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From Colliers to Clickers |
HISTORY OF THE INDUSTRY
ORIGINS
Kingswood has had a long and varied industrial history. Coal mining and agriculture were widespread, and spanned centuries; coal, for example, was being extracted by the thirteenth century. As the industries of coal-mining and agriculture developed, and perhaps as a response to their increased demand for heavy footwear, a third major industry began to emerge in Kingswood, that of boot and shoe manufacture.
The boot and shoe trade was a later development than either coal-mining or agriculture, but by the late seventeenth century had become a cottage industry carried out by colliers. The Reverend H.T. Ellacombe says in the History of Bitton, published in the nineteenth century, that colliers finished their work at one p.m. and they "washed in hot water. . . and then worked as gardeners, tailors, shoemakers."
In the earlier half of the nineteenth century, Poor Houses were the main employers in the Kingswood area of people involved in the boot making trade, just as they had been important to the pin manufacturing industry in the late eighteenth century. The poor house was also known as a "house of industry".
After the advent of the factory system in Kingswood in the nineteenth century, outworking played a prominent role in boot manufacture. The processes involved meant that some stages were so well suited to a bench in the home, that they continued to be carried out there rather than in the factory.
HEYDAY
During the second half of the nineteenth century, the Kingswood boot and shoe industry flourished. Fussell and Flock are among the first names that appear as major employers locally, around the 1840's and 1850's. It was they who introduced into Kingswood the riveting system for sole attachments. This made possible, in the following decades, the rapid growth of factory production in the area. Up until this time the nature of the work had been restricted to making hobnailed boots.
By 1891 atleast ten notable firms were established in the area, and the trade was at its height around the turn of the century. In its heyday the Kingswood industry competed for work with the industries of Northampton, Leicester and Leeds. So effective was this competition that the Royal Commission on Labour (1892) was told that thirty six firms in the Leeds area had been forced to close down in little over a year. Kingswood goods were cheaper because of the greater dependence upon outworkers who were paid less than factory workers.
DECLINE
By 1922 there were eighty major manufacturers of heavy duty footwear in Kingswood, but the industry was already in decline. The decline happened for a variety of reasons. Demand was reduced by the contraction of mining and farming. Ireland had been an important export market, and trade was severely affected in the mid-1920's when the newly created Irish Free State imposed a levy on goods from the mainland. The industry also suffered from a lack of capital investment which, together with the preponderance of small firms, meant that it was ill prepared to adapt to a market which was beginning to demand lighter footwear.
Although production and demand declined, the numbers of factories remained high. The most significant change came in the 1950's when production was increasingly taken over by the firm of G. B. Britton, which had grown large enough to sustain the expensive plant necessary for survival.
WORK AND THE WORKERS
OUTWORKING
Outworking was carried out in tiny premises, often just a small room attached to the house or a small shed in the garden. Soundwell Road in Kingswood has many of the outhouse type of buildings, now used as garden sheds, that were once used as boot making rooms. The smell of burning leather from outhouses is well remembered.
Outworking had a seasonal nature. The busiest period was from June to December, when whole families worked all night in an effort to return their work to their employers on time. If they were not able to meet their deadlines the work would be given to someone else, or reduced so far that they could not earn a living wage doing it.
In 1960 the Evening Post (Bristol) reported that "Kingswood's snobbing shops were being converted into bathrooms by householders under the Standard Grant Scheme." "Snob" was a local name given to bootmakers, but developed out of an original use of the word, meaning a shoemaker or shoemaker's apprentice (Chamber's Twentieth Century Dictionary).
"What did your grandfather do?"
"A shoemaker for Pratt, Kingswood. They used to have the workshop out in the garden ... 1 used to build up the fire for them with all the shreds of leather from the boots."
"Your brothers who made shoes, some of them did it at home?"
"Yes, they would make'em at home, go over there and get bits and pieces and all that and put it together. A lot of men did do that, it was a shoe factory area."
FACTORY WORK
The conditions of work varied as to whether you were employed as an outworker or in a factory. When the factories began to spring up, towards the close of the nineteenth century, there was little improvement in conditions for employees. Men usually started work around the age of fourteen and continued until forced to stop by age or infirmity. It was very much the survival of the fittest. The hours were long, 6.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. Wages were low.
During the First World War hours were longer. Employees started at 6.00 a.m., worked for an hour and a half, and then had a half hour breakfast break. One hour for lunch was given during which time the worker went home, meals not being provided on the premises, and an afternoon break of thirty minutes was allowed. Work continued until seven or eight at night. In contrast, in the 1930's men were on shortime working, often not able to get more than three days work in a week.
Much of the machinery was dangerous to work and many of the people who worked it sustained injury.
"And there you lost two fingers?"
"There should have been a guard on the machine. 1 didn't get compensation. It was damages, £350. They reckon a man wasn't a boot operator unless he had a finger off..."
