Object Art.....This way

More on the workers of Bath.....Women - 1911

In 1911

There were 10446 female workers in Bath.
Over half, 5388 of them were employed in domestic service rolls.

                                (yes, this is Downton.....sorry!)

1911 also saw Eagle House in Batheaston used as a refuge for suffragettes recovering from ill treatment (1909-1912)
Women fighting for a voice were imprisoned and often force fed.

The workers of Bath

We are finding lots of interesting facts about Bath and its working past.

Did you know that.............

In 1854 Walcot Street was home to a basket maker, a bookbinder, a brush maker, shoe makers, a gun maker, a cutler, a hatter, a locksmith, a tailor, dressmakers, straw bonnet makers, stone masons, printers, a sign writer, a wheelwright, an umbrella maker, grocers, butchers, tea dealers, poulterers, bakers, a corn factor, a salt merchant, a tripe dealer, several markets and a chemist and druggist!

In case you are wondering, a corn factor was a middleman dealing in corn on others behalf and in the last example, apparently, a druggist is a drug seller!

Orders in the archive

The museum archive contains orders to Bowlers for custom made objects. Many of the orders are just simple line drawings made on scraps of paper ranging from note paper to wallpaper and sandpaper, anything that came to hand. 

We are running a project inviting visitors to the museum to make their own line drawing order. We will then each make an object in response.

Here are a few of the orders that we have received so far