of linen for all
ranks of society. Human and object life cycles are juxtaposed in the thesis to analyse
co-dependent activities and processes rather than focusing on one facet of daily life.
For thousands of years flax was a staple fibre, used for textile production in many
parts of the globe. Cotton only overtook linen as the most popular textile in England
at home and on the body during the nineteenth century. This thesis examines the
preceding century to reveal why linen remained a daily necessity in England
between 1678 and 1810, a period which encompassed a series of significant
changes in the production, trade and use of linen. Linen was ubiquitous as
underwear, sheets, table linens and for logistical purposes therefore it provides a
unique insight into the early-modern world; a means of understanding the
multifaceted experiences of daily life, of integrating understandings of the body,
domestic, social, cultural and commercial activities. This thesis is social history
through the lens of linen, reading a society through its interactions with a textile.

Title page image: Winterthur Museum, 1970.0346.002, Pillow Case, linen, America, marked
in 1818. [image removed for copyright reasons]
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Abbreviations
BL: British Library
BM: British Museum
BRO: Berkshire Record Office
CCA: Canterbury Cathedral Archives
KHLC: Kent History and Library Centre
LMA: London Metropolitan Archives
LRO: Lancashire Record Office
OBP: Old Bailey Proceedings Online
OHC: Oxfordshire History Centre
NYCR: North Yorkshire County Record Office
SRO: Somerset Record Office
V&A: Victoria and Albert Museum
WAA: Worcester Archives and Archaeology Service
WYASW: West Yorkshire Archive Service, Wakefield
YCA: York City Archive

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Measures
Lengths
Spindle / spangle: 4 hanks or 14,400 yards (yarn)
Hank: 3,600 yards (yarn)
Ell: an English ell was 45 inches
Yard: 36 inches

Weights
Stone: 14 pounds
Pound / lb.: 16 ounces (oz.)
Ounce: 16 drams

Volumes
Bushel: 8 gallons (used for seed, grain and other goods)
Gallon: 4 quarts or 8 pints
Quart: a quarter of a gallon or 2 pints

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Contents

Title Page 1

Abstract 2

Abbreviations 3

Measures 4

Contents 5

List of Illustrations 8

List of Tables 13

Acknowledgements 16

Introduction 18
Consumption of Linen 35
Methodology 43
Flax to Cloth: Fibres and Nomenclature 50
Chapter Overviews 68

Chapter 1. Infant Clothing: Age, Seasonality, Materiality and Fibres 71
Billet Books 73
Seasonality 78
Age 82
Decoration 84
Dressing Foundling Infants 97

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Chapter 2. Childhood: The Foundling Hospital, Child Labour and the 107
Textile Business, 1758-1772
Household Textiles 116
Production and Provisioning 119
Cloth for the London Foundlings 138
Linen for the London Foundlings 141

Chapter 3. Family Life: Temporal Influences on Domestic Linen 147
Production and Care
The Latham Account Book 152
Spinning and Growing Flax 156
1724 to 1741 158
1742 to 1754 162
1755 to 1767 166
Bleaching and Washing 170

Chapter 4. Adult Daily Life: Respectability and Decency 178
Novels 183
Quantity 191
Quality and Textile Type 196

Chapter 5. Adult Daily Life: Logistical Linens 209
Barras 215
Wrappers 219
Sacks 226
Money Bags and Purses 231

Chapter 6. Passing On: The (Un)emotional Status of Linen 239
Literary Linens 248
Pawning Linens 250
Wills: Passing On After Death 256
Memorialisation Through Objects 259

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Chapter 7. ‘At first nothing could be more shocking’: The Impact of the 267
1678 Act for Burying in Woollen
The Impact of the Burying in Woollen Acts 274
Economic Benefits 276
Religion 277
Custom 280
Social Cachet and Vanity 281
A Case Study of Cucklington and Henstridge, Somerset 283

Conclusion 291

Appendix 1. The 1660 Book of Rates Valuations for Calculating Import 297
Duties on Linens

