Friday 30th November, 2007
William Dodd
William Dodd travelled through the area to collect information about the treatment of children in textile factories. In 1841 he visited Wigan. The following year he published the results of his findings in a publication entitled "The Factory System".
Here are a few extracts:
"Since I reached this town, I have been pursuing my usual inquiries as to the state of trade, the condition of the inhabitants, etc. The first answers to my queries furnished me with so melancholy a view of things, that I at once set them down for exaggerated statements, and determined to examine for myself."
"I confess that, so far from the statement I had heard exceeding, it fell far short of the truth. I do not remember, in the whole course of my existence, ever to have seen so much misery and wretchedness, in such a small compass before."
"These streets were unsewered, unpaved; every few yards a pool of stagnant water, and heaps of accumulated filth of every description."
"The smell pervading these streets and houses was most noxious and sickening."
Bleak Picture
This is an extremely bleak picture of the town. It was supplemented by case studies of miners and textile workers who had been injured or crippled by their occupations and therefore, were either unable to earn a living, or forced to work in menial tasks such as "gathering manure in the streets".
His view of Wigan was very different from that of Celia Fiennes who had visited the town 150 years earlier.
Were things really so bad in 1841? Had Wigan deteriorated so much in that time?
Eight years after Dodd's visit, a report of the General Board of Health damned Wigan in much the same terms. It does seem, therefore, that many poor housing areas of the town were in a terrible state. Wigan's population was rapidly growing. People moved from rural areas into the town to escape from the decline in agricultural jobs and take advantage of new opportunities in the mining and textile industries.
However, the respective motives behind Celia Fiennes' and William Dodd's writings must be looked at very carefully. Celia Fiennes was a fine lady who travelled from one grand house to another. It would not have occurred to her to visit a poor area of a town, and therefore she describes none.
On the other hand, William Dodd had risen from humble beginnings as a factory worker. He was crippled by the arduous nature of his job and became known as the "factory cripple". When his handicap became so severe that he could no longer work, he went to night classes to learn to read and write.
After sending an account of his early life to Lord Ashley he was commissioned by him to collect information about the treatment of children in the textile industry. He had no reason to look at wealthy houses.
Summary
There is no doubt that the character of Wigan changed considerably between 1698 and 1842 with the advent of the industrial revolution. But the two commentators were looking at the town from different points of view. Celia Fiennes was a tourist: William Dodd believed he was commissioned to expose the squalor of the lives of the "underclass"(Dodd's term).
Wigan would have contained an "underclass" in 1698, but Celia Fiennes would have chosen to ignore it.
There were many fine properties in Wigan in 1841 but Dodd had no brief to view them.