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Gloucesters Main Employer |
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By 1632 Tilsley employed more than 80 "boys and wenches" and he had made a considerable fortune out of pin making. The industry in Gloucester continued to grow and by 1735 pinmaking was described as "the chief manufacture of the city". By 1802 there were 9 factories employing 1500 people and exporting pins to North America and Spain. |
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The success of pinmaking in Gloucester was based on the supply of brass wire from Bristol, the relatively large urban population to provide the workforce (Gloucester had a population of 7,579 in 1801) and good water transport. The pinmaking trade did not require special buildings because it was carried out by hand. The upper floors of buildings were often used, or simply outhouses and ordinary living rooms. In the late eighteenth century more and more work was 'put out' to people working in their own homes.
Gloucester Made > Pin Making > Gloucester's Main Employer