WOMEN'S WORK
"Well, most of my sisters worked in the shoe factory."
"Which factory?"
"There was a firm in Kingswood named Pratt, he had a lot of work on, and G.B. Britton."
"What was Kingswood like as regards work for young girls of your age?" "Plenty of boot factories."
"This was where most of them went to work?"
"Yes, up at Moon's and all round places like that. There was one at Hanham Road and then there was one at Soundwell, and there was that Prior's just on top of Warmley Hill."
As this quotation illustrates, many women in Kingswood have been employed in the boot and shoe industry at some time in their lives. The 1871 Census tells us that, after domestic service, the most common female occupation in Kingswood was boot and shoe work. 342 women and only 276 men were recorded as working in the footwear industry, but there were probably many more than this since outwork, particularly that of women, was not always registered by the enumerators.
ASSOCIATED INDUSTRIES
Many other
industries flourished
in the district in association with the boot and shoe trade. The firm of Douglas, renowned
for motor-cycles, once manufactured machinery for the footwear industry. They set up a
foundry in Kingswood in the 1880's and made lasts for the trade. Jacksons also made lasts,
while Dinkie Heels, at one time situated in Downend Road,
Kingswood, and still a thriving local concern, manufactured sole attachments. Lennards, a major distributor of shoes, was established in 1887, their building being in North View,
Staple Hill. Their first shop was in High Street, 1 Bristol and by 1961 they had 200 shops nationwide, thirteen being in Bristol.
TRADE UNIONS
Conditions of work in the Kingswood boot and shoe trade were not always good, but were improved to some degree by the presence of a union for footwear workers, although unionisation was never extensive. The official history of the National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives (N.U.B.S.O.) records that, in 1850, the Association of Cordwainers (another term for shoemakers or workers with leather) had a 'small but turbulent branch at Kingswood.' N.U.B.S.O.,,the forerunner for the current footwear union, was formed in 1874, and struggled to exist and gain recognition by employers. In 1895 Kingswood was involved in a national lock out and union organisation declined.
The union, now known as the National Union of Footwear, Leather and Allied Trades (N.U.F.I.A.T.), has offices in Kingswood today. Above the offices is the Union's meeting room, The Crispin Rooms, named after St Crispin, the Patron Saint of cobblers.
EDUCATION
Soundwell Technical College, which still has a thriving department connected with the footvvear trade, grew out of the demand for technical education from the local boot and shoe industry. In 1901, the Technical lnstruction committee of Gloucestershire County Council began a series of evening classes at Kingswood in bootmaking and pattern cutting. These classes flourished, and before the Second World War were transferred to the Merchant Venturers' College in Bristol. After the War, it was felt that the classes needed to be nearer to the Kingswood factories. In 1944, as the result of a joint initiative by local councillors, representatives of boot and shoe manufacturers and trade unionists, classes were started at the Kingswood Y.M.C.A . These classes were the basis of what was to become the Kingswood Boot and Shoe College. The College soon achieved a national reputation and finally became an integral part of Soundwell Technical College in 1959.
THE BOOT FACTORIES AND FAMILY FIRMS
BUILDINGS
The size of the factories varied immensely. Some were single storey constructions with, typically, north-lit 'saw-toothed' factory roofs. The building that belonged to Alien and Prior, next to Kingswood Library, is a fine example of this. This type of roof allowed the maximum amount of natural light in without the glare of sunshine which could have damaged the quality of the dyed-leather.
Other factories were large and imposing, such as the one which housed the firm of Pratt, situated on the site of what is now Chubb Fire at the bottom of Park Road. Jay's, Joey Crates and Tommy Milsom also had large factories on Church Road, Kingswood.
SOME FAMILY FIRMS
DERHAM BROTHERS
Derham's business was started by James and Samuel Derham in the 1830's or 1840's, and was among the first to make ready-made footwear. The company moved to Soundwell in 1906 after the earlier factory was destroyed by fire. In 1910, the factory was bought by Clifford and Percy Steadman of Steadman and Co. Derham's, like many other employers, got involved in the social side of their employees' lives. Derham's owned allotments in the area for the use of their employees.
BRUCE LEWIS
One of the factories that ceased production in the1950's was that of Bruce Lewis. Originally his factory was located at 53 Downend Road, Kingswood (Gordon Boot Works). During the Second World War his business was housed with the Saunders Brothers at 25 Downend Road. (Many businesses were grouped together during the War so that the empty factories could be used for different types of war work). In 1947 a fire broke out at this factory and half of it was destroyed; however, as the building was insured, Bruce Lewis had sufficient to start up again in Forest Road, Kingswood. He subsequently went into liquidation in the 1950's.
