As Poor as a Stockinger - Framework knitting and the Luddites in Nottinghamshire

By Christopher Weir

This book highlights the invention of the stocking frame by the Reverend William Lee of Calverton in Nottinghamshire and how it led to the development of the hosiery trade.  It also sets the scene for the first outbreaks of Luddism…

Operating  a stocking frame was complicated business and one page of the book is devoted to the amazing sequence of actions that had to be performed by the frame operator.  It involved both hand and foot movements.  The book is fully illustrated with pictures of ‘frames’ , entries from a parish baptism register with lots of ‘FWKs’ (framework knitters) appearing in the occupation column, an apprenticeship indenture, Luddite reward posters and photographs of the interior of the  Framework Knitters Museum at Ruddington in Nottinghamshire.

Paperback

24 pages

illustrated (B/W)

isbn 0-902751-16-6