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“Mad as a hatter" is a colloquial phrase used in conversation to refer to a crazy person. In 18th and 19th century England mercury was used in the production of felt, which was used in the manufacturing of hats common of the time. People who worked in these hat factories were exposed daily to trace amounts of the metal, which accumulated within their bodies over time, causing some workers to develop dementia caused by mercury poisoning (called hatter syndrome). Mercury was also placed in the linings of hats at the time for comfort. So people who wore the hats for long periods would also absorb the mercury and develop the symptoms. Thus, the phrase became popular as a way to refer to someone who was perceived as insane.
From the 17th century feltmakers made hat bodies quietly, without machines in a small extra workroom often with a sloping roof, behind their cottage. A workroom still exists at Watley’s End, Winterbourne.
Early hats were felted from wool, supplemented in the seventeenth century, for those whose clients included the fashion-conscious and well-heeled, by beaver and other exotic furs. It was only in the latter part of the eighteenth century, as beaver supplies declined and the rabbit population exploded, that rabbit fur became a necessary and feasible alternative. The middle-market feltmakers needed to broaden their skills by learning how to layer rabbit fur over wool or under precious beaver in such a way that they were strongly combined and the hats did not come apart in everyday wear or, more particularly, in the rain.
Journeyman feltmakers never handled dead animals. At the beginning of the rabbit part of the feltmaker’s supply chain were the warreners who passed their skins to the furriers or the itinerant curriers. There was no concept of casual rabbit catching; each hatter needed a steady supply of good quality fur coming from thousands of animals, between two and four animals to a hat depending on style and quality. While the major cull took place in mid-winter when rabbit fur was in its prime, access was needed to a year-long supply. In country districts, particularly, the killing and various uses of the dead animal were managed by one man and his team of fur cutters with contracts to butchers and hat making operations.
A good example of this organised work combination is found in 1851 at the Talbot Inn in Gloucester’s Southgate Street. Lodgers included five curriers on the tramp (from Ayrshire, Herefordshire, Salop, Staffordshire and Berkshire), a Gloucestershire butcher, and furrier Isaac Howes from Staple Hill in Bristol. Another group of Winterbourne furriers, led by hatter Silas Maggs, are found at the Westgate Street Beerhouse, Gloucester, ten years later, suggesting this was a regular affair.
At the time of the beaver’s decline, the Howes were the warreners for, at least, South Gloucestershire’s two major hatting warrens at Siston and Cloister’s at Watley’s End. The rise of the use of rabbit fur for feltmaking in Watley’s End dates from about 1805. From then, the Howes family were also the pre-eminent hatting furriers with a stranglehold on the trade through operations in each of the major manufacturing centres. In an unusual example of vertical integration in the hatting industry, the Howes opened butcher shops and ran several pubs, often combined with part-time furrier work, and positioned to take advantage of the feltmakers’ notorious thirst. Through George Howes at Watley’s End, the family moved into hatting proper, taking over the local brewery on the way In the 1860s, two of his sons transferred their manufactory to Bristol to take advantage of their supplier relationship with Charles Garlick’s flourishing emporium, in the process taking many hatting relatives with them. By 1890, completely against the national trend of decline in the industry, Howes Brothers were the city’s greatest ever hat firm with a staff of over 400, exporting more than half a million felt hats a year. A few years earlier, the pre-eminent London-based felt hat manufacturers, Christy & Co, stripped Watley's End of all of its fur handling skills, provided mainly by the Howes and Maggs families, by offering them work at their Stockport, Cheshire, factory.
From the 17th century feltmakers made hat bodies quietly, without machines in a small extra workroom often with a sloping roof, behind their cottage. A workroom still exists at Watley’s End, Winterbourne.
Early hats were felted from wool, supplemented in the seventeenth century, for those whose clients included the fashion-conscious and well-heeled, by beaver and other exotic furs. It was only in the latter part of the eighteenth century, as beaver supplies declined and the rabbit population exploded, that rabbit fur became a necessary and feasible alternative. The middle-market feltmakers needed to broaden their skills by learning how to layer rabbit fur over wool or under precious beaver in such a way that they were strongly combined and the hats did not come apart in everyday wear or, more particularly, in the rain.
