Silk children's glove
Children's silk glove
Name/Title
Silk children's gloveEntry/Object ID
2025.1.183Description
A children's glove made out of knitted silk - similar to silk stocking material, which it could be made from. Much used and mended.Context
Surprisingly the first knitting machine was invented, in the UK, by a curate named William Lee, in 1589. He lived in Culverton, Derbyshire, a wool producing area. The development and support of the machine was not smooth however.. Elizabethans, both men and women covered their legs with hand knitted stockings, that were stitched into the shape of the leg. In 1561 Queen Elizabeth I received a pair of knitted stockings which did not please her. She didn't support the invention of the machine for she saw it as a threat to the livelihood of her "poor people who obtain their bread by buying the employment of knitting . . . " Lee receiving no support from Elizabeth or James I, took his invention to France where it was welcomed and for five years he was successful, during which time he developed 9 more machines. However after the beheading of King Henry IV of France, he returned to England to Nottingham. He found Cromwell was more willing to embrace modern technology and he was made a member of the Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters in 1657. HIs machines were developed over the years by his apprentices and in the long term Nottingham became the hub of knitting. By the 1800s machines were accepted, although once again there was trouble when the knitters wanted higher wages and smashed the machines. The troble makers were called Luddites, after Ned Ludd who was supposed to have started the unrest. Unfortunately an Act of Parliament was passed in 1812 that made the destruction of the machines a criminal act and consequently many of the protestors were hanged.Category
Domestic, Clothing, Children