Annual General Meeting followed by
Framework Knitting South of the River
March 2006 Meeting Report
by Jack Smurfitt
This was a well-attended meeting. Bob Hammond, retiring Chairman, presented his report on year for the Society whose vitality was reflected not only in well-attended meetings but also in the active involvement of many members in such projects as the digitisation of census data and the Tollerton Airfield research.
The AGM was followed by
Jack Smirfitt - Framework Knitting South of the River
Jack Smirfitt, Honorary Curator of Ruddington Framework Knitters’ Museum, is no stranger to our Society. His wide-ranging talk presented a background to the rise and decline of the framework knitting industry in our area.
He spoke with characteristic humorous scepticism about the legend of the Rev William Lee of Calverton, who supposedly invented the knitting frame so that his fiancée would have more time to pay attention to him. He then related the more authentic history of Queen Elizabeth’s negative response to his invention and his taking it to France. In the seventeenth century, the machine did establish itself back in Lee’s native country.
Jack described and illustrated some of the key technical advances which eventually led to Lee’s machine evolving into the sophisticated knitting machines in use today. He also explained how framework knitting became concentrated in the East Midlands, more than 90% of the industry being located here by the mid 19th century. He related this in part to social and economic conditions - in particular, the impact of enclosure and changing farming practices on a hitherto largely agricultural population for whom framework knitting presented itself as a welcome alternative means of subsistence. He pointed out, too, how changing sartorial fashion affected the industry - for example, how the radical 19th century change in men’s fashion to trousers meant that stockings ceased to be an important feature of men’s dress. He showed how by the end of the 19th century framework knitting was in serious decline, although it did linger on into the mid-20th century.