The

Domestic
System
 The Domestic System

http://library.thinkquest.org/C005121/data/britain2_files/image008.jpg
 The Domestic System
• In 1750, most people lived and worked in the
countryside.
• They worked as producers of woollen cloth.
• They cleaned, combed, spun, dyed and wove the
raw material into cloth.
• They did this work in their own houses on a small
scale combined with farming.
• The raw wool was delivered to the cottages.
• The finished product was collected from the
cottages.
• This type of production has become known as
Domestic (or Cottage) Industry.
 Businessmen

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Texclothier.jpg
 Businessmen
• They were known as clothiers or
cloth merchants.
• They organised production. So, their
job was to:
➢bring the raw material to the cottage
➢and take away the finished cloth to sell
at the cloth hall.
 In the cottages
• Entire families worked in their cottages
producing cloth with only simple tools
and machines.
• Everyone who could see and who had
nimble fingers played a part.
• Work was usually divided up between
the members of one family:
➢Women usually did the spinning.
➢Men did the weaving.
 Jobs at home
• Spinners

• Weavers
Jobs at home: Spinners

http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=95658&rendTypeId=4
 Jobs at home
• Spinners
➢ were women and girls.
➢ were responsible for:
✓ cleaning the sheep fleeces,
✓ carding the wool
✓ and spinning it.
➢ were also known as spinsters (=unmarried
women) because the job was frequently done by young girls.
➢ used the spinning wheel to do the spinning.
➢ Their finished product was called yarn.
Jobs at home: Weavers

http://eiu.edu/~cfnek/gifsplus/moll/prentices.jpg
 Jobs at home
• Weavers
➢ were men.
➢ weaved the woollen thread into cloth.
➢ used a handloom.
➢ The weaving was hard manual work and usually
left to the men folk.

• About seven or eight spinners were needed

for one weaver.
Machines at home

The
spinning
wheel
 Machines at home
• The spinning wheel:
➢was often to be found on a ground
floor with large windows.
➢was worked by hand movements.
➢was in the same room where food
was cooked.
 Machines at home

The
handloom

http://nzphoto.tripod.com/avillagelife/w eave/weaver_images/loom.jpg
 Machines at home
• The handloom:
➢ was often to be found on an
upper floor with large windows.
➢was worked by both hand and
foot movements.
 Advantages of the
domestic system
• Workers could still look after their children.
• They did not have to travel any distance to work.
• They could also perhaps grow food or keep
livestock on a small holding.
• They could work at their own speed and rested
when they needed to.
• Windows allowed for light and ventilation.
 Disadvantages of the
domestic system
• People had to work very long hours to make a
living often in small, cramped spaces.
• The production was very slow.
• The finished product was not enough.
 Bibliography
• Photos taken from internet:
➢ http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=95658&rendTypeId=4
➢ http://eiu.edu/~cfnek/gifsplus/moll/prentices.jpg
➢ http://library.thinkquest.org/C005121/data/britain2_files/image008.jpg
➢ http://nzphoto.tripod.com/avillagelife/weave/weaver_images/loom.jpg
➢ http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Texclothier.jpg

• Photos taken by Maria del Roser Pujadas Jubany

➢ City Chambers, Glasgow: slide 9
➢ Spinning wheel, Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow: slide 12

• Text adapted from:

➢ http://www.cottontown.org./page.cfm?pageid=338
➢ http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~todmordenandwalsden/cottageindustry.htm
➢ http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/domestic_system.html
➢ http://www.saburchill.com/history/chapters/IR/008.html
➢ SMITH, Nigel: The Industrial Revolution, Serie Events and Outcomes, Evans, 2002,
page 10.

Maria del Roser Pujadas Jubany Llicència C 2006-2007