Old Photograph Weavers Dundee Scotland

Old photograph of weavers in a Jute Works in Dundee, Scotland. With the advent of jute, and thanks to the Crimea War and the American Civil War with their demand for jute products, Dundee more than doubled its population in a period of some 20 years in the 19th Century. Such was the demand for labour that many of the dispossessed from the Highland clearances came for work. Many more from Ireland were shipped across to the West Coast and brought to Dundee in cattle trucks, where they were put into ready made slum dwellings built by the mill owners. One area of the Hilltown was known as Candle Land because the gas company refused to put in gas in case the occupants committed suicide. Because the demand for workers in the weving mills was mainly for women Dundee became a very matriarchal society. The women of Dundee were reputed to have the most beautiful hair in the whole world. This was because of the fact that after leaving the mill at night, they would spend so much time brushing the jute out of their hair. In complete contrast the mill owners lived mainly in Broughty Ferry, a suburb of the town which boasted the highest number of millionaires in the world at that time. Blog post of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day.



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