Thread: The Shoe Industry

petal

Whilst on some census questions a specific job description is
listed , and on others the persons trade is listed , it could be that your ancestor either changed job within the factory by1881 , may have been working a new fangled type of machine unkown to the enumerator , or may just have been a general description given to the operatives in the trade .
It was quite common for all employees to live close to the Factory , many were "tied" houses owned by the Factory , rented at discounted prices to employees , they walked to work , went home for tea and dinner breaks , and it was much easier for the factory owner to keep an eye on his employees ! , no calling in sick , or taking a day off to go to the Horse Fairs and Races ! .Many Outworkers would not work on a Monday at certain times of the year as this tended to be Race day , Northampton Racecoures used to be in the Centre of the Town ( Now a large Park) and event as always attracted a large crowd. Tied housing also made it difficult for employees to move from Factory to Factory in search of better wages or working conditions,
Employers invested a lot of time and money training the workforce , trade relied on a large number of skilled operatives with very few unskilled jobs in factories ( these were usually done by wives and children) , hence the need to try and keep your good workers. Many Shoe Factory owners were also very religious or had high moral standards , and expected employees to be of good behaviour both in and out of work, when you lived amongst them you had a good idea of who did what !

petal

Just to add to this....................on the Rushden Heritage website there is a wealth of information about the shoe industry, the various changes over the years and a very informative section of the stages of shoemaking.
www.rushdenheritage.co.uk