When the British Shoe Corporation came into Kingswood, they took over the building, in Forest Road, that Bruce Lewis had occupied. It was this organisation that took much of the female labour force of Derham Brothers and Pratt when those factories closed down,
SAUNDERS BROTHERS
The firm of Saunders Brothers, whose property Bruce Lewis shared, was begun by Edwin Pearce Saunders. He originally started trading from a small building in Cross Street, Kingswood, but later on moved into Alsop Road. Here he bought several small cottages, had them demolished and erected his factory. He also bought two cottages on Downend Road and had them converted into Kilvie House, now Kilvie Guest House. When his parents died, he took his brothers Tom, Charlie and Harry into the firm, and they remained partners until 1910. Edwin's son Ne!son, joined when Edwin bought out his brothers, who carried on working as paid employees. Edwin worked until his retirement in the l930's. lt was nelson who had the house 'Myrtle Glydd' built and lived there, almost opposite the factory. His sons, Keith and Terry, were the last Saunders Brothers in the firm ' and they ceased production in 1957.
PRATT
A major employer in the heavy boot industry in Kingswood, this firm manufactured an extremely good, high quality agricultural boot. There are still many inhabitants of the Kingswood district who have themselves worked for the firm.
"I went straight into a job within a week, in a boot factory at Kingswood."
"Which one was that?"
"Pratt's in Park Road. 1 was feeding up to a heel attacher, that is, there was a machine with two feet on, swivelled in the centre, and boxes of nails on the side, and you had to sort these nails out, slip them in the holes and then the operator would put the boot on the heel, clamp down the machine and the heel would be attached."
The business was started by Edward Woodhall Pratt in the 1880's. William and Ted Pratt ran it after E.W. Pratt retired. The Pratt family eventually sold out to Derhams, and the factory was demolished in the 1960's.
POW
lssac Pow, 1839-1910 was a manufacturer, and was the first to install permanent machinery in his factory. He was also a member of Kingswood Urban District Council and Chairman of that authority in 1901/2.
"Yes I went in a boot factory .... Pow's, Moravian Road."
"And what did you do there?"
"Powder the uppers before they did go out, so they did slip. Oh yes it was alright at Pow's, 1 got on alright there."
AARON JOHNSON
Aaron Johnson owned the Britannia Boot Works at the junction of Britannia Road and Forest Road. Part of the buildings were destroyed in a fire and he is supposed to have perished with it. He does, however, reputedly still "visit" the factory on occasions!
HOARE AND DOUGLAS
The boot manufacturer business of Hoare and Douglas was originally housed in the out buildings of a property on Whittucks Road, now known as Oakfield Road. An attempt to sell the property, known as 'Hanham House', was made on 2nd November, 1898 at the Jolly Sailor Hotel, Hanham, whilst Hoare and Douglas still had a two and a half year lease on the buildings they were using. The bill of sale for this can be seen in the Reference Section of the Central Lending Library (Bristol). They continued trading in Oakfield Road until acquired by G.B. Britton in 1956.
THE MOON FAMILY
The last family firm in Kingswood was that of Moon. It closed in 1971, Charles Moon and his brother Raymond being the last members of the family to be working. They believed the reason they were able to continue for so long was the fact that the machinery required for their work was owned by them. Most firms rented theirs, and slack periods in working brought about many closures of small factories as they either could not keep up the payment on the rent and the machines were repossessed, or they bankrupted themselves trying to keep up the rent. When Moon's closed there were just six men still working, the youngest being 42and the next eldest 63.The two brothers left in the firm could produce a heavy riveted boot from beginning to end.
F WILTSHIRE
F. Wiltshire's factory was on Church Road in Soundwell, and is now part of Soundwell Technical College. The factory was built in 1913 by Alderman A. Wiltshire, who founded the firm in 1904.
G B BRITTON
G.B. Britton is perhaps one of the most famous firms left in the area. The company was founded in 1875 by Bryant and Britton. in the 1950's they introduced the process of vulcanising the one-piece rubber sole to the leather upper of the shoe, which gave the combination of strength and protection with lightness and flexibility. The process was a great success for them, but for others it tolled the bell of doom. Those firms which would not or could not introduce this system went out of production.
GLOSSARY
Riveting-A process which enabled the sole to be fixed to the upper part of a boot by use of small metal rivets.
Hobnails - large headed heavy nails some varieties of which were round headed and others kidney shaped. They were nailed to the bottoms of boots to preserve the leather by preventing direct contact with the ground.
Outworking - A system whereby local people collected the component parts of boots from a factory and took them to their homes where they "made them up." Theworkwas often carried out in specially constructed workshops in the gardens of the outworkers houses. The finished boots were then returned to the factory and the process repeated.
Uppers - Term used to describe the semi-flexible upper part of a boot before it was attached to the sole.
Last - Foot shaped bootmakers model, usually made of iron, but sometimes of wood, used to support the partly made boot during manufacture or repair.
Vulcanising - The process of hardening rubber by treating with sulphur at high temperature.
© Sylvia Fryer and Kingswood Borough Council
1988
ISBN 0951-0125