Lace finishers
Most of the work of the Lace Finishing Trade Board was focused around Nottingham, a major international centre for the production of lace in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Large sheets of patterned lace were produced by machines in factories and then finished by hand. Once off the loom, the sheets were bleached and dyed. Workers (often women working at home) then began the laborious process of removing the individual pieces of lace from the sheets and clipping off the loose threads until the strip of lace was tidy enough to sell. Management of the homeworkers was usually sub-contracted by the factories to middlewomen, who were often themselves poorly paid. The Lace Finishing Trade Board was one of the first Boards to be created under the Trade Board Act, and was established in 1910 with the intention to provide a guaranteed minimum wage for lace finishers and to try to stamp out sweatshop conditions in the industry.
The series of trade board papers in the Trades Union Congress archive includes two files of documents relating to the Lace Finishing Trade BoardLink opens in a new window. As part of the Modern Records Centre's 'Sweated trades' digitisation project, we have made a selection of these documents available online, including the items highlighted below. Some additional items can be found through our digital collectionLink opens in a new window.
Illustration: Example of pillow lace made at East Haddon by Miss Channer, illustration from the book 'Lace-making in the Midlands past and present', 1900Link opens in a new window
Wage rates and questions of scope:
Want to know how much a lacemaker earned? This statistical data, based on information from Trade Board notices, summarises the hourly, weekly and yearly wages of someone on the minimum wage in the early 1920s.
Copy of a letter sent by J.J. Mallon, workers' representative on the Trade Board and Secretary of the National Anti-Sweating League, to the businessman Ernest Debenham. Mallon asks for information about prices of lace in 1914 and 1919, to be used as evidence to combat employers' attempts to reduce the minimum wage.
Minimum rates of wages effective from 2 February 1920Link opens in a new window
Notice setting out the minimum wages paid to workers in the machine-made lace and net finishing trade. It gives details of piece and time rates for different types of work.
The document includes names and addresses of sixty workers who had sent in written objections to the proposed wage reduction, with a summary of the main arguments given against the planned pay cut.
The report was sent by Susan Lawrence, as a representative of the National Union of General Workers, Women Workers' Section, to J.J. Mallon. It includes copies of letters of protest received from three Nottingham home workers - Mrs. Chantrey, Alice Pike and E. Freeman.
Notes on lace finishing machinery, work and piece rates, undated [1922?]Link opens in a new window
The notes include information about faults caused by machinery, suggestions for guarantees to be agreed with employers to ensure that workers earn a certain rate, and a table regarding piece rates for particular types of work.
Report produced as the result of 70 visits to employers and workers in the lace finishing trade. It includes information about the amount of time that different types of work took and the amount of money that could be earned per hour (including information about several named workers, who had been timed).
Results of tests made by homeworkers employed by Byard Manufacturing Company.
Information about four girls' applications for learnership certificates, and discussion about whether their previous work came within the scope of the Trade Board.
Circular regarding questions of scope, 1924Link opens in a new window
The circular relates to a question about whether two 'learners' (Wood and Hickling) are doing work which is covered by the Trade Board, and are therefore entitled to the minimum wage. It includes some information about the type of work that they are doing ("mainly engaged in separating and reeling veilings for dyeing purposes").
Outworkers and middlewoman:
A sweated industry: The plight of the lace finishers, 1907Link opens in a new window
Article by J.J. Mallon, Secretary of the National Anti-Sweating League, on the hardships of the Nottingham lace finishers, the "most sunken
and most sad" of Britain's industrial workers. It includes sections on the 'effect on the men', hours of work, wages and possible remedies.
The report includes information about a dispute over 'contracting out' agreements and the prosecution of a middlewoman for underpayment (she informed her workers that they should 'voluntarily' return two pence from every shilling she paid them).
Proposed Bill to address the issue of middlewomen, 1920Link opens in a new window
Correspondence between J.J. Mallon and Susan Lawrence, Secretary of the Workers’ Side of the Lace Finishing Trade Board and the Nottingham branch of the Homeworkers’ League, on Lawrence's proposal for Parliamentary legislation to tackle "the middlewomen question".
Precis of evidence before the Cave Commission, [1921?]Link opens in a new window
Summary of evidence provided by Susan Lawrence to the government commission. It includes an outline of the role of middlewomen and their exploitation by unscrupulous employers.
Summary of conditions for middle-men/women and the actions of the Trade Board, written by Susan Lawrence for Mr Woolley, and sent to J.J. Mallon. The document includes a copy of a joint letter of protest sent to the Ministry of Labour by Nottingham Chamber of Commerce, Nottingham Lace and Net Finishers' Association and the Nottingham Home-Workers' League.
The employers put forward their views on three "serious defects of the Trade Board system" - middlewomen and middlemen, foreign competition and provisions for prosecution of offenders.
Letter sent by R. Mee, Communist son of a 'sweated' Nottingham laceworker, on the experiences of his mother and the general system of homeworkers, managed by middlewomen. His personal account concludes with the comment "My mother died with clipping scissors in hand and lace over her fingers a few years ago. Dam and Blast the whole lot, thats how I feel."
Exempted workers:
Trade Boards could issue permits of exemption which allowed employers to pay less than the minimum wage. Permits were given to workers who were regarded as having a physical or psychological disability which affected their work. Applications (usually submitted without the employees' names) include short medical profiles of the individuals.
Application for permit of exemption, 1922Link opens in a new window
Information about the case of a 66 year old women with "debility", employed on 'jennying' by E.W. Roper of Nottingham.
Applications for permits of exemption, 1922Link opens in a new window
Information about two Nottingham workers - a women aged 21 with "defective eyesight" and a women of 66 with age-related "debility".
Application and statements of permits granted, 1922, 1924Link opens in a new window
Information about two Nottingham workers - a women aged 21/22 with "defective eyesight" and a women of 66 with age-related "debility".
An index to these documentsLink opens in a new window is available.
Inspection and enforcement:
Report on administration for the year ending 31 December 1920Link opens in a new window
Short report on visits to employers, middleworkers and workers made by Trade Board inspectors over the course of the year.
Short report on visits to employers, middlewomen and workers made by Trade Board inspectors over the course of the year.
Information regarding 13 firms inspected in 1922.
Report on inspection and enforcement for the year ending 31 December 1924Link opens in a new window
Short report on visits to employers and middlewomen made by Trade Board inspectors over the course of the year.