PART III.

Miss Crome, daughter of Old Crome, was a painter of fruit and flowers from nature, and painted successfully.

Joseph Cloverwas a native of this city, but he resided some time in London. His first efforts in art were directed to engraving, and by the advice of a gentleman named Stocks, he took an impression of one of his plates to the late Alderman Boydell, in Cheapside, whose remarks on this performance discouraged him from following the profession of an engraver, and he remained for some time undetermined as to his further pursuit in art, until the following autumn, when being introduced by his uncle to the late Mr. Opie, whilst painting a portrait of that relation, he was so astonished at the facility with which the artist painted, and so delighted with his conversation, that he resolved from that moment to be a painter. He took Mr. Opie’s advice and followed him to town, from which period, namely, April, 1807, being nearly four years, he enjoyed that artist’s friendship. In the year 1806, Mr. Clover was accidentally introduced to the late Richard Cumberland, the dramatic poet, who perceiving that the artist’s health was much impaired by a too close application to study, invited him to his house at Ramsgate, and by his introduction he painted several portraits, and tothe hospitable residence of this gentleman he repeated his visits during the summer months for fourteen years. In Norwich, he painted three full-length portraits for St. Andrew’s Hall, besides a number of others, and a picture called “Divided Attention,” for his friend Mr. Turner, of Norwich. This first-rate picture excited much interest in London. Some of the early pictures of this artist were at Beau Port, the house of the late Sir James Bland Burgess, and at Battle Abbey in Sussex. Subsequently Mr. Clover had the honour of being patronised by the Marquis of Stafford and other noblemen.

William Robert Dixonwas a native of this city. His etchings of views in Norfolk were in the possession of many persons in Norwich. Mr. Charles Turner had an interesting collection of his drawings. As a scene painter he was much admired. He had many tempting offers from the London and other managers of theatres; but being fondly and firmly attached to his native city and a choice circle of friends, no allurements could induce him to leave them. He was very popular as a teacher of drawing. He died October 1st, 1815.

Charles Hodgson, a native of this city, was a painter of interior architecture, particularly of the early English style, and of considerable reputation for his excellent drawing and correct perspective in water colours, which subjects he was afterwards induced to paint in oil, in which he excelled. Hewas a constant exhibitor in the London exhibitions. His pictures were in the possession of several gentlemen in the city and county.

David Hodgson, son of the above, a native also of this city, was a painter of exterior architecture, landscape, &c. Some of his pictures of interiors of churches were in the possession of William Herring, Esq., Norwich; Pair of Landscapes, W. Roberts, Esq., of Birmingham; Large Landscape, Rev. J. Hollingworth, Newcastle; Small Landscape, Wm. Gate, Esq., Carlisle; Market Scenes, T. Bignold, Esq., Norwich; Landscape, Mr. S. Coleman; Pair of Small Landscapes, Mr. Stone, Norwich; Tombland, Mr. Stone; Landscape, Mr. G. Cooke, engraver; Pair of Street Scenes, Mr. Yarington, Norwich; Market Scenes, sold at the Liverpool exhibition.

Robert Ladbrooke, landscape painter, for many years enjoyed considerable celebrity as a drawing master, and in 1821 commenced the publication of “A Series of Views of the Churches in Norfolk,” printed in lithography, of which ninety numbers were completed.

Joseph Stannardwas a marine painter, in which walk of art he established a high reputation. His subjects were generally finely chosen, and painted with all the truth and transparency of nature. The grouping of his vessels displayed an admirable taste, and they were embellished with the most correctly-drawnfigures, highly characteristic of the stations they occupied.

Mrs. Stannard, wife of the above, was a painter of fruit, flowers, fish, still life, &c. Her maiden name was Coppin, and her mother was rewarded by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, for several copies of painting. The daughter’s productions were highly esteemed by the lovers of art.

Alfred Stannard. The talents of this artist, at an early period of his life, gained him the approbation of the critics of the London Journals—which noticed works of fine arts as exhibited in the National Gallery. TheLiterary Gazetteof March, 1828, contained this notice,—

“No. 152, Trowse Hall, Norwich, painted on the spot by A. Stannard. We think that this work partakes more of the Flemish style of art than legitimately belongs to a picture painted on the spot; its elaborate finish must necessarily have required considerable time in the execution; and the character of our climate is much too variable, day after day, to paint from the same hue of atmosphere, and the same effect of Chiaroscuro. Be that as it may, the excellence of the performance, however it may have been achieved, is an abundantly sufficient passport to regard of this artist’s picture. No. 431, Sluice Gate, on the river Wensum, shews the close resemblance of character and execution between the works of some of our artists and the best pictures of the Flemish school.”

The critic might have added that most of the people of Norwich are of Flemish or Danish extraction, andthat the Norwich school of painting seems to have been derived from the Flemish school. The subjects painted, and the style of treatment are very similar.

James Starkwas articled to the senior Crome for three years, from 1810 or 1811, at the expiration of which time he went to London and drew at the Royal Academy, which place he was obliged to leave from ill health. The first picture which he exhibited at the British Gallery, represented “Boys Bathing,” purchased by the Bishop of Oxford. His other pictures were “Flounder Fishing,” in the possession of Sir J. Grey Egleton, Bart.; “Penning the Flock,” the Marquis of Stafford; “Lambeth,” the Countess de Grey; “Grove Scene,” Thomas Phillips, Esq.; “Grove Scene,” Francis Chantrey, Sculptor; besides many others in the possession of George Watson Taylor, Esq., M.P.; Mr. Davenport, M.P.; Charles Savill Onley, Esq., M.P.; Onley Savill Onley, Esq.; &c., &c. In 1827, this artist circulated proposals for printing “Scenery of the Rivers Yare and Waveney,” with engravings from his own paintings, and the work was beautifully carried out.

J. S.Cotmanbecame one of the most celebrated artists in the Water Colour Society, and attained a very high position in London, where he was appointed Drawing Master at King’s College; he published Views in Normandy, and also a work on the Sepulchral Brasses of this locality. His pictures have always commanded high prices. His two sons also became eminent artists.

About the year 1830, there was something like a School of Art commenced in Norwich, where artists and amateurs could study art in a proper manner, from the best casts of the finest statues. Before then, artists had to study as they best could, and their education was very imperfect. They are much indebted to John Barwell, Esq., for promoting their interests in this respect, and rendering them great assistance by his knowledge of art. Amongst the members of the new society were the Barwells, father and son, the Cotmans, the Freemans, T. Geldart, A. Sandys, S. Miers, and many others who studied art either from the cast or the life.

