Working from home

A young woman sits outside her cottage spinning

Before 1750, most industry in Britain was small-scale. Most of it was literally "manufactured" by hand – shoes, nails, knives etc were made by artisans (craftsmen) in small workshops.

Most craftsmen worked from home, which is called the domestic system sometimes called cottage industry. The textiles industry was the best example of the domestic system, and varied between different parts of the country:

• In East Anglia and the West Country, a clothier would give the work to craftsmen in their own homes – the clothier would buy the wool, take it to one home to be washed and carded [carded: A process where raw or washed fibres are brushed in preparation for spinning. ], to another home to be spun, then to another worker to be woven. This kind of business is called merchant capitalism. Nevertheless, most work took place in workers' own homes.
• In the West Riding of Yorkshire, the system was different. There master clothiers worked for themselves. They would buy the wool at the market, then take it home where the whole family, perhaps helped by a few apprentices, would put it through the different processes under the same roof – the children would card it, the eldest daughter (a spinster) would spin it, the men would weave it. Then they would take the finished cloth to market to sell.

Many craftsmen also owned land. When trade was busy, they spent less time working on their farm, and when trade was slack, they could spend more time on their farm. This system was called convenience agriculture.