Nottingham
the center of
English lace-making

    The Lees or Lee name has been associated with the trade of lace making for many years. Its origins are in the Lace Market area of the city that hasn't been ruined as yet by developers.  Many of the people employed in the trade came from areas of the city such as Radford and Lenton.  The mill owners came from better off parts of the city such as West Bridgford.
    Alfred Lees and his wife Henrietta Saywell lived right in the heart of West Bridgeford and were fully involved in the Lace Industry.

    In 1589 William Lee in a village just outside Nottingham invented a stocking frame and this marked the beginning of the hosiery industry.  By 1780 there were 20,000 frames operating in the area.  Industry was transformed in the 19th century by steam and Nottingham was well placed to take advantage of the new power source being at the heart of the East Midlands coal field. The lace making trade grew rapidly with the new industrialization and the population grew rapidly.

This photograph is a sample of some of the machines that came into play in the late 1800s and early1900s lace and embroidery factory in Nottingham.

The Hosiery and Lace Manufactures

These are the two staple trades of Nottingham, and to them the town owes its rising wealth and magnitude.  The hosiery trade was not of much importance till the middle of the eighteenth century, nor that of lace till the year 1778, when the point net machine was invented - an improvement which has been superceded in later times by warp and bobbin net machines.  Many females used to be employed in the making of bone or cushion lace, till they found a more profitable occupation in ornamenting hosiery and embroidering wrought lace net.

 Furnishing Lace

The Nottingham Lace Curtain machine is known all over the world. It was invented in 1846 by John Livesey.  Modern developments have made it possible to produce a wide variety of fabrics on this machine including bedspreads, table covers, shawls and stoles as well as curtains and furnishings.

John Leavers, a Nottinghamshire framesmith, invented the machine in 1813. They are still in use today.

A modern Leavers machine has more than 40000 moving parts, which twist the thousands of individual threads to produce lace similar in construction to that made by the pillow lace workers of the past.  These machines weigh approx. 15 tons and measure about 40 feet in length and produce the most delicate lace imaginable.  It is truly the "Aristocrat of Textiles" it is Nottingham Lace.

Clyde Works was owned by Alfred Lees and his partner by the last name of
Spowage.  During that time apparently is was most likely the biggest lace
factory in the area, at 5 stories high and a block square.  The lace was
world famous.  When Geoff was over there at the end of WWII it was still in
operation, but I'm unsure for how much longer it was running or who owned
it.  Rosemary Pott or Ann Barlow may have a better understanding of dates.
Clyde Works photos and above write-up by Brooke Lees

Some Photos of Nottingham

The great Market Place where the lace would have been on display for buyers.

OTHER VIEWS that the Lees would have been very familiar with at the turn of the century 1900

Trent Bridge

Suspension Bridge across the river Trent

Go back to Alfred Lees and Henrietta Saywell