Estimating the Number of Cotton Handloom Weavers in England, c. 1780–1813: Women and Children Hiding in Plain Sight

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Raw cotton consumption increased fourteen-fold over the thirty-three years following the introduction of Samuel Crompton’s spinning mule in 1780. During this period all cotton weaving was undertaken on the handloom. It is estimated that between 130,000 and 180,000 weavers were employed in England to turn the cotton into cloth. Analysis of digitised 1813 baptism registers shows that of these only 69,000 were adult males. The analysis infers that the remainder were women and children hiding in plain sight.