The Norfolk and Norwich Art Union opened their exhibition of pictures on August 16th, 1839, at the Bazaar, in St. Andrew’s Broad Street. About 400 pictures were exhibited, many of them being of a high order of merit. At subsequent exhibitions, many pictures of local artists were exhibited, including some of the Cromes, the Ladbrookes, the Stannards, the Cotmans, Hodgson, Stark, Vincent, Downes, Sandys, Capt. Roberts, and others much admired. A Fine Art Association has also been recently established. It held its first exhibition in August, 1868. A large number of the pictures were disposed of on the principle of an Art Union.

Whathas been the trade of the city, from the earliest period up to the present time, is an interesting subject of inquiry to the inhabitants. The sources of information are very scanty, for local historians of former days did not trouble themselves much about trade, but were content with simply recording passing events and the proceedings of public bodies. From old charters and acts of parliament, and details of local taxation, we may, however, learn something about the industry and trade of by gone ages. We may discover how people lived, how they were employed, and what sort of clothes they wore; and we shall find a remarkable sameness from age to age. The trade of any country, or county, or town, arises from productive industry in agricultureor manufactures, or in mercantile business, or in carrying goods from one place to another, or in all three combined. All three have existed in this city and county; and it is important to inquire into the past and present state of our trade, and the causes which have promoted or retarded its progress or decline.

In tracing the rise and progress of manufactures in this city, it will be necessary to refer to many sources of information respecting the garments worn by the people of every period. The Roman writers supply some information relating to the Iceni and other aborigines of this island; the Anglo-Saxon illuminations represent the costumes of a later period; monumental effigies exhibit the clothing of the middle ages; and many acts of parliament allude to the manufactures of modern times. The arts of spinning, weaving, dyeing, and dressing wool, linen, and silk, were known to all ancient civilized nations. The Gauls taught those arts to the ancient Britons in this island. Of the kinds of cloth made in Gaul, according to Pliny, one was made of fine wool dyed in several colours. This wool, being spun into yarn, was woven in stripes or checquers, of which the Gauls made their summer garments. Here we have the origin of the Scotch plaid or tartan, which is called the garb of old Gaul to this day.

The dress of the ancient British females may be ascertained from the account by Dion Cassius of theappearance of Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni, who inhabited this eastern district. Her light hair fell upon her shoulders. She wore a torque of gold, a tunic of several colours all in folds, and over it a robe of coarse stuff, fastened by a brooch. The commonalty and the less civilized tribes, inhabiting the interior of the island, went about simply clad in skins. The Druids wore white dresses, and the Bards a robe of sky blue, emblematic of peace. The Ovates, professing to know medicine, wore green, the symbol of learning. Julius Agricola being appointed to the command in Britain,A.D.78, soon succeeded in establishing the Roman sway, and introducing the Roman costume, manners, and language; and before the close of the first century the British habit was regarded as a badge of barbarism. Tacitus says, “The sons of the British chiefs began to affect our dress.” The southern and eastern Britons disused the Broccoe, and wore the Roman tunic reaching to the knee, with the cloak or mantle. The female garb was similar to that of the Roman women, who wore two tunics.

The Anglo Saxons, Jutes, and Danes, when located in different parts of England, spun and wove most of the materials now used for dress. The woollen, linen, and silk yarns were all home-spun, and the textile fabrics were home-made. The civil costume consisted of a linen shirt, a tunic of linen or woollen, worn according to the season, descending to the knee, and having long loose sleeves. It was made like the shirt, and open at the neck, and put on in the same manner.It was sometimes open at the sides and confined by a belt or girdle at the waist. Over this a short cloak was worn fastened with brooches, sometimes at the breast, sometimes on both shoulders.

Mr. Strutt remarks that the silence of the Anglo-Saxon writers on the subject of Danish dress, while they are profuse in the description of the dress of their countrymen, proves a similarity of costume. According to Danish ballads, black was the colour of the ancient Danish dress. Saxon chronicles allude to the Danes by the name of the “Black Army.” Black amongst them had no funeral associations. This sombre hue may have been their national colour, their standard being a raven. After becoming settled in Norwich and Norfolk, they doffed the black colour, and became effeminately gay in their dress, and often changed their attire.

The Normans and Flemings who came over with the Conqueror into England, and those who followed him in great numbers, were remarkable for their love of finery, according to our early historians. The dresses of the common people of course continued to be much the same from age to age, but the habits of the nobility were more influenced by fashion; and the reign of William Rufus is stigmatised by many writers of the period for shameful abuses. The king himself set the example, and the clergy and laity were alike infected with the love of costly clothing. After the Norman Conquest, a sort of cloth was introduced which, though not a new discovery, had not been formerly known in England. This was quite adifferent article to what had been previously called cloth, the preparation being by a combing instead of a carding process. By the former the wool was drawn out to a very long staple, by the latter to a very short staple, the fibres of the fleece being extended the whole length in one instance, and broken and intersected in the other. For 1000 years after the christian era there were no textile manufactures as we now understand the terms. All the yarns were homespun, and all the garments were home-made.

The female costume in Norwich and other towns, from 1087 to 1154, presents us with but one striking novelty, and that by no means an improvement. The rage for lengthening every portion of the dress was not confined to the male sex. The sleeves of the ladies’ tunics, and their veils or kerchiefs, appear to have been so long in the reigns of William Rufus and Henry I. as to be tied up in knots, to avoid treading on them, and the trains or skirts of the garments lay in immense rolls at the feet. Over the long robe or tunic a shorter garment was occasionally seen in the illuminations of the period.

The twelfth century is a period in which Norwich began to be particularly mentioned for its trade arising from manufactures. It is also a period when a very valuable source of information is opened by the monumental effigies of the dead, sculptured in their habits as they lived. The effigies on brass are numerous in Norwich and Norfolk churches, and indicate progress in useful arts. Mr. Stothard is a great authority on the monumental effigies of Great Britain,and he presents the coronation robes of the kings, and the costumes of the nobles with splendid decorations.

