245 pages

English

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Mill Girls and Strangers , livre ebook

State University of New York Press - Wendy M. Gordon

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

245 pages

English

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

In the nineteenth-century mill towns of Preston, England; Lowell, Massachusetts; and Paisley, Scotland, there were specific demands for migrant and female labor, and potential employers provided the necessary respectable conditions in order to attract them. Using individual accounts, this innovative and comparative study examines the migrants' lives by addressing their reasons for migration, their relationship to their families, the roles they played in the cities to which they moved, and the dangers they met as a result of their youth, gender, and separation from family. Gordon details both the similarities and differences in the women's migration experiences, and somewhat surprisingly concludes that they became financially independent, rather than primarily contributors to a family economy.
List of Figures

Acknowledgments

1. Transitions in the City: Independent Female Migration, 18501881

Single Female Migrants in Historical Perspectives

2. Preston: The Unseen Migrants

Migrants and Domestic Service in Preston
The Migrants' Economy

3. Lowell: The Mill Girls

Migrants and the Textile Industry in Lowell
The Migrants' Society
A Desire to See the City
The Migrants' Independence

4. Paisley: The Strangers and the Maids

Migrants and Domestic Service in Paisley
Migrants and Bleaching in Paisley
Accommodating Independent Migrants
The Migrants' Economy
To Prosecute Her Claim
Personal Migration Patterns
Migrants at Risk

5. Comparisons: The Migrants Beside Themselves

Appendix: The Statistical Methodology

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

19th century

Informations

Publié par	State University of New York Press
Date de parution	01 février 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780791487822
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	5 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,1648€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

MILL GIRLS AND STRANGERS

This page intentionally left blank.

MILLGIRLS ANDSTRANGERS

Single Women’s Independent Migration in England, Scotland, and the United States

1850–1881

Wendy M. Gordon

State University of New York Press

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY, 12207

Production by Diane Ganeles Marketing by Jennifer Giovani

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gordon, Wendy M., 1967– Mill Girls and strangers: single women’s independent migration in England, Scotland, and the United States, 1850–1881 / Wendy M. Gordon. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-5525-4 (alk. paper) – ISBN 0-7914-5526-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Women textile workers—England—Preston (Lancashire)— History—19th century. 2. Women textile workers—Scotland—Paisley— History—19th century. 3. Women textile workers—Massachusetts— Lowell—History—19th century. 4. Women migrant labor— England—Preston (Lancashire)—History—19th century. 5. Women migrant labor—Employment—Scotland—Paisley—History—19th century. 6. Women migrant labor—Massachusetts—Lowell—History— 19th century. I. Title.

HD6073.T42 G692 2002 305.43677—dc21

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2002021816

List of Figures

Acknowledgments

Contents

Chapter 1. Transitions in the City: Independent Female Migration, 1850–1881 Single Female Migrants in Historical Perspectives

Chapter 2. Preston: The Unseen Migrants Migrants and Domestic Service in Preston The Migrants’ Economy

Chapter 3. Lowell: The Mill Girls Migrants and the Textile Industry in Lowell The Migrants’ Society A Desire to See the City The Migrants’ Independence

Chapter 4. Paisley: The Strangers and the Maids Migrants and Domestic Service in Paisley Migrants and Bleaching in Paisley Accommodating Independent Migrants The Migrants’ Economy To Prosecute Her Claim Personal Migration Patterns Migrants at Risk Chapter 5. Comparisons: The Migrants Beside Themselves Appendix: The Statistical Methodology Notes Bibliography Index

vii ix

1 14 19 41 49 57 78 85 91 96 101 119 122 127 131 136 140 144

155 167 171 213 231

This page intentionally left blank.

