T.I. Plucknett's Mowing and Reaping Machine - an advertisement from the Enoch Wood scrapbook
In an age before tractors or even steam engines were used in farming, every advance in agricultural technology promised a better, more profitable crop.
The makers of T.I. Plucknett's mowing and reaping ...
THE BATTLE OF VITTORIA - Broadside ballad from the Enoch Wood scrapbook
Celebrating good news in a song
Sung to the tune or 'air' Hearts of Oak, this song celebrates Britian's fortunes in an overseas battle.
Come cheer up! cheer up! Here's news from from old Spain
Napoleon's ...
The Coal Miners' Address to the Public - A notice from the Enoch Wood Scrapbook
So-called 'blackleg' labour has been a controversial feature of industrial tension for generations.
Traitors
When North Staffordshire's miners formed a trade union in the early 1830s, their masters ...
The Cock for a Tithing Parson - Broadside ballad from the Enoch Wood scrapbook
A political song set to the tune or 'air' The Cock of the Staffordshire Parson.
The song describes an election campaign by a candidate the songwriter refers to as a Cock for a Tithing Parson.
At ...
The Intended Commercial Canal - Minutes of a meeting at the White Hart and Star Inn, Uttoxeter. From the Enoch Wood scrapbook
An ambitious new project has begun in Staffordshire - outlined at a meeting at the White Hart and Star Inn, Uttoxeter.
A transport revolution
A proposed new canal promises to transform the transport ...
The Jolly Potters, A New Song - Broadside ballad from the Enoch Wood scrapbook
A song to celebrate
Years of war between Britain and France had cut trade ties with continental Europe.
To make matters worse, American ships had been caught up in the conflict - both sides had ...
The last dying speech and confession of Tom Paine - from the Enoch Wood scrapbook
Is this really the last dying confession of Tom Paine, executed before thousands of spectators at Stoke-on-Trent in 1793?
A controversial figure
Paine was a Republican and supported the French revolution. ...
The Life, Trial, Character & Behaviour of Thomas Oliver - A local tragedy from the Enoch Wood Scrapbook
This is the tragic life story of 28-year old former apprentice surgeon Thomas Oliver, once of Stourbridge and Rugby, then of Burslem.
"A diligent, regular and humane young man..."
The people of ...
The Price of Straw - from the Enoch Wood Scrapbook
One matter of special concern to pottery manufacturers was the rising price of the straw used to package their wares.
Here, Chairman of the Staffordshire Potters, Ambrose Smith, announces that they ...
The Stockport Garland - Song collection from the Enoch Wood scrapbook
A collection of four LOYAL CHESHIRE SONGS.
The songs are political in nature and are entitled;
RULE BRITANNIA
With modified verses.
GOD SAVE THE KING
With modified verses.
CEASE YOUR FUNNING
With ...
The TRUCK Man's Wife on a Saturday Night - Broadside ballad sheet from the Enoch Wood scrapbook
Broadside ballad entitled The TRUCK Man's Wife on a Saturday Night.
The Devil take the TRUCK!!!!!
Sung to the tune Washing Day, the wife of a man working for truck complains about the goods he ...
The Truck Master - Broadside ballad sheet from the Enoch Wood scrapbook
Broadside ballad entitled The Truck Master.
Sung to the tune of The Washing Day, the song is about the then-common practice of paying workers in Truck.
It is cynically written form the point of ...
The Way to Strike Home - Broadside ballad sheet from the Enoch Wood scrapbook
Broadside ballad entitled The Way to Strike Home.
The song is set under the banner A General meeting of the Truck Masters and sung to the tune Washing Day.
It portrays a group of businessmen planning ...
To the Colliers in the Parishes of Wrexham and Rhuabon - Pamphlet from the Enoch Wood Scrapbook
The colliers of North Staffordshire were not the only mine workers to organise industrial action in 1831.
Tensions also arose across England and in Wales, where this bilingual pamphlet was issued.
"Violence, ...
To the Miners Lately Employed in the Pinnox Colliery - from the Enoch Wood Scrapbook
When trade unionists protested about wages or welfare, their employers rarely agreed whole-heartedly.
In the Spring of 1831, a notice had appeared in which North Staffordshire miners campaigned for ...
To the Nobility, Gentry, and all Descriptions of Persons interested in preserving or producing Fac-similies of their writings. Document from the Enoch Wood scrapbook
Ralph Wedgwood the Inventor
Ralph Wedgwood had patented an idea for a device that allowed writers to make numerous copies of documents as they were being written.
The idea was basically similar ...
To the Public - notice from the Enoch Wood scrapbook
John Carey of Lane End will no longer face charges that he has been involved in misconduct involving Wedgwood's employees.
This public notice confirms that he has not been guilty of obstructing the ...
Twenty Pounds Reward - A notice from the Enoch Wood Scrapbook
Goldenhill colliery owner Robert Williamson, writing from Longport, here finds himself at the centre of an industrial dispute.
Combination
Miners at his pit have formed a 'combination' in an effort ...