DERRYS ASSOCIATION WITH SHIRT MAKING
 
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This takes you to a page that deals with who founded the shurt industry in Derry.
This takes you to a page that deals with the history of outworking.
This takes you to a page that deals with the advent of shirt making in factories.
This takes you to a page that contains memories of those who worked in shirt factories in Derry.
Home
Who founded the shirt industry in Derry?
The history of outworking.
The advent of shirt making in factories.
Memories.
 
This is a map outlining the location of shirt factories past and present.
 
This is a map showing the sites of shirt factories in Derry. Both past and present.
 
 

FACTORY

1. The Star Factory.

2. William Burns & C0.

3. Ben Sherman Ltd.

4. William Scott.

5. Tillie & Henderson.

6. Robert Sinclaire.

7. NorthernFactory.

8. James Hamilton & Co.

9. Welsh Margetson.

10. Mc Intyre & Hogg.

11. James Boyd & Co

12. A E Mc Candless & Co.

13. Edward Tinney.

14. Castle Factory.

15. James Sweeney.

16. D A Mooney.

17. Huntright & Co.

18. S M Kennedy & Co.

19. Paragon Factory

20. Mitchells Factory.

21. Hogg & Mitchell.

22. G Scott & Co.

23. Lloyd, Attree & Smith.

24. The City Factory.

25. Black Bear Factory

Not shown on map are:

The Rosemount Factory.

Neely & Wilkinson Ltd.

Ebrington Factory.

Peter England.

Rocola.

Graham Hunter.

Glenaden Shirts.

Fitright Shirts.

 

ADDRESS

Foyle Road.

Alma Terrace.

Maureen Avenue.

Bennett Street.

Foyle Road .

Abercorn Road.

Carlisle Road.

John Street.

Carlisle Road.

Foyle Street.

Market Street

Bishop Street.

Society Street.

Castle Street.

East Wall.

Foyle Street.

Magazine Street.

Magazine Street.

William Street.

Gt. James Street.

Gt. James Street.

Patrick Street.

Gt. James Street.

Patrick Street.

Clarendon Street.

 

Park Avenue

Strand Road.

Ebrington Gdns.

Campsie.

Blighs Lane.

Springtown.

Trench Road.

Distillery Brae.

 

CURRENT USE

Appartments

Demolished

Disused.

Demolished.

Demolished.

Commercial.

Demolished

Commercial.

Commercial.

Demolished.

Commercial.

Commercial

Inner City Trust.

Demolished.

Demolished.

Demolished.

Commercial.

Commercial.

Demolished.

Commercial.

Appartments.

Commercial.

Commercial.

A College.

Demolished.

 

Commercial.

Appartments.

Commercial.

Disused.

Disused.

Functioning.

Functioning.

Functioning.

 
Above is an index of the shirt factories that appear on the map. To see further details of each of the factories, click on the factory name.
 
 

In the 1850's, William Scotts initial success attracted a number of Scottish businessmen who brought with them new methods of factory organistation and new technology in the form of the sewing machine. Up until then, all shirts were hand stitched.
William Tillie arrived in Derry from Glasgow in 1850 and his partner, John Henderson, erected, in 1857, a five story building covering nearly one acre of land on the Foyle Road, with 19,000 square feet of factory space. At that time this shirt factory was the largest of it's kind in the world. So much so that it got a mention in Karl Marx's 'Das Kapital'.After a private dinner to celebrate the opening, the partners and their friends


'adjourned to the new factory, where the workers and their friends, to the number of four to five hundred, had already assembled......The middle floor of the factory......had been tastefully decorated with drapery, flowers and evergreens and brilliantly lighted with gas......The female portion of those present were very tastefully dressed and the upmost decorum and good nature were everywhere prevalent. A temporary orchestra had been erected at the end of the room and here were placed the band of the Derry Militia, who performed at intervals throughout the evening......After tea, the company removed to the ground floor, where dancing was commenced, and continued with great spirit for some time. Returning to the upper room several songs were sung in good style, and the party separated at three o'clock in the morning.'

 
 
This is a portrait of Marshall Tillie, of the Derry shirt manufacturing company of Tillie and Henderson
 
Tillie and Hendersons factory in Foyle Road circa 1857
 
 
Marshall Tillie.
 
Tillie & Hendersons factory
 

 

 
 

The sewing machines and cutting machines were all steam driven. By 1890 Tillie & Henderson employed 1,500 hands in their factory, and provided work for 3,000 outworkers in counties, Derry, Donegal and Tyrone. They had wholesale warehouses in London & Glasgow and they exported overseas to Australia, South Africa, North & South America and the West Indies.
Other factories followed. Peter Mc Intyre, from Paisley, and Adam Hogg, from Melrose, opened the City Factory in Queen Street in 1864. In 1876, the London firm of Welch Margetson moved into new premises in Carlisle Road and they were soon employing 1,000 together with 3,000 outworkers.
So great was the demand for Derry made shirts from Glasgow & London that the number of shirt factories in the city increased from 5 in the 1850's to 44 by 1926.
Working conditions however were severe and wages much lower than for the equivalent work in other cities. One factory owner, giving evidence in 1875 to a commission set up to investigate the shirt industry, under the Factories and Workshops Act stated:


'The hours of labour which have prevailed in the trade during the past 25 years, have been 61 hours a week, 8 to 8 with an hour for dinner(11 hours Monday to Friday and 6 hours on a Saturday).....regarding the working hours on Saturday, we have never felt any inconvenience or seen any bad results to the hands from working 6 hours at a stretch and the hands themselves unanimously prefer the present hours to any other which would require them to come in without breakfast.'

By 1870, the population of the city was 26,000, with some 10,000 people employed in the shirt making industry in the Derry area. By 1897, this figure had risen to 13,000 and in the 1920's when the industry had reached its peak, a total of 18,000 were thus employed. Ninety per cent of these workers were women. Confidence in the shirt industry was reflected in the massive red brick factories that were built. When David Hogg & Charles Mitchell opened their five story factory in Great James Street in 1898, a specially chartered steamer was hired to bring over guests from England.

 

 
This is a portrait of David Hogg, one of the co-founders of the Hogg & Mitchell shirt factory
 
This is  an early  photograph  of the Hogg & Mitchell shirt factory circa 1898.
 
 
David Hogg.
 
Hogg & Mitchells Factory circa 1898.
 
 

Most of the women earned between 5 & 12 shillings per week, while the 'hands' and 'forewomen' earned between 10 & 20 shillings. The employees were fined a penny or halfpenny if they 5 to 10 minutes late for their work. There was no holiday pay during the annual shutdown for two weeks in August and, if a machine broke, the operative had to suffer the loss in earnings until a mechanic could repair it.


 
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