Cutler, Ann (1759–1794), hand-loom weaver and Methodist evangelist, was born in Thornley, near Longridge, in the parish of Chipping, Lancashire; nothing is known of her parents. After living a strict, moral life she was converted in 1785 by the revivalist Wesleyan William Bramwell...
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Devine [née Blackley], Rachel (1875–1960), weaver and trade unionist, was born on 13 February 1875 at Dudhope Crescent, Dundee, the daughter of John Blackley, yarn dresser, and his wife, Rachel McClellan. She became a weaver, and married John Devine, a cabinet-maker.
Active as a trade unionist, ...
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John Duncan (1794–1881) by unknown engraver, c. 1865–6 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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Duncan, John (1794–1881), hand-loom weaver and botanist, was born on 19 December 1794 at Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, the illegitimate son of John Duncan, weaver and soldier, from Drumlithie, and Ann Caird (c.1773–c.1830), also of Drumlithie, who decided to support herself and her child by weaving stockings and harvesting at nearby ...
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Grimshaw, Mortimer (bap. 1826, d. 1869), cotton weaver and labour leader, was born into a working-class family in or near Great Harwood in north-east Lancashire, and was baptized at Church Kirk, Lancashire, on 21 May 1826, the son of Thomas Grimshaw of Rishton, Lancashire...
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V. E. Chancellor
Gutteridge, Joseph (1816–1899), silk weaver and naturalist, was born on 23 March 1816 in Coventry, the eldest of the three sons of Joseph Gutteridge, a recruiting sergeant, and his first wife, Sarah Shaw. Educated from 1821 in two schools, run by a Quaker woman and Wesleyan preacher respectively, he then went to ...
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Horsefield, John (1792–1854), botanist and weaver, was born on 18 July 1792, probably at Besses o' th' Barn, near Prestwich, Lancashire, the eldest son of Charles Horsefield (b. 1764). Born 'dead', according to his mother, he was restored to life by a medical attendant but remained a sickly child unable to tolerate the staple ...
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Christopher A. Whatley
Johnston, Ellen (c. 1835–1874
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Bridget Keegan
Law, Samuel (fl. 1772–1783), poet and weaver, is of unknown origins. The title-page to his single publication, A domestic winter-piece: a poem, exhibiting a full view of the author's dwelling place in the winter-season. In two parts. Interspersed with a great variety of entertaining reflections...
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Clare Browne
Lekeux, Peter (1648–1723), master weaver, was born in Canterbury, Kent, the third son of John Lekeux, weaver, and Antoine Le Quien. The Lekeux were a well-established family of weavers, who had first gone to Canterbury as Huguenot refugees in the late sixteenth century. ...
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Martin, John (1783–1855), botanist and hand-loom weaver, was born on 17 November 1783 in Tyldesley, Lancashire, the son of a poor shopkeeper and farmer. He lived with his parents, of whom little is known, until about 1802, during which time he received some schooling and began weaving. When he was fifteen he became intensely religious, advocating voluntary poverty. None the less, when his father began losing property to creditors, ...
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Mealmaker, George (1768–1808), weaver and radical, was born on 10 February 1768, the son of John Mealmaker, weaver, of the Seagate, Dundee, and Alison Auchinleck. Of Mealmaker's early life and education there is no direct information. Similarly, it is possible only to speculate about the sources of his political radicalism. A description of him from 1793 as '...
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Millhouse, Robert (1788–1839), weaver and poet, was born on 14 (or 17) October 1788, at Nottingham, the second of ten children of John Millhouse and his wife, Ann, née Burbage. His only education was obtained at a Sunday school, and by the age of ten he worked at a stocking loom and sang in the choir of ...
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John A. Hargreaves
Rushton, Benjamin (1785–1853), hand-loom weaver and radical agitator, was born at Dewsbury in Yorkshire, but later moved to Halifax, where he found employment as a fancy-worsted weaver, residing at Friendly Fold in the village of Ovenden. He married Mary Helliwell (b. 1786)...
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Anita McConnell
Sabatier, John (1712/13–1780), silk weaver, was baptized Jean Sabatier, the son of Jean Sabatier (d. 1745), a silk weaver. His exact date and place of birth are unknown; the family arrived in England as Huguenot refugees and settled in the district of ...
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Anita McConnell
Six, James (1730–1793), silk weaver and natural philosopher, was born in Canterbury, Kent, on 30 January 1730, and baptized there in the Walloon church on 26 February. He was the son of James Six (1695–1743) and his wife, Ester, daughter of Louis Ducaufour...
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Anna Violet Thurstan (1879–1978) by unknown photographer by kind permission of the Hypatia Trust
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Melissa Hardie-Budden
Thurstan, Anna Violet [Violetta] (1879–1978), nurse and weaver, was born at Claremont, Ore, Sussex, on 4 February 1879, the eldest child and only daughter of Edward Paget Thurstan (1851–1941), surgeon, and his wife, Anna, née Reid (b. 1851). Her grandfather was Joseph Thurstan (...
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David Hill Radcliffe
Wright, John (1805–c. 1846), weaver and poet, was born on 1 September 1805 in the parish of Sorn, Ayrshire, the son of James Wright of Galston, coal-driver, and Grizzle Taylor (d. 1842). John, the fourth of seven children, grew up in ...
