Title
Hinckley Hosiery Factory
Subject
Hinckley Hosiery Factory
Description
Elsie Goode describes conditions and pay at Daniel Payne's factory in Hinckley during the 1920s.
Creator
East Midlands Oral History Archive
Source
EMOHA
Publisher
EMOHA
Date
1986
Contributor
Photograph courtesy of Hinckley & District Museum: The Graham Holt Collection. To use seek permission from http://www.hinckleydistrictmuseum.org.uk/
Rights
You may use this item in accordance with the licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/uk/
Format
.mp3
Type
Oral History
Duration
2 min 30 sec
Transcription
Mrs Goode: … I don’t remember any people who weren’t factory workers coming into my life in those days. And we were all poor. But we didn’t realise we were so poor because we knew that there were people poorer than we were, you see?
Interviewer: What were the factories in Hinckley then?
Mrs Goode: There were stocking factories. But this Daniel Payne, we called it, made all the jerseys, I understood, for the army and navy. I tell you, my grandpa and uncle made them, and my mother, the army pads were leather, and she had to use a sewing machine, with an ordinary sewing machine. The navy pads were smaller and just attached to the neck, you see, just where the neck and shoulder join, and they had to be stitched on. You got 5d (2p) a dozen for that I remember, if Mum worked frightfully hard, she could earn 5d an hour.
Interviewer: Was she on piece work?
Mrs Goode: Oh yes, it was piece work. I remember the Payne, it would be William Payne, the factory belonged to Daniel Payne. It was in Factory Road really, but it had a great big opening, you know, a door, and that went right through to Bond Street, and he had a house at the Bond Street end. The place where the jerseys were made was on the right. Things were all straightened out then and we had to seam them. I learnt to seam the straight pieces when I was very young cause that was easy. The other parts curled up, you had to learn how to wrap them over your fingers you see to straighten them whilst you stitched them. I remember when I was at the Grammar School later on, the headmaster had a son, Mr Watherston’s son came and gave us a slide lecture. He was some kind of pioneer in the army I think because I remember the slides showed soldiers and when one was on he suddenly said, ‘You’ll be interested to know that the jerseys these soldiers are wearing were made in Hinckley’, and I, you know, I felt inclined to stand up and say yes, and my grandpa made them, that sort of thing, you know. I felt quite proud of that.
Interviewer: What were the factories in Hinckley then?
Mrs Goode: There were stocking factories. But this Daniel Payne, we called it, made all the jerseys, I understood, for the army and navy. I tell you, my grandpa and uncle made them, and my mother, the army pads were leather, and she had to use a sewing machine, with an ordinary sewing machine. The navy pads were smaller and just attached to the neck, you see, just where the neck and shoulder join, and they had to be stitched on. You got 5d (2p) a dozen for that I remember, if Mum worked frightfully hard, she could earn 5d an hour.
Interviewer: Was she on piece work?
Mrs Goode: Oh yes, it was piece work. I remember the Payne, it would be William Payne, the factory belonged to Daniel Payne. It was in Factory Road really, but it had a great big opening, you know, a door, and that went right through to Bond Street, and he had a house at the Bond Street end. The place where the jerseys were made was on the right. Things were all straightened out then and we had to seam them. I learnt to seam the straight pieces when I was very young cause that was easy. The other parts curled up, you had to learn how to wrap them over your fingers you see to straighten them whilst you stitched them. I remember when I was at the Grammar School later on, the headmaster had a son, Mr Watherston’s son came and gave us a slide lecture. He was some kind of pioneer in the army I think because I remember the slides showed soldiers and when one was on he suddenly said, ‘You’ll be interested to know that the jerseys these soldiers are wearing were made in Hinckley’, and I, you know, I felt inclined to stand up and say yes, and my grandpa made them, that sort of thing, you know. I felt quite proud of that.
Interviewer
R. West
Interviewee
Elsie Goode
Location
Hinckley, Leicestershire
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