I came across this post by accident, whilst looking for something about Framesmiths (my ggf being one). It was interesting to see that the apprenticeship indentures seemed to have changed so little – My ggf was apprenticed as a watchmaker in Nottingham on valentines day 1876 and the terms of his indenture are practically the same as the 1726 FWK indenture posted on here.
A further point I noted with that indenture was that it was 1726 when Charles Pawson apprenticed himself to Christopher Strutt. Is it a coincidence that in 1729 was born Jedediah Strutt, the man who invented the first major change to Lee's stocking frame by the addition of the apparatus for manufacturing the Derby rib?
Another interesting thing that this thread shows is how there was a continuous movement of stockingers over the centuries, as economic migrants to large towns or other countries, many of them becoming leaders of the trade and opening up new markets where they established themselves or used their skills to benefit in other allied industries such as the Lace trade.
Additionally, they also formed close knit (
) communities and intermarriages took place between families who worked in the same trades. This I would imagine being of a consequence of their working in what later came to be attributed as ghetto conditions.(especially in Nottingham in the 1830's)
Well done Keith for starting this thread.
Phil
