WOOLLEN - where is it?

Published in The Welsh Connection - January 2004 #50

My forebears were buried in Woollen .................. where can I find Woollen?

A common question for genealogists!
About Woollen
An act was passed in 1667 and 1678.
"No corps should be burying in anything other than what is made of sheep's wool
only; or put into any coffin lined or faced with any material but sheep's wool, on
pain of forteiture of 5." With the exception of those who died from the Plague."
By 1814 the Acts were repealed.
In addition an affidavit to that effect was required not later than 8 days after the
burial.
Lanatus - clothed in wool; buried in woollen.
Naked - this was a note made in the burial register when the body was unshrouded
and the coffin was unlined. This was often the case with the poor who could not
afford the fine for burying the dead in anything other than wool.
The European textile markets depended upon the supply of raw wool. In Britain
this was a cottage industry, sheep farmers and cottagers each doing their small
part. The importance of wool is reflected in the presence of the Woolsack upon
which the Lord Chancellor in Parliament sits. It was introduced by King Edward
III, 1327-77 and was stuffed with English wool as a reminder of England's
traditional source of wealth - the wool trade.
A rise in the price of wool in the sixteenth century, became important, as sheep
were well suited to the pasture of Welsh hillsides. Welsh woollen cloth was
regarded as coarse and inferior, a reflection of a cottage-based industry. But
English cloth merchants attended Welsh fairs for the purchase of wool and cloth
which they conveyed to English centres for further working.

Many of the bigger homesteads had their looms and weaving sheds, whilst the
poorest cottage had hand-cards and spinning wheel. Women learnt to knit ' as soon
as they could talk", and finished a whole stocking a day. According to one
authority: "Every pennyworth of wool was converted into a shilling". As much as
half-a-guinea was paid for a pair of hose made from the soft wool of
Merionethshire. Factories were set up in such towns as Dolgelley in the valley of
Mawddach, and Machynlleth and Llanbrynmair in the vale of Dovey. The industry
was located in areas where water-power could be harnessed and between 1800 and
1830, many spinning and weaving factories were established, particularly in the
Severn valley, an area which was linked with canal system of the kingdom in
1821.
The Welsh economy was profiting increasingly from maritime trade with the rest
of the world. Instead of transporting the wool to England, flannel and other
woollen goods were exported from the ports of Wales, largely to America. There,
they were used to clothe soldiers and slaves. Successive monarchs taxed the wool
trade, especially when they had special need for added revenue, such as in times of
ware. In 1340, 30,000 sacks of wool were granted to King Edward III to support
the French war.
Wool was made up into bales and half-bales, a full bale consisting of 110 yards.
The warp of the product was made of the fleece wool of the country, and the woof,
was mixture of the same material with from 30% to 50% of lamb's wool. It was
made entirely on handlooms. As a rule, the clip was sold in its rough unbleached
state, and sent elsewhere for bleaching and fulling. About 1780, fulling-mills were
established in the neighbourhood - which accounts for the presence of so many
'pandys' in the vicinity, and it became customary to hand the products for bleaching
on wooden trellises or 'tenters' as they were called, which were a common feature
of the countryside.
Sources:
The History of Wales, J. Graham Jones
Brief Glory - The Story of a Quest, D.W. Morgan
A History of Wales, John Davies
The Story of Two parishes, Dolgelley & Llanelltyd, T.P. Ellis
http://www.rothbury.com
http://www.somersetlarders.com
http://footguards.tripod.com/06ARTICLES/ART31_woolindustry.htm
Woollen Family Names
Family names which have come through participation in the wool trade.