The Dutch and the Flemings soon came over the sea, located themselves in the city and in different parts of the eastern counties, and introduced various manufactures. William of Malmesbury states that in the reign of the Conqueror’s youngest son, Henry I., a great inundation in the low countries drove many more of the Flemings to seek refuge in England; and Blomefield, in his History of Norfolk, says that several of them settled at Worstead in Norfolk, and thus early introduced the art of stuff weaving there; which, as is natural to suppose, soon began to be extensively adopted in Norwich. Gervase, of Tilbury, writing of the Flemings says,—

“The art of weaving seemed to be a peculiar gift bestowed upon them by nature; yet the new comers were not always well received by the native population, and had to be protected by laws made in their favour. Indeed, the natives of Norwich, in every period, have been hostile to foreigners, or to any sort of interference with their peculiar branch of industry.”

In the next reign, that of Henry II., “Guilds” of weavers were multiplied, and had their charters of privilege in London, York, Winchester, and Norwich; and a system of protection, originating with manufacturers, prevailed all over the country. During the next reign, that of Stephen, more Flemish weavers came over; and these successive emigrations were a real blessing to the land. England had hitherto not been a manufacturing country till the arrival of theFlemings, who introduced the preparation and weaving of wool, so that, in process of time, not only the home market was abundantly supplied with woollen cloth, but a large surplus was made for exportation. The Flemings were kinsmen of the Danes, and all of them were of the Anglo-Saxon race, and were distinguished for that probity in their dealings which afterwards became the characteristic of British merchants.

During the reign of Richard Cœur de Lion, it is supposed that though the trade of the kingdom did not increase, yet some of the artisan soldiers who returned from the crusades brought back a knowledge of the eastern method of weaving. At that time the useful arts flourished in the east. The improvements introduced here were, however, of little worth, owing to the troubles of the reign of King John, and the equally disturbed reign of his son Henry III. Even the wise and resolute king, Edward I., did not fully succeed in restoring English trade to its former prosperity. Yet it is clear that this city had been all along prospering, for in the reign of Edward II., repeated mention is made of its thrift. That monarch granted a patent to John Peacock for measuring every piece of worsted made in the city or county; but this, being found to check the trade, was soon recalled. In the reign of Edward I. the people of Norwich, and of England generally, began to adopt the whimsical fashions of their neighbours on the continent. Horned head-dresses of frightful appearance were worn by the ladies, and tight-laced stays. Gauze, which is thought to have derived its name from Gaza, whereit was first made, and brunetta or burnetta, with several other fine and delicate stuffs, are mentioned in this period. Gauzes were afterwards produced in large quantities in Norwich. Tartan was a fine woollen cloth, which was also much used for ladies’ robes, and was generally of a scarlet dye.

In the thirteenth century the materials for dress became more numerous, and this period is more remarkable for the splendour of costume than for change of form. Matthew Paris, monk of St. Albany, a contemporary historian, describes the pageantry of the day, and expresses disgust rather than pleasure at the excessive foppery of the times. He states that the nobility who attended at the marriage of the daughter of Henry III. to Alexander king of Scotland, were attired in vestments of silk, commonly called comtises, on the day when the ceremony was performed, but on the following day they were laid aside.

In the reign of Edward III. other foreign clothiers came to England, and many of them settled in the eastern parts of Essex. In 1353, this monarch prohibited his subjects from wearing any cloth but such as was made in this kingdom; and he also forbade the exportation of wool. Both in this reign and in that of Richard II., repeated mention occurs in the oath book and court rolls of wool-combers, card makers, clothiers, weavers, fullers, &c. During the reign of Elizabeth a new impulse was given to the trade by the emigration of Protestants and others from the low countries, and from France, who introduced important branches of industry. Mr. James, inhis History of the Worsted Manufacture in England, says, that king Edward III. so far extended and improved that trade, that from his reign may be dated a new era in its history. This monarch could not, with all his sagacity, and the earnest desire he ever evinced for the welfare and prosperity of his subjects, remain long unmindful of the great profit and advantage of working up the English wool for domestic consumption or export, instead of exporting the material in a raw state. When, therefore, he espoused Phillippa, the daughter of the Earl of Hainault, whose subjects were excellent cloth makers, the close connection which the marriage occasioned between the two countries, and probably in part some suggestions of the queen, induced the king, in 1331, to invite hither a large number of his countrymen, skilful in the art of weaving woollen and worsted. These Flemish weavers settled, by the directions of the king, and under his special protection, in various parts of the country, where the wool grown in the district was suitable for the particular kind of cloth made by these artizans. The worsted weavers were located in Norfolk and Suffolk, having Norwich for their chief seat or mart. Blomefield, in his history, says,—

“Under the reign of Edward III., Norwich became the most flourishing city of all England by means of its great trade in worsted, fustian, friezes, and other woollen manufactures, for now the English wool, being manufactured by English hands, incredible profit accrued to the people by its passing through and employing so many, every one having a fleece, sorters, combers, card spinners, &c.”

Alluding to the condition of this trade at the same period, old Fuller, in his Church History, says,—

“The intercourse being large betwixt the English and the Netherlands, (which having increased since King Edward married the daughter) unsuspected emissaries were employed by our king with those countries, who brought them into familiarity with such Dutchmen as were absolute masters of their trade, (but not masters themselves) as either journeymen or apprentices. These bemoaned the slavishness of their poor servants, whom their masters used rather like heathen than christians; yea, rather, like horses than men; early up and late to bed, and all day hard work, and harder fare, (a few herrings and mouldy cheese,) and all to enrich the churls their masters, without any profit unto themselves. But, oh, how happy should they be if they would but come over to England! bringing their mystery with them, which would provide their welcome in all places. Here they should feed on fat beef and mutton till nothing but their fulness should stint their stomach; yea, they should feed on the labour of their own hands, enjoying a proportionable portion of their gains for themselves. Persuaded with the promises, many Dutch servants leave their masters and come over to England.”

According to Blomefield, the trade continued to increase during the succeeding reign, that of Richard II., when laws were passed for regulating the sale of worsted. Our ancestors were then a plain homely sort of people, and like their forefathers, were content with coarse woollen cloths for their plain clothes. In this and succeeding reigns important changes took place in the system of society, especially in the formationof a middle class, which gradually increased in numbers and influence, and became the great support of trade. Norman despotism was relaxed, and political liberty was advanced, and the darkness of the middle ages was dispelled.

InA.D.1403, Henry IV. separated the city of Norwich from the county of Norfolk, and made it a county of itself, which it has been ever since. This, of course, has been a great advantage to the city as regards its self-government. In this reign it was deemed necessary to appoint officers, whose business it should be to inspect the goods; and in the reigns of Henry V., Henry VI., Edward IV., and Richard III., complaints were renewed in acts of parliament and other documents of the great “crafte and deceite” used in the making of worsteds, says, serges, fustians, motleys, &c., at Norwich.

