Description

Early in the reign of James I, Walter Morrell arrived in Hatfield with a wonderful scheme that promised to transform the lives of England’s idle poor. He needed to convince Robert Cecil, 1st earl of Salisbury, that he could train unemployed youths to make ‘new draperies’ – a range of woollen textiles – thereby supporting themselves and also reducing the cost of poor relief. ‘Setting the poor on work’ had been a theme of English social policy since the 1570s. ‘Projects’ to do just that had been suggested before, but Morrell’s project was more convincing than most: by 1609 he had won over not only Cecil but most of the Privy Council. They believed that his scheme could both help to reduce rural unemployment and, by increasing textile exports to Europe, boost royal revenue.

This volume publishes the complete text of Morrell’s 100-page explanation of his project, written to coincide with the award of a royal charter establishing a monopoly new draperies company for Hertfordshire, in early 1617. Morrell’s Manufacture is a fascinating mixture of detailed economic calculation and social argument, combined with the remarkable story of its author’s persistence and zeal to ‘improve’ the English Commonwealth.

Hardback: 181 pages
Published by: Hertfordshire Record Society, 2018
ISBN: 978-0950174105
Product Dimensions: 24 x 16.3 x 1.5 cm