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From: gillian king <>
Subject: Re: [CHS] What was a Cotton Slentcher?
Date: Sun, 10 Oct 2010 09:57:03 +0100 (BST)
In-Reply-To: <9037E9A221094DABB958D85EA732DA29@christinePC>


Hi Christine
Possibly a singer?
>From Hall Genealogy Website   http://rmhh.co.uk/index.html
Cotton Singer


Tends machine that singes nap or lint from cloth: Sews end
of cloth to leader, using portable sewing machine, or threads end through
machine rollers. Observes cloth to detect burning as cloth passes over heated
plates, rollers, or gas flame, and through wetting-down equipment.

 

The history of cotton manufacturing in Britain begins
in the early 1600s when British merchants began direct trade with India. Among
the articles they brought home were printed cottons. These prints were works of
art, dyed by a complex process which involved hand painting and several dye
baths for each piece. They had colorful floral patterns and could stand any
amount of washing. The English called them "chints," from the Hindu
word chint, meaning "color."



Indian chintzes became all the rage. People used them for bed hangings,
dresses, and furniture covers. Finally a law banned their importation because
they cut into the woollen industry. Then English clothmakers produced imitations,
using woodblocks for the printing.



The English spinners found it difficult to spin cotton on spinning wheels
designed for wool or flax. On their handlooms, the weavers could not make cloth
as wide as the Indian chintzes. Block printing seemed slow work to men who knew
they could sell all the printed cloth they could make. English artisans,
therefore, concentrated on devising faster ways to make cotton cloth and to
print it. From their efforts came the inventions that started the Industrial
Revolution.
RegardsGill

--- On Sun, 10/10/10, Christine Benson <> wrote:

From: Christine Benson <>
Subject: [CHS] What was a Cotton Slentcher?
To: "CHESHIRE mailing list" <>
Date: Sunday, 10 October, 2010, 0:44

Hi All,

Can anyone tell me what a Cotton Slentcher (or something like that) was. Mt gg-grandfather Charles CROUT (40 in 1841) was this. 4  years later he was an overlooker in a cotton mill but I can't make out the word in the census.

Grateful for any suggestions.

Christine

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