How far did the development of the needle industry affect the working conditions of the needle makers?

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Mimi Fisher 3035

History Coursework

How far did the development of the needle industry affect the working conditions of the needle makers?

During the nineteenth century, England went through many changes, which lead onto the industrial revolution. People originally worked and lived in the country and eventually they moved into towns to work in the industries because they were paid regular wages. In towns there was better transport and communication links, which helped industries to expand, but living conditions to decline and become much worse and harder to live in.

In Redditch and the surrounding area the needle industry was constantly growing. One of the reasons for this is mainly because it was quite central and easy to access. Redditch had an extremely good supply of raw materials and resources also which attracted people to build industries close to the area because it was cheaper to get what they would need for a successful business. At the time Redditch was a growing town that was increasing in size, industries wanted to start here because it was not overcrowded and it was ideal for travelling easily to other places. Redditch became the heart of this industry and it developed from workers working in cottages in the 1700’s to water mills and gradually to steam factories in the late 1800’s.

Redditch had resources that were easily obtained; this was a main factor in the rise of the needle industry.

“Firstly, the area was close to the metal trades of Birmingham, so raw materials were readily available.”

This sentence is taken from a book that was published in 1999; it was about the making of needles and all of the different processes involved.

I am going to look closely at each stage of development of where they worked and what the living conditions were like.

Did the living conditions get better or worse with the rise and development of the industries?

How did the needle industry develop?

There were many factors, which affected the development of this industry. Redditch is in the heart of the west midlands and it was accessible from all places across the country. Deliveries could be easily shipped in and out because there was good communication links between towns and cities. Transportation became a big part of the growth of all industries, especially the needle industry. Canals and roadways were the teaching methods of transport in the late eighteenth and also early nineteenth century. After this came railways in the 1840’s. In 1850 most towns and cities had railway connections.

“The days of the canals were numbered as soon as the ingenious George Stephenson, ably assisted by his son Robert, was responsible for the opening of the Manchester to Liverpool railway line in 1830.”

This extract was taken from “The history of Redditch and the locality” it was published in 1984. It is explaining how the canals were all of a sudden, a thing of the past and there would be no chance for them now because the trains had taken over.

Trains were faster to transport the needles and there were train stations built in Alcester and Redditch that meant that suppliers could order a bigger load of needles because there was more space and receive them quicker.

Needles were more available so the demand became greater, as this demand became larger the industry had to expand to keep up with the orders. If they did not they would be left behind on the development and the other mills and factories would take over their business. As a result of this the mills became larger and began to deal with bigger orders to get more money.

Needles were important for many other uses. They were used for knitting, bookbinding, dressmaking, beadwork, fishhooks, harpoons, gramophone needles, saddles and gloves and also hypodermis and surgical needles. The forge mills were ideal places to use as needle mills.

As leisure and sporting activities became more popular, such as fishing, more needles were needed again.

In the 1800’s inoculations were used to prevent and cure diseases and illnesses so hypodermic needles were needed more, there was also wars which made people need surgical needles to be stitched up and healed.

Other factors that affected the development of the needle industry were ready waterpower, raw materials such as iron and coal, wealth of the population and technology advancements.

There was a huge increase in population so there were more people who were making clothes so there were more needles, which needed to be shipped out to where the clothes were made. People moved into the area to work.

To supply for this demand Redditch and the surrounding area had to develop to ‘cater’ for these changes to make it sufficient and quicker. There needed to be technology advances to try to find better ways to make the needles and distribute them.

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How did all this change affect working people of this area?

How far did the development of the needle industry affect the working conditions of the needle makers?

As the needle industry was developing more people were needed to work in the factories and mills. Demand for the different types of needles was increasing rapidly and the workers realised this and knew they could get paid enough to support them. Forge mill had developed and it was now handling larger orders and had many people working there to get the needles delivered on time. ...

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