Shepherd - tended the sheep

Pack / Packer / Packman and Lane / Laney / Lanier - transported the fleeces
Stapler / Staples - bought the raw wool
Card / Carder, Tozer / Towzer, Kemp / Kemper / Kempster (= combe) combed the
wool
Dyer, Littester / Lister - dyed the wool
Webb Webber / Webster (German:Weber) - wove the fabric
Fuller, Tuck / Tucker / Tuckerman - fulled the fabric to create a nap
Shears, Sharman / Shearman - used shears to remove the nap from woollen cloth to
produce finer qualities of fabric
Clothier, Draper - prepared the woollen cloth and sold it to the tailors
Taylor. Cutter - made the wool into garments.
There are also place names based on wool that have become family names"
Woolley, Wolsey
Shipley, Shepley
Sheppey, Shepperton
Shefford / Shifford
Shipton, Shepton - (sheep-lead, sheep-town)
1811 Woollen Occupations
Holdens Directory 1811, some references to occupations related to the woollen
industry.
Bridgend - a Woollen manufacturory establishment here..........
Builth - Thomas WOOSTNAM - skinner and woolstapler
Caerphilly, Glamorgan - The principal manufactories are woollen and iron goods.
Evan JAMES - woollen mfg & weaver
Thomas WILLIAMS - woollen mfg & weaver
William WILLIAMS - woollen mfg & dyer
Cardiff - John TOWNSEND - worsted mfg.
Carmarthen - David DAVIES - mfg woollen
Dolgelly - Manufacturers coarse woollen cloth
David GRIFFITH, John HOWELL, Robert JONES, William JONES,
Griffith JONES, Rees LEWIS, Evan OWENS, Robert OWENS
Knighton, Radnorshire - Edward MORGAN - wool stapler
Llandaff, Glamorgan - John HILL
Llanidloes, Montgomery - Considerable manufactories of flannels & woollen
John MARPOTE - wool card mfg & flannel mfg
Llandyllins, Montgomery - Flannel mfg
Machynlleth, Montgomery - The principal manufactories are woollen goods
John JONES - drover and famer
Owen JONES, John PUGH, John HUGHES, Arthur WILLIAMS - woollen mfg's

Neath - Phillip JONES & Co. - woollen mfg.

Presteign, Radnor - John GRIFFITHS - woollen mfg.
Wrexham, Denbigh - Richard LLOYD - woollen merchant, Chester Street
Burial of a Shepherd
It is said that at one time there was a certain ritual adhered to when shepherds
departed from this world. These keepers of the flock had conscientiously cared for
their sheep for seven days a week and for such devotion had received a meagre
wage. They had very little opportunity of attending church. Being a stout hearted
breed, they were out all year round on the hills. To jog the Almighty's memory that
they even existed, a custom was employed which was meant to excuse their
absence from church. A reminder was placed on a dead shepherd's chest before his
coffin lid was finally sealed prior to burial - a clipping of sheep's wool. It was a
gentle reminder that the body had been so hard at work all year and every year,
caring for his flock, that he had not opportunity to attend church.
Source: http://www.findonvillage.com
The Fleece
Dyer, an English poet, who wrote "the Fleece" in the year 1757, says:
From one-wheel spinning
And many yet adhere
To the ancient distaff at the bosom fixed,
Casting the whirling spindle as they walk;
At home, or in the sheepfold, or the mart,
Alike the work proceeds.
To a new invented machine for the spinning of wool in a manner entirely new.
But patient art,
That on experience works from hour to hour,
Sagacious, has a spiral engine form'd,
Which on an hundred spoles, an hundred threads,
With one huge wheel, by lapse of water, twines,
Few hands requiring' easy tended work,
That copiously supplies the greedy loom.
Source: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mossvalley/

Believe it or not
Miscellaneous 'facts' about Wool
English wool (which included Welsh wool) was sold to the most skilled weavers in
Europe (the Flemish) and the resulting yarn used for a number of purposes not
necessarily connected with textiles.
One of these uses was the manufacture of bow strings. Welsh wool twisted into
twine made the strongest box strings in Europe. The strength of the resulting twin
enabled the Welsh to cut a much narrower notch in their arrows than the French. In
medieval warfare archers soon ran out of arrows and relied on being able to use
arrows fired by their opponents. The narrow v-shaped notch in Welsh arrows was
too narrow for the French to be able to fire them back, using the thick -twined
bows they carried. The Welsh, however, were easily able to fire back French
arrows as they fitted the narrow bow string perfectly well.
Source: - http://oii.org/cyberu/
One pound of wool can be spun into 20 miles of yarn
A perfectly preserved woollen sock was found buried in silt on the banks of a river
in England. The sock is estimated to be 1,000 years old.