Figures

1.1. Percentage of Migrants in Total Populations: Preston, Lowell, and Paisley, 1850–1881 1.2. Single Female Migrants as Proportion of the Total Migrant Population: Preston, Lowell, and Paisley, 1850–1881 2.1a. Map of England and Wales Showing County Boundaries 2.1b. Map of England and Wales with Places Mentioned in the Text 2.2. Recent Independent Migrants in the Single Population: Preston, 1851–1881 2.3. Volume of Recent Independent Migrants: Preston, 1851–1881 2.4. Origin of Single Female Migrants to Preston, 1851 2.5. Origin of Single Female Migrants to Preston, 1861 2.6. Origin of Single Female Migrants to Preston, 1871 2.7. Origin of Single Female Migrants to Preston, 1881 2.8. Single Women’s Occupations by Place of Birth: Preston, 1851–1881 2.9. Single Women’s Relationship to Head of Household: Preston, 1851–1881 2.10. Domestic Servants’ Wages as Reported in Preston Guardian, 1857–1880 3.1a. Map of New England and New York Showing State Borders 3.1b. Map of New England and New York with Places Mentioned in the Text 3.2. Recent Independent Migrants in the Single Population: Lowell, 1850–1880 3.3. Volume of Recent Independent Migrants: Lowell, 1850–1880

vii

27 30 31 32 33

viii

3.4.

3.5.

3.6. 3.7. 3.8. 3.9. 3.10. 4.1a. 4.1b.

4.2.

4.3.

4.4. 4.5. 4.6. 4.7. 4.8.

4.9.

4.10.

4.11.

Figures

Single Women’s Occupations by Place of Birth: Lowell, 1860–1880 Type of Housing Chosen by Independent Single Women: Lowell, 1850–1880 Origin of Single Female Migrants to Lowell, 1850 Origin of Single Female Migrants to Lowell, 1860 Origin of Single Female Migrants to Lowell, 1865 Origin of Single Female Migrants to Lowell, 1870 Origin of Single Female Migrants to Lowell, 1880 Map of Scotland Showing County Boundaries Map of Central Scotland with Places Mentioned in the Text Recent Independent Migrants in the Single Population: Paisley, 1851–1881 Volume of Independent Migrants to Paisley, 1851–1881 Origin of Single Female Migrants to Paisley, 1851 Origin of Single Female Migrants to Paisley, 1861 Origin of Single Female Migrants to Paisley, 1871 Origin of Single Female Migrants to Paisley, 1887 Single Women’s Occupations by Place of Birth: Paisley, 1851–1881 Birthplaces of Womanhouse Residents: Paisley, 1851 and 1881 Independent Single Women’s Relationship to Head of Household: Paisley, 1851–1881 Bleachers’ Yearly Expenses (Estimated), c. 1843

71 72 73 74 75 76 104

105

108

109 111 112 113 114

116

126

129 133

Acknowledgments

Completing this project would not have been possible without the support and advice of colleagues, friends, and helpful strangers on both sides of the Atlantic, for whom mention here is far too little recognition. The committee that oversawMill Girls’s ﬁrst incarna-tion as a Doctoral Dissertation, Dr. Carol Green-Devens, Professor T. M. Devine, Dr. James Schmiechen, Dean Susan Conner, and Dr. Leslie Page Moch brought their wildly different specialties to bear in suggestions and critiques that vastly improved the ﬁnal product. Leslie Page Moch did additional service in reading and commenting on the book manuscript, and deserves particular thanks for suggesting many alternatives to the wordmigrant. My classmates in the Central Michigan University/University of Strathclyde joint Ph.D. program, Carrie Hoefferle, Susan Pyecroft, and Ruth Mills provided invaluable support, sympathy, advice, and judicious amounts of beer at crucial moments. My colleagues at Plattsburgh State University have since rendered many of the same services. Annette Davis, Jo Milne, and Margaret Hastie all helped to smooth the wheels of bureaucracy. Michael Anderson, Thomas Dublin, and Geoffrey Timmins responded graciously to my requests for help. Emma Currie, Lynn Hepburn, and Michael Stephenson all had roles in creating the many maps; Peter Friesen helped with the lovely graphs. Everywhere I went I encountered helpful archivists and library staffs. In the United States, the volunteers at the Mount Pleasant Michigan LDS Family History Center welcomed me into their ranks, and the staff at the Baker Library, Lowell National Historic Park and Martha Mayo at the Center for Lowell History made it possible for me to get the maximum amount of information in the shortest possible time. Nancy Reinhardt at Colby College was terri-bly understanding of my illogical need to see and handle original documents. In England, the staffs at the Lancashire Record Ofﬁce