Journeyman feltmakers never handled dead animals. At the beginning of the rabbit part of the feltmaker’s supply chain were the warreners who passed their skins to the furriers or the itinerant curriers. There was no concept of casual rabbit catching; each hatter needed a steady supply of good quality fur coming from thousands of animals, between two and four animals to a hat depending on style and quality. While the major cull took place in mid-winter when rabbit fur was in its prime, access was needed to a year-long supply. In country districts, particularly, the killing and various uses of the dead animal were managed by one man and his team of fur cutters with contracts to butchers and hat making operations.
A good example of this organised work combination is found in 1851 at the Talbot Inn in Gloucester’s Southgate Street. Lodgers included five curriers on the tramp (from Ayrshire, Herefordshire, Salop, Staffordshire and Berkshire), a Gloucestershire butcher, and furrier Isaac Howes from Staple Hill in Bristol. Another group of Winterbourne furriers, led by hatter Silas Maggs, are found at the Westgate Street Beerhouse, Gloucester, ten years later, suggesting this was a regular affair.
At the time of the beaver’s decline, the Howes were the warreners for, at least, South Gloucestershire’s two major hatting warrens at Siston and Cloister’s at Watley’s End. The rise of the use of rabbit fur for feltmaking in Watley’s End dates from about 1805. From then, the Howes family were also the pre-eminent hatting furriers with a stranglehold on the trade through operations in each of the major manufacturing centres. In an unusual example of vertical integration in the hatting industry, the Howes opened butcher shops and ran several pubs, often combined with part-time furrier work, and positioned to take advantage of the feltmakers’ notorious thirst. Through George Howes at Watley’s End, the family moved into hatting proper, taking over the local brewery on the way In the 1860s, two of his sons transferred their manufactory to Bristol to take advantage of their supplier relationship with Charles Garlick’s flourishing emporium, in the process taking many hatting relatives with them. By 1890, completely against the national trend of decline in the industry, Howes Brothers were the city’s greatest ever hat firm with a staff of over 400, exporting more than half a million felt hats a year. A few years earlier, the pre-eminent London-based felt hat manufacturers, Christy & Co, stripped Watley's End of all of its fur handling skills, provided mainly by the Howes and Maggs families, by offering them work at their Stockport, Cheshire, factory.
The door to a workroom which still exists at Watley's End, Winterbourne.
Hatting facts
Hatting began in 1540 in Winterbourne however records only exist from the 1640's.
Hatters were mostly Methodists - Howes family used Salem Chapel in Winterbourne and Whitfield Tabernacle.
Single men were sent 'Tramping' - moving from town to town to do hatting work.
The most important sites in Gloucestershire were Watley's End Winterbourne, Frampton Cotterell and Oldland Common. There were Howes businesses on all three sites.
There were 6 major hatter's strikes between 1820 and 1834
Christy's hat manufacturers never forgave the Frampton Cotterell hatters for being the last standing out on strike. To get revenge they moved their business to Stockport leaving many men out of work in Frampton Cotterell and Winterbourne.
In 1841 there were 200 hatters in Frampton Cotterell, Winterbourne and Oldland common.
By 1891 there were none.
Hatters were mostly Methodists - Howes family used Salem Chapel in Winterbourne and Whitfield Tabernacle.
Single men were sent 'Tramping' - moving from town to town to do hatting work.
The most important sites in Gloucestershire were Watley's End Winterbourne, Frampton Cotterell and Oldland Common. There were Howes businesses on all three sites.
There were 6 major hatter's strikes between 1820 and 1834
Christy's hat manufacturers never forgave the Frampton Cotterell hatters for being the last standing out on strike. To get revenge they moved their business to Stockport leaving many men out of work in Frampton Cotterell and Winterbourne.
In 1841 there were 200 hatters in Frampton Cotterell, Winterbourne and Oldland common.
By 1891 there were none.