During the short reign of Edward VI., the making of “felt and thrummed hats, dornecks, and coverlets,” had sprung up in consequence of the decline of the old stuff manufacture; and in the reign of Mary the manufacture of “light stuffs” was introduced. These were of the same fabric as “the fustians of Naples,” and seem to have been so similar to the bombazines of succeeding years, that they may be considered as the commencement of the great staple of Norwich. During the subsequent reigns the city does not seem to have advanced in prosperity. Henry VII. succeeded in reviving the trade a little, but in the reign of his son, Henry VIII., it again declined. We find by anact passed in that reign “that the making of worsteds, says, and stammins, which had greatly increased in the city of Norwich and county of Norfolk, was now practised more diligently than in times past at Yarmouth and Lynn.” If so, the trade soon died out in those towns, as we have no record of any manufactures there.

Philip and Mary passed an act to encourage the making “of russels, satins, satins-reverses, and fustians of Naples.” From this time it appears that the stuffs made in the city were exported into foreign countries, most probably into Holland and Flanders, and at length partial restrictions were laid on the export trades, but still a great amount of business was done. As yet no one had promulgated the modern doctrines of free trade.

From Cotman’s valuable work, “The Sepulchral Brasses of Norfolk,” we may gather some information respecting the costumes of people in the middle ages. With reference to the dresses of the ladies, we may be surprised at the tardy progress of “fashion” in mediæval times, but a little consideration will enable us to solve the difficulty. In the fifteenth century money was very scarce, and all the articles of female apparel were about twelve times more costly than they are at present. Husbands and fathers were doubtless “intractable” in proportion. Hence our fair but thrifty ancestresses continued to wear the very same dresses on all festive occasions for many years. Now, however, the facilities of foreign travel, the introduction of cheaper materials, the results of moderningenuity, and the spirit of the age in which we live, all tend to rapid, frequent, and capricious changes of costume; but it was not so then, and a lady was frequently attired as her grandmother had been before her! Our ancestors were slow coaches. Centuries elapsed before they achieved theruff, before they discovered thebonnet, before they perpetrated thewig! They never dreamt ofcrinoline. Thus, for example, we observe the very same form of kirtle or gown—close fitting, low waisted, but wide and pleated at the bottom, during a period of more than 300 years, there being only a slight variation in the shape of its sleeves. The fall, the flounce, and cuffs of fur or some other material, must have been also a very long-lived fashion, being observable on many brasses from the dates of 1466 to 1537. But the designers of brasses may have adhered for a long time to merely conventional forms. The Rev. R. Hart, in his Letters to a local magazine, says:—

“The wife of Sir Miles Stapleton, in 1365, wears a close-fitting tunic over the kirtle, (the sleeves of which, with a row of small buttons extending from the wrist to the elbow, are seen underneath;) the sleeves of the tunic itself are short, but there are oblong narrow pendants almost reaching from them to the ground. It is buttoned at the breast, there are two pockets in the front, and the lower part is full and gathered into puckers or folds. (Cotman pl. 4). During the reigns of Henry IV. and V. the ladies wore a sort of bag sleeve, tight at the wrist (like that of a modern bishop). About 1481, the sleeve became wide and open like that of a surplice. About 1528, the sleeves of the kirtle, or underdress, were, in some instances, cut or pinked, so as to exhibit a rich inner lining. In 1559, there was a tight sleeve ruffled at the wrist, and with an epaulet upon the shoulder, pinked; and at the same period we observe the earliest specimen of the ruff, and the rudiments of the habit shirt. By far the most remarkable varieties are observed in head dresses, which frequently supply valuable indications as to the date. On the cup presented by King John to the borough of Lynn, and in the small figures upon Branch’s monument, some of the females wear a close-fitting cap like a child’s nightcap, and others a sort of hood with a long tail to it, which is sometimes stiff and sometimes loose like drapery. The wives of Walsoken and Branch (1349 and 1364) exhibit the wimple, covering the throat, chin, and sides of the face, and the couverchef (kerchief) thrown over the head and falling upon the shoulders. The next important variety was the forked or mitre head dress, which first came into fashion about 1438, and held its ground for about twenty-six years, though there is one specimen as late as 1492. This was followed by the pedimental style of head dress, which began about 1415, and continued till late into the following century. The butterfly head dress, which was a cylindrical cap with a light veil over it, stiffened and squared at the top, prevailed from 1466 to 1483. In 1538 we observe a graceful form of head dress, like what is termed the Mary Queen of Scots’ cap. The mantle, which was something like a cope, the jaquette, which may be compared to the “flanches of heraldry,” and excellent specimens of ancient embroidery, may all be studied in the brass of Adam de Walsoken. About the year 1460 we observe the aumoniere (like a reticule) hanging from a lady’s girdle, and also the rosary, terminating, not with a cross, but with a tassel.”

In reference to the dresses of the male sex, the Rev. R. Hart gives the following details as to municipal costumes.

