Silk Workers
Silk workers turned imported raw silk into thread, which was then woven to make silk.
Silk comes from the cocoon of the silkworm of the silk moth (Bombyx mori). It was very hard to breed silkworms in England as the temperature was too cold and the silkworms only ate the leaves of the mulberry tree, which did not grow here. Therefore raw silk was imported into England from China, India and Turkey to be made into thread and woven.
Silk weaving was introduced to England in the 17th Century by the Huguenots in Spitalfields, London. In the 18th Century people worked in their homes to make small silk items such as silk buttons and ribbons in places across the country including Macclesfield, Congleton and Leek. In the early 18th John Lombe opened the first silk mill in Derby with his newly invented silk spinning machine. During the 18th Century more mills were opened in other areas.
When steam power was introduced in the early 19th Century silk factories were established in many areas including Leek, Macclesfield, Congleton and Stockport. At these factories raw silk was processed into thread and then woven using machines.
There were many different jobs in silk factories including:
Silk twister - spun raw silk
Silk drawer - drew silk from silk waste for spinning
Silk thrower/throwster - twisted silk into thread
Silk piecer - joined the broken threads
Silk dresser - prepared silk for weaving
Silk dyer - dyed the silk
Silk weaver - wove the silk
Silker - sewed the ends of the fabric to prevent fraying
For information about silk workers' unions, click here