Lace and Bobbin making
Lace Making
In the latter part of the 19th century lace-making in Deanshanger was a thriving cottage industry, undertaken by women and girls mainly to supplement men’s earnings. The 1851 census lists no less than 37 lace makers. By the end of the century the competition from cheaper machine-made lace resulted in economic hardship for many villagers as the industry declined and skills were lost as young girls were expected to attend school under the 1870 Elementary Education Act.
Bobbin Making
Wood turning is listed in various Kelly’s Directories in the 19th Century, but there is no direct mention of bobbin making. However Deanshanger can boast two famous craftsmen, who spanned the greater part of the 19th century, Jesse Compton and his son James. The quality of their distinctive trait of spiral inscriptions along the bobbin’s body was rarely matched by other makers and their combined output was prolific and examples of their work have ended up in Museums, notably Bedford, Luton, Aylesbury & Northampton.
Jesse Compton, son of a farmer, was born in Wiltshire in 1793. In 1817,aged 24, he moved to Lincolnshire but did not find fortune and was escorted out of the County as a vagrant. He finally ended up at Hanslope and then where he met and married Catherine and moved to Deanshanger where he undertook work as a hawker and a labourer. It is not until 1838 that Jesse lists himself as a bobbin maker on his 5th child’s baptism certificate in the local records.
His bobbins are of a delicate and intricate style bearing inscriptions mostly of every day mottoes often spiralling around the length of the body. He also decorated them with insets of good quality pewter; sadly not many bobbins have pewter remains intact. He was a prolific bobbin maker and began making high quality bobbins of wood and bone in the 1820s. Lace was at its most popular during the 1830s and 40s, thus Jesse was able to earn a sustainable income from his work. Jesse died 14th January 1857 and had declared himself as a turner in his will, written in 1849.
James Compton, born in 1824, was the eldest son of Jesse and Catherine’s six children. Unlike his father James declared himself a turner and bobbin maker throughout his working life. He married Elizabeth Andrews on 26th December 1845 and they went on to have six children.
James, taught by his father, made bobbins in a similar creative style to Jesse’s but his were larger and had thicker bodies, no doubt in response to the trend of lace being made using thicker threads. However he went on develop his own distinctive designs with many of his bobbins also bearing inscriptions but mainly for those commissioned to commemorate family events and special occasions. His market was the many lace makers in the Buckingham area and he regularly walked to the town to sell his bobbins. It’s reported that as a wager James once drank a pint of beer in The Beehive and then walked to Buckingham and drank his second pint, all in the space of one hour.
Further reading with information and images of bobbins “Success to the Lace Pillow” by Christine & David Springett
ISBN 0 9517157 5 5