“On the Lynn cup, already referred to, we observe the jerkin, or short coat; also a sort of cape, or short cloak; a larger cloak, and three or four sorts of head coverings, viz., a low flat-topped cap; another something like a helmet; a hat sloping upwards from the rim, and flat at the top; a hood with a tail to it; and another exactly resembling what is now termed a ‘wide-awake.’ On the monuments of Walsoken and Branch we notice the jerkin, the mantle, cloaks, long and short, (in one instance festooned over the right shoulder like the plaid of a Highlander,) and another long cloak, curiously buttoned all down the front; also several kinds of head-covering, some exactly similar to those which have been recently described, others with a broad rim turned up, the top being round-pointed or flat; and in one instance we observe a hat and feather. In their monumental effigies the laity are usually attired in a long gown, which has sometimes bag sleeves, but resembles an albe in all other respects. It is usually girdled with a leathern strap with a rosary of much larger beads than we observe on female brasses, and without any decads. Generally speaking, these rosaries have a tassel underneath, but on the brass of Sir William Calthorp, 1495, a signet ring is attached to the end of the rosary, while a beautiful shaped aumoniere also hangs from the girdle. About the year 1532 we observe gowns with hanging sleeves, like those which are still worn by masters of arts at our universities; and in other instances, of about the same date, we observe a pudding sleeve reaching a little below the elbow of the under dress. The brass of Edmund Green, in Hunstanton church,A.D.1490, ischiefly remarkable from the resemblance that his upper garment bears to a pelisse or furred surtout. The short cloak—trunk hose (something like the ‘nickerbockers’ of our own time), and also the ruff, are observable upon Norfolk brasses between 1610 and 1630. During the first half of the fifteenth century, we observe a frightfully ugly mode of shaving of the hair all round, to some height above the ears. It looks like a skull cap, and is an exact inversion of the tonsure. Burgesses of Lynn appear to have worn, in the fourteenth century, long gowns, the lower part of which is open in the front about as high as the knees, and with wide sleeves reaching to the elbow. There is a richly bordered and hooded cape over the upper part of this gown. It is not unlike an amess. Aldermen of Norwich wore a mantle open at the right shoulder, falling straight behind, but gathered into a slope at front, so as to cover a great part of the left arm, while the other was exposed. It had a standing collar, and there were buttons upon the right shoulder. A Judge of the Common Pleas, in 1507, wore his hair long and flowing, and was habited in a long wide-sleeved gown, open in the front; apparently it was lined, caped, and bordered with fur, and there is a purse hanging from the girdle. On his feet he wore clogs of a very remarkable form. A Judge of the King’s Bench, in 1545, wore a wide-sleeved long gown, a mantle open at the right shoulder, as in the municipal examples, his head being covered with a coif or closely-fitting skull-cap.”

In the earlier years of the reign of Elizabeth, the Flemings, who fled from the persecutions of the Duke of Alva, settled at Norwich to the number of 4000, and much increased the prosperity of the city byintroducing the manufacture of bombazines, which were long in great demand all over the country. Black bombazines were universally worn by ladies when in mourning, up to a recent period. These bombazines were mixed fabrics of silk and worsted, and were dyed in all colours. They did not wear so long as the more modern paramattas.

Elizabeth gave every encouragement to manufactures; and when more Flemings sought refuge in England, the city of Norwich gained an accession of knowledge in the art of weaving with a warp of silk or linen, and a weft of worsted, as well as in dyeing and other processes. And now the articles manufactured began to be classed as “bays, arras, says, tapestries, mockadoes, stamens, russels, lace, fringes, camlets, perpetuanas, caffas and kerseys.” Nothing contributed more to advance the prosperity of the city than the arrival of the industrious Dutch people, who brought with them arts before unknown in this land.

For centuries the action of government in reference to trade was simply in the way of protection, creating monopolies under charters, and sometimes for subsidies. This was especially the case in Norwich, which was made one of the royal cities of England, and had a market every day in the week, as well as annual marts for all sorts of merchandise. The manufacturers first sought and obtained protection for their trade under charters. Hence arose a system which answered very well in the infancy of society, but which became obsolete in the course of national development, and the extension of commerce.

Under the miserable rule of Charles I., the persecuting Laud succeeded in driving back the industrious Dutch weavers to Holland, and causing others to emigrate to America in order that they might enjoy religious liberty. Thus the best workers were driven out of England, and a stimulus was given to the Dutch worsted manufacture. The Commonwealth government restored prosperity to trade, and established a corporation of fifty-four persons in Norwich for the regulation of trade, which then flourished exceedingly.

In the reign of Charles II., we find that “Weavers’ Hall” is mentioned; and though the king taxed the manufacturers, the Norwich workers flourished: for Sir John Child, in 1681, declared that, “Such a trade there is, and hath been, for the woollen manufactures, as England never knew in any age.” Soon afterwards, Louis XIV. revoked the Edict of Nantes, and tens of thousands of French Protestant weavers took refuge in England, giving birth to the silk manufactures of Spitalfields, and stimulating the trade of Norwich. These refugees introduced the manufacture of crapes, which soon came into very general use for mourning.

Most of the manufacturers of this century were very intelligent men, who had gone through the whole routine of their trade, and could do the work in every process with their own hands. The worsted goods manufactured at this time were calimancoes,plain, flowered, and brocaded; camlets and camletees; satins and satinettes; brocaded satins, rosetts, brilliants, batavias, Mecklenburghs, hairbines, damasks, duroys, poplins, prunells, bombazines, serges, florentines, brilliantines, grandines, cameltines, tabourtines, blondines, callimandres, and other fabrics, all in brilliant colours. The greatest demand for these goods was from 1743 to 1763, a period of twenty years.

In or about 1776 Joseph and John Banfather made a few camlets, which were woven grey, and after that, dyed of various colours, for a captain of an East India vessel, who took them out at his own risk. About 1782, broad bombazines were introduced by Ives, Son, and Baseley. About 1783, Irish poplins or lustres were made by that firm. About 1785, spotted camletees were introduced by William Martin. About 1788, single warp callimancoes were made and continued for six years.

Mr. James assures us that Norwich attained its highest prosperity during the middle of the eighteenth century, so great was the energy and fertility of resource displayed by its merchants. The worsted dyers of the city were pre-eminent for skill, and their profits were great. The city merchants sent travellers throughout Europe, and their pattern books were shown in every principal town as far as Moscow. Norwich goods were introduced into France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and Poland, and there was also a large trade with Russia. The great fairs of Frankfort, Leipsic, and of Salerno, were thronged with purchasers of Norwich fabrics. AnEnglish Gazetterpublished before 1726, contains an article on Norwich, in which the writer says:—

“The worsted manufacture, for which this city has long been famous, and in which even children earn their bread, was first brought over by the Flemings in the reign of Edward III., and afterwards very much improved by the Dutch who fled from the Duke of Alva’s persecution, and being settled here by queen Elizabeth, taught the inhabitants to make says, baize, serges, shalloons, &c., in which they carry on a vast trade both at home and abroad, and weave camblets, druggets, crapes, and other stuffs, of which it is said this city vends to the value of £200,000 a year.“The weavers here employ spinsters all the country round, and also use many thousand packs of yarn spun in other counties, even as far as Yorkshire and Westmoreland. By a late calculation from the number of looms at work in this city only, it appeared that there were no less than one hundred and twenty thousand people employed in these manufactures of wool, silk, &c., in and about the town,including those employed in spinning the yarn, used for such goods as are made in the city.”

