Yorkshire woollen industry

Doffin’ Mistress, and work in Foster’s Mill, Queensbury

Maveda Duncan worked in Foster's Mill as a fourteen-year-old.
She has vivid memories which she relates here.
A song she loves to sing is The Doffin’ Mistress - no surprise?

by Maveda Duncan
Queensbury, Bradford

Industrial song
folkleads.org.uk

One Monday morning I accompanied my mother to Foster’s Mill where we were to start work at 7.30am. The gaffer was quite surprised when confronted by mum with the words:

“Tha wants a rover. Well, this is our Maveda and she’ll start for thee today. Be sure tha’ll have no bother, she will do as she is telled.”

The room was known as the 6th Botany Drawing and mum ran the gill boxes which were the start of the process of turning raw wool into manageable yarn. Roving was the last process in the room.

Combing the wool

“The combing machine straightens the wool fibres and separates short wool from long ... ready for drawing.”

Yarn came from the combing room where it had been combed into what to my wondering gaze looked like cottonwool all folded concertina-wise into large containers made, I think, of cowhide.

Bobbins, half mum’s height

“We doffed out own bobbins which means taking ones out of the machine and replacing with an empty - so the process was never ending.”

Mum fed this into her first two machines which with the help of rollers put it out at the other side on bobbins which stood half her own height as she was not quite five foot.

This type of process continued through a number of similar machines, each making the yarn thinner until it reached my tender care on the ‘rovers’. Looking back I wonder why I wasn’t afraid. I just felt a great excitement at the noise, smell of grease and oil, the sight of the huge machines and the laughter of the women who ran this place.

Drawing the wool, my mum’s machine ... ‘doffin’ off’

“The combed wool is in thick slivers and is reduced to roving (twice as thick as your finger) and fill the gill boxes.”

Our gaffer said I took to the job well and soon ran two of the machines keeping the yarn bed at the top full of bobbins and as the bobbins on the lower bed got full ‘doffing them off’ with practiced ease and speed. Do you wonder that the ‘doffer lad’ has a special place in my heart?

“Bobbins in the racks that stand by the drawing machines receiving the roving from which the final yarn is spun.”

Mashin’ the tea - oops!- and fish n chips

As the ‘lastcomer’ it was my job to take the tray with all the ladies ‘pots’ (mugs) on down six flights of stone stairs to ‘mash’ their tea for the half an hour break at 12 o’clock while someone nearby would keep an eye on my machines and stop them if anything went wrong.

This job came to an end when I tripped one morning and spilt the lot!! Not one person, including mum, asked if I was hurt. I just got a clip around the ear for being gormless - by anyone within reach!

It was then decided I would fetch fish and chips for those who wanted them, collecting orders during the short break we had at ten for a much needed drink. Then, being sent off ten minutes before twelve during which time I had to get up Queensbury village, get served and get back to our room before the hooter went for dinner.

Nobody had lunch in my time - just breakfast, dinner and tea. Anything after that was supper, usually cocoa.

Learnt a lot about life

The ladies of the 6th Botany Drawing taught me a lot about life and their spirit of togetherness was total. I remember one particular time when the powers that be tried to change the way their piece-rate was structured. Whatever weight of yarn went through mum’s gill boxes set the wages for all and that was the way it was kept. Those ladies stood solid.

Doffin’ the bobbins

“Overhead racks called creels. Mum swung the bobbins, half her height, into the creel at shoulder height.”

As I progressed in skill at handling different machines I was moved up the room until I worked alongside mum where she taught me the knack of heaving around bobbins and yarn, that had to go in an overhead rack, which were very heavy.

We ‘doffed’ our own bobbins which means taking the full ones out of the machine and replacing with empty so the process was never ending

She also taught me that my wage didn’t stay long in my hands. On Friday dinner time all the departments in the mill had their special time to go to the office window to collect their wage in cash.

Rates of pay

My first visit was approached with delight, short-lived I am afraid. Duly following mum I collected my fifteen shillings and some coppers, this was for five days starting at 7.30am and ending at 5pm with half an hour dinner break. Walking away from the window looking at the money I encountered mum who relieved me of my hard-earned cash.

Ah well, I did get some spending money put out on Friday night on the mantle piece. If it wasn’t picked up over the weekend much good it did you to look for it - Tuesday or Wednesday it disappeared.

This was my way of life until the age of sixteen when I saw an advertisement in a local paper which had an Infectious Diseases Hospital that needed student nurses. Seeing myself as a ministering Angel I applied in secret and got taken on; not only taken on but taken in - for ‘student nurse’ read ‘skivvy’ - but I enjoyed every minute as our patients were children most of the time.

Rovin’ machine for yarns as they became finer

“The rovers worked on this machine: the roving (mid-way between sliver and yarn) is drawn out to its final thickness on a succession of machines.”