CHAPTER I

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COTTON MANUFACTURE 1-29

I.--The development of the English cotton industry the classic example of the Industrial Revolution movement; its importance as an indication of what the transition from the domestic to the factory system of organisation involved, 1-2; cotton and cotton-cloth common articles of import before the sixteenth century; “cottons” a prominent Lancashire manufacture in the early sixteenth century; unsuccessful attempts to regulate the manufacture, 2-6; necessity for caution in accepting the view that cotton was not used in the manufacture of Lancashire cloths in the sixteenth century, 7-8.

II.--Authentic evidence of a considerable manufacture of cotton in Lancashire; petition of London merchants (1621); testimony of Lewis Roberts (1641); fustian manufacture probably introduced in second half of the sixteenth century, 8-12; extent of the manufacture indicated in petitions from Lancashire (1654); possible effect of Thirty Years’ War; Fuller’s account of Lancashire fustian manufacture (1662); Bolton the staple place for fustians in the seventeenth century, 13-16.

III.--Countries from which cotton-wool imported in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; cotton-yarn and fine cotton-fabrics imported by East India Company, 16; John Barkstead’s schemes (1691) for manufacture of calicoes and muslins and their failure, 16-19; opposition of silk and woollen trades to import of dyed or printed calicoes; resulting Act (1700) followed by import of plain calicoes which were printed and dyed in England; Act (1721) prohibits their wear or use; opposition to Act from manufacturers of cotton in Dorset, 19-21; increasing prominence of fustians rouses opposition; petitions from Lancashire, Cheshire, and Derbyshire result in “Manchester Act” (1736); use or wear of printed goods made of linen-warp and cotton-wool declared lawful; progress of cotton manufacture, 1730-1764, 22-24.

IV.--Development of Manchester trade, 1650-1750; distinction between smallware, check, and fustian branches; fustian especially regarded as the cotton manufacture; some goods made entirely of cotton in first half of eighteenth century but majority probably of mixed character; worsted and silk utilised and linen largely manufactured, 25-29.