“The weavers here employ spinsters all the country round, and also use many thousand packs of yarn spun in other counties, even as far as Yorkshire and Westmoreland. By a late calculation from the number of looms at work in this city only, it appeared that there were no less than one hundred and twenty thousand people employed in these manufactures of wool, silk, &c., in and about the town,including those employed in spinning the yarn, used for such goods as are made in the city.”

The writer of course means to include all the females who spun the yarns in Yorkshire and Westmoreland, as well as in Norfolk and Norwich. Even then, 120,000 people is an incredible number, for he states the value of all the goods sold to be only £200,000 yearly, so that the people would not earn £2 each per annum.

So flourishing was the woollen trade in this city during the second half of the eighteenth century, that on February 2nd, 1759, the wool-combers testifiedtheir joy by exhibiting the pageant of bishop Blaise, who lived under Dioclesian,A.D.282, and was a great patron of woollen manufactures. This prosperity was interrupted by a war; but on March 24th, 1783, the citizens were again entertained by the wool-combers’ jubilee, on the return of peace, which had a beneficial effect on trade. The most prosperous period appears to have been from 1750 to 1780.

Mr. Arthur Young, in 1771, published his “Tour of England” in the form of Letters, some of which relate to the eastern counties, and Letter XII. to Norwich. It contains a curious statement, derived from some manufacturers, respecting their trade. At that time, the population of the city was about 40,000, mostly employed in manufactures, and the merchants were rich and numerous. Mr. Arthur Young says:—

“The staple manufactures are crapes and camlets, besides which they make in great abundance damasks, satins, alopeens, &c., &c. They work up the Leicestershire and Lincolnshire wool chiefly, which is brought here for combing and spinning, whilst the Norfolk wool goes to Yorkshire for carding and cloths. And what is a remarkable circumstance, not discovered many years, is, that the Norfolk sheep yield a wool about their necks equal to the best from Spain; and is in price to the rest as twenty to seven.”

Mr. Arthur Young further states that men, women, and boys earned about five shillings per week, but that they could earn more if industrious, so that wages were not higher a century ago than at present. In reference to the exportation of goods, he observes:—

“They now do not send anything to North America, but much to the West Indies. Their foreign export is to Rotterdam, Ostend, Middleburgh, all Flanders, Leghorn, Trieste, Naples, Genoa, Cadiz, Lisbon, Barcelona, Hamburgh, all the Baltic except Sweden, and the East Indies.“The general amount of Norwich manufactures may be calculated thus—

“The general amount of Norwich manufactures may be calculated thus—

A regular export to Rotterdam, by shipping every six weeks, of goods to the amount of yearly

£480,000

Twenty-six tons of goods sent by broad-wheeled waggons weekly to London at £500 a ton, on an average, 13,000 tons per annum, value

676,000

By occasional ships and waggons to various places calculated at

200,000

£1,356,000

Therefore the trade had increased in fifty years from £200,000, according to the “English Gazetteer,” up to £1,356,000!

Mr. Young further observes in reference to the estimates he had given:—

“Upon a reconsideration of the table, it was thought that the £676,000 by waggons was rather too high. Suppose, therefore, only 10,000 tons, it is then £520,000, and the total £1,200,000!“Another method taken to calculate the amount was by adding up the total sum supposed to be returned annually by every house in Norwich, and this method made it £1,150,000. This sum coming so near the other, is a strong confirmation of it.“A third method taken was to calculate the number oflooms (in county and city); these were made 12,000; and it is a common idea in Norwich to suppose such, with all its attendants, works £100 per annum. This also makes the total £1,200,000, which sum upon the whole appears to be very near the real truth.“Respecting the proportion between the original material and the labour employed upon it, they have a sure and very easy method of discovering it. The average value of a piece of stuff is 5s.; so the material is a tenth of the total manufacture. Deduct the £120,000 from £1,200,000, leaves £1,080,000 for labour, in which is included the profit of the manufacturer.“The material point remaining is to discover how many people are employed to earn the public one million per annum, and for this calculation I have onedatumwhich is to the purpose. They generally imagine in Norwich that one loom employs six persons on the whole; and as the number is 12,000 (in city and county), there are consequently 72,000 people employed in the manufacture. And this is a fresh confirmation of the preceding accounts; for I was in general told that more hands worked out of Norwich, for many miles around, than in it; and £1,200,000 divided by 72,000, gives £16 each for the earnings of every person.”

“Upon a reconsideration of the table, it was thought that the £676,000 by waggons was rather too high. Suppose, therefore, only 10,000 tons, it is then £520,000, and the total £1,200,000!

“Another method taken to calculate the amount was by adding up the total sum supposed to be returned annually by every house in Norwich, and this method made it £1,150,000. This sum coming so near the other, is a strong confirmation of it.

“A third method taken was to calculate the number oflooms (in county and city); these were made 12,000; and it is a common idea in Norwich to suppose such, with all its attendants, works £100 per annum. This also makes the total £1,200,000, which sum upon the whole appears to be very near the real truth.

“Respecting the proportion between the original material and the labour employed upon it, they have a sure and very easy method of discovering it. The average value of a piece of stuff is 5s.; so the material is a tenth of the total manufacture. Deduct the £120,000 from £1,200,000, leaves £1,080,000 for labour, in which is included the profit of the manufacturer.

“The material point remaining is to discover how many people are employed to earn the public one million per annum, and for this calculation I have onedatumwhich is to the purpose. They generally imagine in Norwich that one loom employs six persons on the whole; and as the number is 12,000 (in city and county), there are consequently 72,000 people employed in the manufacture. And this is a fresh confirmation of the preceding accounts; for I was in general told that more hands worked out of Norwich, for many miles around, than in it; and £1,200,000 divided by 72,000, gives £16 each for the earnings of every person.”

This, Mr. Young confesses, appears to be a large sum for men, women, and boys to earn. The population of Norwich being then under 40,000, the number of looms at the time Mr. A. Young wrote could not be 12,000, nor the persons employed 72,000 in the city and county. Six persons to a loom never were required at one time. The proportion was more likely only half, or three persons to a loom. Consequently, the number employed would be only 36,000in both city and county. Divide £1,200,000 by 36,000, and it gives £33 for each adult yearly, including the profits of the manufacturer. Deduct £200,000 for their profits, and it leaves £1,000,000 for labour; divide that by 36,000 persons, and it leaves only £28 each, yearly, which is nearer the mark.

