Holmfirth workers recruited to textiles in USA

[bykerlads]

I am looking into a group of ancestors who left Holmfirth/Meltham at various points between 1890 and 1905 and went to work as woollen textile workers in the USA, specifically to Albany NY + Lawrence, Mass.
How were they recruited? did US firms advertise in UK? were there links between West Riding textile mill-owners and those in the USA?
I can well understand why the young people went abroad, the prospect of good earnings etc. but I am intrigued to know exactly how they heard about available jobs.

[johnnyboy]

Hi bykerlads: I thought this was more appropriate here than on your U.S. post.

In 1885, the U.S. adopted a  contract labor law that prohibited the importation of anyone under contract to work at a specific job. An immigrant could be denied entry to the U.S. if it were discovered that his fare had been paid by anyone in exchange for an agreement to work in a specific place or at a specific job. Even though the law was difficult to enforce, I think it might have inhibited U.K. labor unions from being too open if they were subsidizing the travel of workers to the U.S.

You can read about the U.S. Contract Labor law here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_Labor_Law

Nevertheless, U.K. newspapers of the latter 19th century (particularly those in industrial areas) must have been full of advertisements from steamship companies and American employers trying to get workers to emigrate. Perhaps your local library or a library in a city like Halifax or Bradford might be able to help you find something.



John 

[johnnyboy]

Just found an advertisement for a ticket agency in Wigan. Not much, but go here:
http://members.shaw.ca/vtromp/ad.html

John 

[jenny36]

Just Googled and got this:  House of Representatives 50th Congress July 1888, the testimonies regarding the illegal import of workers were transcribed into a book.  One example:
Testimony of Jonas Denby (origianlly from Keighly) of Lawrence, Massachusetts
testimony given  to the House Committee July 1888

He states that advertisements were place in Keighly News, Nov 1886, Bradford Observer, Bradford Daily Telegraph, Leeds Daily News, and Kidderminster Shuttle by a Mr F H Johnson, of Bradley, Huddersfield wanting to (illegally)  import woolen mill workers (adults and children)  to America and to pay their fare.  He answered the ad and emigrated to America with his family so that he and 4 or 5 of his young children could work in the Lawrence Mills.

Google it.  There's over 300 pages

[bykerlads]

Thanks, Johnny and Jenny- this looks like what we were looking for, as regards how my grtuncle and his "sponsoring" aunt+ uncle came to get the idea of going to US, Lawrence, Mass. in particular.
The newspaper ads. would hav egiven the information and the incentive, but I still feel that there must have been people locally ( maybe covertly or unofficially ) who would have been expounding the advantages of taking such an enormous leap into the unknown.

[jenny36]

Hello,
The  name of one local person is   F H Johnson, of Bradley, Huddersfield.  He was (alledgedly) one of the local adervertisers and coordinators to get the mill workers from the UK to Americas.  Others listed in the document I mentioned (alledgedly) recruited farmers, miners, etc.

[bykerlads]

Jenny, could I ask what it was that you googled to get the interesting refs. from 50th Congress?
Thanks.

[jenny36]

bykerlads,

Sorry,  wish I kept my written notes; my browsing history clears daily.   I started with newspapers during that era,  then advertising, woolen mills, emigration, immigrants, which led to illegal hiring of contract laborers, etc.  I checked for  historic newspapers on Ancestry, but that seemed a dead-end.  I remember checking  Google maps to see where the towns in the UK were located and which town/city would seem  most likely targeted by advertisers.  I already knew where Lawrence was, since I had lived there in the 1970's.

I read some of the government  report, but with over 700 pages,  I skimmed.  I read that  the men who were recruiting UK workers were paid commisions by the mill owners  for every employable person they could bring to America. And the steam ship lines were in on it as well.  But some of the testimony was so well coached, it was difficult reading.  I guess everyone knew it was illegal, but when a family has a chance for a better life and full employment for all who are old enough to work, well, that looked better than what they were leaving behind.  And their passage was either paid in advance by the agent, or refunded when they reached the American woollen mill.   I found it interesting that the advertisements were not just for the man of the family, but for the man and several of his children.

This search was similar to one I made to find out how the other side of my family was recruited from eastern Europe to work in coal mines in Pennsylvania.

[johnnyboy]

Hi bykerlads and jenny36:

I searched Google Books for the "House of Representatives 50th Congress July 1888 testimony" without quote marks and found the source of Jonah Denby's testimony that you mention. It's from Immigration: Testimony taken by House committee, July, 1888...

Click here to go directly to to the book:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0h5f/

When you get there, you'll be on p. 173. To read Jonas Denby's testimony, put 578 in the little box at the top of the page, next to "Contents," and hit enter.

Almost the entire book is devoted to contract labor being brought (or not) to the U.S. You can search the book, using the box on the left side of the page for other names or places. (Halifax can refer to the Yorkshire city or the Canadian city.)

I've only looked at the book briefly. You also might want to look at the reports sent back to the U.S. by consular offices in the U.K. They begin on p. 5. On p. 6 there is a paragraph about assisted emigration to the U.S. The consul in question looked but found no evidence of it. But he was in London, not in the north.

To jenny36: I noticed that you lived in Lawrence. Some of my English ancestors--my mother's side--emigrated to Lawrence and lived mostly in South Lawrence. My father's family, were, like part of your family, coal miners in Pennsylvania. Most were in western Pennsylvania, but my grandfather had a sister who lived in near Mount Carmel in Northumberland County. Small world.

Regards,
John