Bessbrook and its Linen Mills

Bessbrook and its Linen Mills

The book describes the history of Bessbrook and its linen mills from their establishment to the mid-19th century. It details the development of the industry in the area, including the construction of new mills and the introduction of new machinery. The text also discusses the social impact of the industry on the local population, including the growth of the town and the changes in the way people lived and worked. The author notes that the linen industry was a major driver of economic growth in the region during this period, but it also created significant social problems, such as overcrowding and poverty. The text describes the living conditions of the workers and their families, including the cramped and unsanitary conditions in which they lived. The book also discusses the impact of the Industrial Revolution on the local economy and society, including the growth of a new middle class and the decline of traditional crafts. It notes that the linen industry was highly competitive, with many mills operating in the area, and that this competition led to a series of economic crises and bankruptcies. The author concludes by noting that while the linen industry played a major role in shaping the history of Bessbrook, it also had significant social costs, including poverty, overcrowding, and poor living conditions.

By James Ewing Ritchie · First published 1865 · Genre: Non-fiction, Industrial History, Social Commentary · 9,018 words

First lines

THAT the times in which we live are out of joint is a truism too obvious to require comment. As much now as in old days the cry is, "Who will show us any good? " We hear much of modern progress; but there are many who, like Mr. Froude, intimate that what we call progress is in reality merely change, and that change is not necessarily always for the better. When such men as Mr. Ruskin leave the domain of the beautiful fiercely to arraign what in our wisdom, or want of it, we term Political Economy and its pitiless laws, we may be sure that all the social problems of the age have not been satisfactorily solved. If it be true that our rich men are becoming richer every day, it is equally true that our poor are becoming poorer. Might has taken from the peasant his strip of land, and has driven him into the towns, where he dies of bad air, bad water, bad food, bad lodging, bad pay; where his sons learn crime, and his daughters how much better rewarded is vice than virtue. Underneath the whited sepulchres of our boasted civilisation there lie rottenness and dead men's bones. Of talk we have somewhat more than enough, as must necessarily be the case now that woman claims to appear on the platform on an equality with man. Associations of all kinds exist partly for the bettering and partly for the bewildering of the public. Money is freely subscribed for them; for Dives has a dim idea that he owes much to Lazarus, and would at all times rather discharge the debt by letting a few crumbs fall from the table, than by personally clothing his naked form and binding up his loathsome sores. It is not clear that we have improved on that very much. It is clear that for lack of it we have a great deal-especially in our crowded manufacturing districts-of social anarchy-of progress the wrong way-of licence which means licentiousness, of teaching and talking downward rather than upward. The need of silent divine action, as Thomas Carlyle writes, is very great at this time.

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Bessbrook and its Linen Mills is listed on Textopian as a novel by James Ewing Ritchie, dated 1865 CE.

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Local History · Industrial Heritage · Linen Industry · Northern Ireland · History Book · Non-Fiction · Regional Studies · Economic History · Social History · Textile Industry · Mills and Factories · Community Study

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