Mr. R. Beatniffe, a bookseller in Norwich, copied the statement of Mr. A. Young, and published it in his “Tour of Norfolk.” He said some gentlemen of intelligence had doubted it, as well they might, but he believed it was true. However, in his last edition of the “Tour,” published in 1807, he gave a very different account. He said that the merchant was shut out of the home market by fashion and out of the foreign market by war, so that the annual value of the goods was estimated at £800,000, and the cost of labour at £685,000, leaving only £115,000 for the raw material

Messrs. John Scott and Sons, were manufacturers of woollen and worsted goods, in St. Saviour’s, from 1766 to 1800, and produced great quantities of taborets, floretts, clouded camlets, for Italy; perukeens, self-coloured camlets, for Germany; and other sorts for Spain. Some of these camlets were eighteen inches wide, and the pieces twenty-seven or thirty yards in length; some super camlets were twenty-four inches wide, and thirty yards in length, according to the pattern books yet in existence. These camlets were charged from 50s. to 100s. per piece, or an average of 80s., as we have seen in old ledgers of the firm, still preserved and in the possession of a manufacturer.

Originally, all the yarns used in Norwich were spun by hand in Norfolk and Suffolk, thus employing a large number of women, young and old. About 1720, almost the whole female population of Norfolk and Suffolk was fully employed at the spinning wheel, and this branch of industry continued till the end of the century, and though 50,000 tons of wool were produced, it was found necessary to draw supplies from other districts. Before the end of the eighteenth century, mills were at work spinning yarns, and in 1812, yarns from the mills in Lancashire were brought here and spun in bombazines, which were dyed in various colours.

The establishment of mills in Yorkshire, where coal, provisions, and labour were cheaper than in Norfolk, gave a heavy blow to the trade of the city, which would have been more severely felt, but for the fluctuations of fashion having created a great demand for bombazines, for which Norwich was famous. The Yorkshire workmen and the substitution of machinery for female hands, reduced the manufacture of the old kinds of goods to a low point, and the trade was chiefly maintained by the orders of the East India Company for large quantities of camlets for the Chinese market.

Messrs. Willett and Nephew have old pattern books full of specimens of shawl borders of very elegant designs; in fashion at the beginning of this century. These patterns are an imitation of genuine Indian designs, the pine-apple being prominent; but great improvements in the designs were made by differentmanufacturers. Norwich shawls had formerly a high reputation, and were in great demand in London and all large towns; but ultimately French shawls were preferred, owing to the superiority of the designs.

At two general meetings of the manufacturers, held at the Guildhall on December 14th and 21st, 1790, the prices for weaving were fixed and printed in a list, comprising serges, prunelles, satins, satinettes, camlets, camletines, florentines, brilliantines, grenadines, blondines, tabourtines, callandres, &c. At a general meeting of the manufacturers, held on June 13th, 1793, at the Guildhall, it was resolved unanimously that they would supply the journeyman weavers they employed with havels and slaies, free of charge, and without deduction from the prices established in the table of rates fixed in the year 1790. The list continued in force for some time, even into the next century. The camlets made, excepting those for China, were thirty yards in length, and about twenty-eight inches wide, with warp and wift dyed in the hank. Millions of pieces of camlets were made for exportation, in which nearly all the manufacturers were engaged. The orders of the East India Company amounted to a very large sum yearly. Operatives earned 40s. for each piece of camlet for the East India Company, or about £1000 weekly on that single article. Those were the palmy days for the weavers; days that will never more return.

Towards the close of the century, the prosperity of Norwich really declined. The towns of the West Riding of Yorkshire, as already stated, became hersuccessful rivals in worsted fabrics. The increase of cottons and their general wear in England left Norwich dependent on the foreign trade, which was partly ruined by the American war, and entirely so by the war after the first French Revolution, which spread desolation over all Europe.

At the commencement of the present century, bombazines, camlets, and mixed fabrics were the chief manufactures of Norwich. Soon afterwards crapes were produced in large quantities. Paramattas were next introduced, and in the course of time superseded bombazines for mourning. “Poplins” then came into fashion, and the manufacture has so much improved that the demand for this kind of goods has increased every year. Poplins were followed by a long succession of mixed fabrics, barèges, balzarines, gauzes, mousseline de laines, cotton de laines, llamas, thibets, merinoes, lunettas, organdies, stuffs, cloths, velvets, lustres, silks, satins, &c. The manufacture of shawls was also carried on extensively, and for a long time Norwich shawls, for excellence of fabric and elegance of design, were not surpassed by any made in England. A great trade was done in shawls in Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, and other large towns. The trade, however, gradually declined when French shawls came into fashion. French goods of other kinds also grew in favour, and affected the city trade in many textile fabrics.

In 1829, on December 29th, a meeting of weavers was held on Mousehold Heath to adopt means for keeping up the rate of payment, the operatives asserting their right to combine to increase wages, as well as their employers to combine to reduce them. The weavers were not paid by time, but at a certain rate for piece-work of different kinds. The rate was according to a certain printed scale, to which the operatives wished to adhere, while it sometimes occurred that the manufacturers desired to alter it.

During the early part of the present century Messrs. Ives and Robberds, of St. Saviour’s, carried on a large trade in worsted goods, chiefly for exportation to India and China, and to different parts of Europe. The goods made were all stout worsted fabrics, plain, checked, striped, or figured, in vivid colours. They were camlets, camletees, satins, satinettes, ladines, tabaretts, calimancoes, swan skins, broad bays, red kerseys, diamantines, spotted tobines, batavias, hairbines, toys, Rochdale bays, checked paolis, lustrins, dentellos, damasks, dorsettines, poplins, serges, mazarines, and grenadines. The same firm received large orders from the East India Company for camlets, in pieces 55 yards in length, 30 inches in width, and weighing 20 lbs. each. Orders were executed by various houses as follows:—

Year

Pieces

1812

22,000

1813

22,000

1814

12,000

1815

10,400

1816

16,600

1817

15,200

1818

15,200

1819

15,640

1820

16,000

1821

11,000

1822

14,300

1824

10,000

1825

11,012

1826

13,000

1827

none

1828

12,000

1829

10,000

1830

9,300

1831

none

1832

5,000

In 1832 the East India Company suspended their orders, but Mr. Robberds continued to export camlets from Norwich and Yorkshire to China in exchange for tea, as follows:—

Year

Norwich

Yorkshire

1841

420 pieces

215 pieces

1842

2,760 ,,

200 ,,

1843

6,610 ,,

5,181 ,,

1844

13,170 ,,

7,928 ,,

He also continued to make camlets for wholesale merchants in London till 1848, when he failed in consequence of losses, but afterwards joined a partner in Halifax, and continued to produce large quantities of camlets; but Norwich lost all the trade.

