2nd March, 2007
Chapel Lane
In the early 19th century the Chapel Lane/Queen Street area of Wigan was a centre for domestic hand weavers.
In 1841 the Fairclough family lived in Chapel Lane. All eight members of the family were weavers. Their ages ranged from Thomas, aged 66 to Joseph, aged only 8.
These pages follow the family's fortunes during the last days of the Wigan hand weavers.
Chapel Lane Area of Wigan 1849
This map shows one of the hand weaving districts of Wigan.
Close inspection shows that there are several mills at this time,
including the notorious Woods Mill (at the west of the map)
and Sovereign Mill (at the east of the map).
Hand Weavers
There had been hand weavers in the Wigan district for centuries. With the advent of factory based power-looms at the end of the 18th century, domestic hand weavers became less essential to the textile industry and their income fell rapidly - some sources state that incomes in 1826 were only 25 per cent of the 1800 levels.
This resulted in great hardship and the number of hand weavers declined rapidly.
The Fairclough Family
Perhaps the Fairclough family survived the drop in income by involving all eight family members in the weaving processes.
The 1841 census lists the family members as:- Thomas. Fairclough, 60
- Thomas 30
- Peter 30
- William 30
- Mary 20
- Charles 15
- James 10
- Joseph 8
(Please note that ages of adults are rounded down in the 1841 census.)
It seems unlikely that their basement contained a loom for every family member. Perhaps they worked in shifts or the younger children helped the adults by setting up looms or loading shuttles.
So did the family continue weaving by hand as the years passed by?
By 1851 Thomas junior, Peter and William had all left the family home. It is difficult to trace them with certainty as Fairclough is a common name in the Wigan district.
The others were still there though - and still weaving.
Even Thomas Senior, now aged 76, was still occupied in this fairly strenuous occupation.
It is interesting to note that the 1841 census lists the family's occupations as simply "weavers" but the 1851 census calls them "handloom weavers". This is because, by this time, there were factory based power-loom weavers in Wigan and it was necessary to distinguish between the two types of workers.
On a personal note, two members of the family were listed for the first time in 1851.
They were Elizabeth, wife of Thomas, aged 56, born in Longton, Staffordshire:
and Maria, aged only 3, said to be the daughter of Thomas.
- Why was Elizabeth not mentioned in 1841? Was she simply somewhere else at the time or did Thomas remarry between 1841 and 1851?
- Did Thomas aged 76, really have a 3 year old daughter?
Elizabeth, aged 56, was certainly not the mother.
The second question is answered later.