English Textile Workers Emigrating to US

Emigration holds a fascination for all family historians. The thought of our forebears undertaking immense journeys, often with very little in their pocket, captures our imaginations.

Many emigrants travelled to families or communities that had settled earlier 

    • English immigrants who had skills developed in the textile industry in England, tended to stick together, many working in the mill towns in Massachusetts.
    • The town of Lawrence was especially attractive to the Yorkshire mill workers and by 1860 the town was known as the ‘America Bradford’ and had 18,000 English people employed in the textile mills.
Intriguing Connections
    1. Sometimes communities who settled together set up organisations to offer support to those who joined them. We know that Emily Hobhouse, welfare reformer, travelled to America to help a community of Cornish miners that had fallen on hard times. Local newspapers can be a good source of information when trying to find out what help was offered.
    2. For more resources and information on migration follow the link and suggested posts

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