Besides the camlets supplied to the East India Company, goods of the same kind were made for private orders by all the manufacturers. During the years 1830, 1831, and 1832, according to ledgers yet remaining, one firm made about 7,000 pieces for private orders, and from 1833 to 1837 inclusive, nearly 9,000 pieces. In 1833 and 1834, mohair camlets were made by the same house to the extent of 6,000 pieces, being 22,000 pieces in four years. Supposing a dozen other houses to have produced a like quantity, the totalwould have been 66,000 pieces yearly. Messrs. Booth and Theobald, in Muspole Street, were large manufacturers of worsted goods, and at one time employed about 1,000 hands, men, women, and children, in the production of worsted goods, including camlets, for the East India Company. Mr. John Francis, of St. George’s, also made a variety of worsted goods and other fabrics, employing a large number of hands at one time. Messrs. Worth and Carter, in St. George’s Middle Street, and Joseph Oxley and Sons, in St. Augustine’s, produced large quantities of broad bombazines, which were gradually superseded by paramattas, to which the ladies gave the preference. Both fabrics were made of worsted and silk; the only difference was that they were differently dressed, the paramattas being dressed flat by hot pressing, which gave a greater flexibility to the cloth. Messrs. Wright and Son, formerly on Elm Hill, at one time employed about 1500 hand-loom weavers in the manufacture of plain and fancy fabrics, mostly mixed.

Messrs. Grout and Co. began the manufacture of crapes in a small way in Patteson’s Yard, in Magdalen Street. John Grout was then the principal partner, but after the mills were built in Lower Westwick Street, having realized a fortune, he retired from business. George Grout also retired before 1840. Messrs. Martin and Company became the proprietors of the mills, and after Mr. Martin died, the firm comprised Messrs. Brown, Robison, and Hall, who now carry on a large trade in crapes, areophanes, and gauzes. The machinery in use is of the most improved construction;and in these very extensive works may be seen most of the processes connected with the manufacture of silk goods. The silk is imported chiefly from China and some from India, but a portion is also obtained from Italy. The demand for crapes used in mourning has, however, a good deal diminished.

The Albion Mills, in King Street, were erected in 1836 and 1837, for the spinning of worsted yarns, in consequence of the great demand in Norwich and the difficulty found by manufacturers in obtaining the yarns which they required for their trade. Mr. George Jay, owner of the mills, erected new machinery. And after the trade in worsted yarns declined, he imported mohair from Asia Minor, and commenced the spinning of mohair yarns. He continued this business for some years, while mohair goods were in demand. He added a new wing to the factory and put in another steam engine, both the engines being of seventy-horse power.

During the present century, large Mills have been built in this city for the spinning of silk, woollen, and mohair yarns, and also for weaving those yarns into all kinds of fabrics. In the year 1833, a company was organised for those manufactures. A large capital of £40,000 was raised, and ultimately two factories were built, one in St. Edmund’s and one in St. James’. The former became a factory for spinning yarns, and the latter for weaving goods. In St. James’ factory two coupled engines of 100-horse power were put up to drive the machinery. There the city manufacturers hired the large rooms and power, and put in the machinery, for the production of fabrics.

The site of the factory comprises 1a. 2r. 18p., with a frontage of 460 feet to the river. Above the basement are six long floors. There have been sixty-five frames in the mills for spinning yarns, and 500 looms for weaving fabrics; but the number of looms has been reduced to 300, and they are not always at work. After the erection of the mills, weaving sheds were built adjoining. The floors are now occupied as follows;—No. 1. Messrs. Skelton and Co; No. 2. Messrs. Towler, Rowling, and Allen, who also hire two of the weaving sheds; No. 3. Messrs. Willett, Nephew, and Co.; No. 4. Messrs. Skelton and Co.: Nos. 5 and 6. Mr. Park, for spinning woollen yarns. Women and girls are chiefly employed in this factory. About 1000 have been at work at a time, when trade has been good; but of late, not half the number have been engaged. The average earnings have been about 7s. weekly.

In 1838, trade was in a very dull declining state, and some differences arose between masters and men, in consequence of a proposed reduction in the rate of payment. This was resisted by the men, who appealed to Colonel Harvey to mediate between them, which he consented to do. A meeting was held, and the delegates who had been sent on the part of the weavers to the north to inquire into the state of the camlet trade, reported that they had seen no camlets at all to compare with those in Norwich. The north had, however, got the trade. The question remained unsettled; but on August 27th, that year, several camlet weavers applied to the magistrates for protection fromthe violence of those on strike. Mr. Robberds was willing to give out work, but would not do so unless his men were protected. The application was granted, and a strong body of police was sent to the premises of Mr. Robberds, where the weavers received their work, and they were protected in conveying it to their homes. On the Tuesday following, the house of a man named Wells was broken open and his work cut out of the loom. The city was much disturbed by these differences, which ultimately produced great injury to its trade.

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.

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, andshawls 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 ofAmerica. 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 adequateidea 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.

Messrs. Willett and Nephew, of Pottergate Street, are manufacturers on a large scale. The factory itself is not very extensive, for most of the weavers work for the firm at their own houses; and there, in humble dwellings, produce the beautiful fancy fabrics, which are destined to adorn the daintiest ladies in the land. The extent of the operations of this firm enables them to introduce a great variety of novelties in every season, and thus to compete successfully with the manufacturers of France. They were the first to introduce the manufacture of paramattas, which superseded the bombazines, at one time in such great demand. They produce superior poplins, (plain, figured, and watered) bareges, balzarines, tamataves, coburgs, camlets, challis, crinoline, crêpe de Lyons, grenadines, shawls, scarfs, robes, and also a great variety of plain fabrics. They exhibited a large assortment of goods at the London Exhibition of 1851, and received a certificate of “honourable mention” for their paramattas, being the only award made for that article. Messrs. Willett and Co. also received a silver medal at the last Exhibition in Paris. In 1867, the same firm supplied some rich poplins, which were selected for the queen and royal family, from the stock of Mr. Caley, in London Street. Mr. Caley has alwayson hand a large stock of Norwich goods, including shawls and fancy fabrics of the newest designs. Visitors to Norwich should not fail to call at his establishment, if they wish to carry away any idea of the productions of the old city.

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