Hi
My greatgrandfather owned a lace factory in Long Eaton Derbyshire and it was passed on to my grandpa and his brothers. They led a comfortable life and their staff were treated fairly.
FWK in the 19th century was a poor occupation with the frame owners making the money and the knitters families working all hours for little money. A dreadful existance, talk about poverty. The Luddites started in Nottingham as a rebellion against high rents for frames, a bit like Robin Hood. The frames that were used for quick straight pieces of material which were then finished by seamers, all earning next to nothing, rather than producing fully fashioned stockings were smashed. A law was passed, which Lord Byron opposed, to hang anyone caught smashing frames. People were indeed hung. This was in the early 1800s. An enquiry in 1844 found their conditions deplorable, overcrowding, poverty and 14 hour days, with hosiers charging high frame rents, substituting goods instead of regular wages and for 1 woman because she couldn't work due to pregnancy and other family commitments had to pay the hosier a fine!
The window in Christs College is tall and narrow depicting Gulielmus Lee holding a mini version of an early frame. There is a maroon back drop. He is wearing a royal blue jacket and emerald green 'floppy hat' and 'swathed in a green sheet of material' (sorry don't know the correct terms for the clothing). The name is below his feet and then below that is a heraldic shield, 3 crooses acros the top, blue and yellow checks across the middle and 3 more crosses at the bottom. At the very top of the window there is a yellow portcullis.
Jane
Jane