Appendix 2. Hundreds – a Linen Quality Description 301

Glossary 304

Bibliography 315

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List of Illustrations
All museum objects originated in Britain unless otherwise stated. Detailed origins are
provided in the captions.
Figure Illustration
0.1 Foundling 14444, textile swatch, plain linen (henceforth without 18
‘textile swatch’), 1759
0.2 Graph of the average cost of a spindle of linen yarn from Perth, 33
1741-1776
0.3 Foundling 13396, striped cotton-linen, 1759 47
0.4 Flax grown in the garden, from William Salmon, Botanologia 51
(London, 1710-1711)
0.5 Flax grown commercially, from William Salmon, Botanologia 51
(London, 1710-1711)
0.6 Flax brake, from Louis Crommelin, An Essay Towards Improving 52
the Hempen and Flaxen Manufactures (Dublin, 1705)
0.7 Author using eighteenth- or nineteenth-century brake 52
0.8 William Hincks, ‘The Common Method of Beetling, Scutching and 53
Hackling the Flax’, 1791
0.9 Scutched and heckled flax 54
0.10 Author using late eighteenth-century heckle 54
0.11 Infant cap, linen, 1689-1700 54
0.12 ‘Snow and Slete’ diaper design from ‘The Weaver’s Guide. Linen 56
designs of Ralph Watson of Aiskew’, late eighteenth century
0.13 ‘the Planting in the Forest’ damask design from ‘The Weaver’s 56
Guide’
0.14 Foundling 14464, linsey-woolsey, 1759 60
0.15 Checked and striped Flemish and German linens, c.1783-1784, 61
holland
0.16 Checked and striped Flemish and German linens, c.1783-1784, 61
three hollands
0.17 Infant shirt, linen, eighteenth century 62
0.18 Shirt, linen, 1750-1800 67
0.19 Shift, linen, 1730-1760 67
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1.1 Foundling 13358, checked (appears to be) cotton-linen, 1759 73
1.2 Baby doll, c.1710-1740 74
1.3 Detail of baby doll (1.2), shirt and petticoats, c.1710-1740 74
1.4 Detail of baby doll (1.2), cap and forehead cloth, c.1710-1740 74
1.5 Detail of baby doll (1.2), roller, c.1710-1740 74
1.6 Foundling 15637, plain linen with embroidery, silk ribbon, printed 79
linen, silk, 1760
1.7 Foundling 13751, printed flannel, 1759 80
1.8 Foundling 12428, printed cotton-linen, 1759 80
1.9 Foundling 15615, checked wool, 1760 80
1.10 Infant cap, linen and bobbin lace, c.1700-1760 85
1.11 Infant cap, linen and hollie point lace, 1689-1700 85
1.12 Infant cap, linen and hollie point lace, eighteenth century 85
1.13 Foundling 15643, plain linen, 1760 86
1.14 Foundling 15656, printed cotton, plain linen, 1760 86
1.15 Infant shirt, linen with bobbin and hollie point lace, eighteenth 87
century
1.16 Infant shirt, linen with lace, c.1700-1760 87
1.17 Infant shirt, linen and Binche bobbin lace, eighteenth century 88
1.18 Detail of Infant shirt (1.17), showing an embossed design 88
1.19 Infant shirt, linen, eighteenth century 88
1.20 Bib, linen and bobbin lace, eighteenth century 90
1.21 Bib, linen, eighteenth century 90
1.22 Magnified image of bib (1.21), linen, eighteenth century 90
1.23 Magnified image of bib (1.21), linen, eighteenth century 90
1.24 Foundling 14495, plain linen, 1759 91
1.25 Foundling 13319, printed cotton-linen, 1759 93
1.26 Foundling 12354, printed linen, 1759 93
1.27 Foundling 13362, printed cotton-linen, 1759 93
1.28 Foundling 14422, checked cotton-linen, 1759 93
1.29 Foundling 14419, printed linen, 1759 93
1.30 Foundling 12425, printed cotton, 1759 93
1.31 Waistcoat, dimity and printed cotton-linen,1770 95
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1.32 Detail of Waistcoat, (1.31), dimity and printed cotton-linen, 1770 95
1.33 Foundling 13359, flannel, 1759 95
2.1 John Sanders ‘Views of the inside of the Chapel of the Foundling 110
Hospital’, 1774
2.2 Detail of ‘Views of the inside of the Chapel of the Foundling 110
Hospital’ (2.1), 1774.
2.3 T. Jefferys, ‘Regulations for the Foundling Hospital’, Gentleman’s 110
Magazine (1747)
2.4 Samples of frieze and broad cloth produced at Ackworth 112
manufactory, 1762 or 1763
2.5 The number of shirts, shifts and stockings produced p.a. at 136
Ackworth Manufactory, 1761-1770
2.6 The number of shirts and shifts and pairs of stockings produced per 136
child under the care of Ackworth, 1761-1770
3.1 Account book of Richard Latham of Scarisbrick, Lancashire, 1724 151
3.2 Foundling 13298, brown linen, 1759 159
3.3 The number of weeks spent spinning flax p.a. by the Lathams, 160
1724-1741
3.4 The number of weeks spent spinning flax p.a. by the Lathams, 163
1742-1754
3.5 Maximum annual expenditure on flax by the Lathams, 1724-1767 164
3.6 The number of weeks spent spinning flax by the Lathams p.a. 167
1724-1766
3.7 Perth flaxen yarn spindle price series, 1741-1767 167
3.8 Detail of sheet (3.9), linen, early nineteenth century 168
3.9 Sheet, linen, early nineteenth century 168
3.10 Annual expenditure on flax and soap, 1724-1767 172
3.11 Maximum annual expenditure on soap, 1724-1767 173
4.1 Flax and hemp fibres 202
4.2 Magnified flax fibres 202
4.3 Magnified hemp fibres 202
4.4 Tow fibres 202
5.1 Magnified sheet, linen, America, 1818 213
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