Cotton Research

[mmcnealy]

In doing research for something else, it occurred to me to go look at the British History Online site for instances of cotton in the import records listed in The port and trade of early Elizabethan London: documents .

There are several types of cotton goods listed:
- Cotton wool
- Spun cotton
- Cyprus cotton
- Narrow Cyprus cotton
- Cotton lace
- Cotton petticoats

"Cyprus Cotton", is measured in yards and is itemized differently from cotton wool. Since it is listed in dozens of yards it leads me to suspect that it is pre-spun thread, as fabric is listed in ells,yards,bales or pieces.


The below is not an exhaustive list of entries for Cyprus cotton, cotton wool by any stretch of the imagination. There were simply too many entries for them to list, however I have given all the listings that I found for cotton petticoats.

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Nos. 100-199 (Nov - Dec, 1567)
155. Edward of Milton (60) William Harris; Antwerp
Nicholas Spering: 35 doz. crystal glasses, 3 doz. cotton petticoats, 15 grs copper bands, 10 doz. thou. pins, 6 doz. crewel girdlings, 6 doz. small writing tables, 3 grs halfpennyware glasses, 10 doz. lbs pack thread, 2 grs coarse knives, 6 doz. furred stomachers, 5 doz. drinking glasses £53 3s 4d.


334. Spledegle of Gouda (30) Lucas Williamson; Rouen
William Handford: 18 grs playing cards, 100 lbs spun cotton, 20 lbs wrought crewel lace £24 6s 8d.

360. Christopher of London William Langley; Rouen
William Handford: 50 grs pennyware combs, 20 lbs cotton-lace £26.



From the record of the London Port Book: Nos. 400-499 (Mar - May, 1568)

The ship: 433. Mary fortune of Lee (70) John Morce; Antwerp
excerpt:
Example of how fabric is recorded
Baldwin Durham: 120 half-pcs Genoa fustian,
Thomas Aldersey: 65 pcs Genoa fustian, 70 ells sarcenet, 40 ells taffeta sarcenet £61 13s 4d.
John Woodward: 70 yds velvet, 25 yds black satin £63 15s. John Isham: 72 yds frizado £18.

William Sherington: 30 doz. yds Cyprus cotton £6.

William Luddington: 225 lbs cotton wool

Thomas Longston: 350 lbs cotton wool £36 13s 4d.

462. Mary Grace of Lee (50) John Pett; Antwerp
excerpt:
Thomas Hale: 600 lbs cotton wool £20.

John Borne: 8 doz. lbs Bruges thread, 2 grs thread points, 6 doz. lbs crewel, 3 doz. lbs counters, 3 grs coarse bells, 16 grs coarse copper hat bands, 2 thou. thimbles, 3 grs halfpennyware looking glasses, 20 doz. thou. pins, 4 thou. awl blades, 3 doz. thou. needles, 20 doz. yds Cyprus cotton £28 3s 4d.

Nos. 700–799 (Aug - Sept, 1568)

750. Cock Adrianson [sic](Richard Haddock; Antwerp)

[f. 233b] William Hobson: 2 grs 'chaps', 3 doz. lbs curtain rings, 3 grs looking glasses, 4 doz. lbs thread, 40 butts Lyons thread, 2 grs knives, 20 grs harp strings, 2 doz. lbs wrought inkle, 3 doz. yds narrow Cyprus cotton, 10 doz. lbs flax, 4 grs rubbing brushes, 100 lbs matches £29 11s 8d (19 Aug).

787. John Baptist of London (60) William Hall; Antwerp
Nicholas Spering: 4½ doz. lbs pack thread, 5 doz. crewel girdles, 120 razors, 12 comb cases, 8 doz. cotton petticoats, 6 doz. writing tables, 1 doz. gold balances, 6 doz. wooden standishes, 28 doz. leathers for cushions, 1½ grs looking glasses, 3 doz. furred stomachers, 1£ doz. pinpillows, 12 lbs wire £32.

795. Swallow of London (60) Richard Poulter; Antwerp
Nicholas Spering: 3 doz. cotton petticoats, 4 doz. furred stomachers, 1 grs coarse knives £7.

Comments

[hsifeng.livejournal.com]

Wow, the amount of information squirreled away in these inventories always floors me. I am guessing it has something to do with the types of merchants involved, but the number of clothing/clothing related items is interesting.

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

You are wonderful. I wish I had the time to actually do any research, but teaching take up all my time.

/Eva

[isabelladangelo.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for sharing this!

[corsetrasewing.livejournal.com]

"Cyprus Cotton", is measured in yards and is itemized differently from cotton wool. Since it is listed in dozens of yards it leads me to suspect that it is pre-spun thread, as fabric is listed in ells,yards,bales or pieces.

if cyprus cotton comes fro cyprus, why is it listed in both "regular" and "narrow" if it is a spun thread?
could it be a tape? which would also explain the large lengths?

[corsetrasewing.livejournal.com]

from, not fro, sigh my M key is malfuctioning due to a toddler.

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

I don't know, but I'm thinking that the "narrow Cyprus cotton" could be a tape and the "Cyprus cotton" yarn. Narrow ware was another name for tapes, ribbons and laces (the kind you use to lace with, not the lacey kind)

[jenlemus.livejournal.com]

According to the Tudor Taylor authors, "cotton" can describe a type of fabric, not the material. They were quite adamant during the seminar that any reference to cotton noted a weave or processing, and not the cotton we know. It would make "cotton wool" make sense.

My $0.02.

[xrian.livejournal.com]

Is this early enough that you would run into confusion between "cotton" the fiber and "cotton" as a brushing or softening process? I've heard enough about "cotton" references that turn out to refer to wool cloth that has been "cottoned" (what we might call flannel) that I tend to automatically question pre-19th century references to the word on that basis. You may or may not have enough context to be able to determine which is meant.

OTOH, I think we do have good examples of loose cotton (as we would define it) being used as stuffing fiber or quilt batting in this time period.

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

Yes and No.
According to this entry in the Dictionary of Traded Goods and Commodities, 1550-1820
by Nancy Cox and Karin Dannehl, 2007

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=58731&strquery=cotton

They go into quite through detail, but basically, when it comes to fabric items, there's a possibility that they may be talking about a very cheap wool cloth, or it could be cotton as we know it today.
When it mentions "cotton wool" or cotton anything else that's not a fabric, then its made from the fiber that we know today as cotton.

However Fustians were linen/cotton mix cloths,so its likely that the cotton wool and yarn was imported for its production.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=58770&strquery=%20FUSTIAN#s7

[joysdaughter.livejournal.com]

I have been talking to a friend about your research and she wondered if you would mind me passing this on - she knows Bess, and Ninya, and plays at Kentwell as a tailor's wife - so her interest is serious. I said I would ask, so may I?

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

I'd love it if you passed it on. I hope she finds it useful and is able to discover more.