Catalogue description Folios 54-73. J P Kay, Norfolk and Suffolk District. Gives a general description of his...

Folios 54-73. J P Kay, Norfolk and Suffolk District. Gives a general description of his district which is mainly agricultural but includes the ports of King's Lynn, Lowestoft and Ipswich with herring and mackerel fishing and 'considerable income from salvage'. Bombazines, crapes, shawls, chalets, muslins-de-laine and camlets' are manufactured in Norwich and Wymondham and there are silk throwing mills at Yarmouth, Norwich, Hadleigh, Glemsford, Haverhill and Bungay, with silk weaving at Hadleigh, Sudbury, Glemsford, Haverhill and on the Essex/Suffolk border. He comments on the agricultural improvements in Norfolk He explains that last harvest the turnip crop suffered near the coast and on the dry soils; corn was good and hay was even shipped to northern England (unknown for 20 years). The winter was bad with poor fodder for stock and problems in supplying the London market but Norfolk and Suffolk had a good fall of lambs. Kay sent out a circular on wages to those farmers he considers will make accurate replies; he received 22 returns. He has asked for detailed information about family numbers and various sources of income. He received details of 247 labourers' families, divided the responses into 8 categories and made various calculations from the returns (stated). He quotes verbatim from a letter he has received from George Edwards of Framlingham which explains the intricacies of the farmer/labourer relationship, the complexities of any division between day labour and task work, the distinctions between horse drivers and field / barn labourers, and the use of gang labour. Edwards also quotes rent payments, harvest income, and gives a description of the labourers' diet (pork, flour, bread, cheese, potatoes, milk broth, onions and cabbage). Kay states that in 1836 about 3000 people emigrated or migrated to manufacturing districts or places of public works from Norfolk and there were similar figures for Suffolk. He summarises the effects of the Poor law Commissioners orders and regulations and draws conclusions from his investigations into conditions before and after the implementation of the new poor law. He describes the shipping trade in Yarmouth, King's Lynn and Lowestoft with a 15% increase in foreign trade and 25% in coastal; herring and mackerel fishing have been particularly successful. The fishermen of Sheringham, Winterton, Yarmouth, Pakefield, Lowestoft and Southwold have 'raped a large harvest from salvage'. He details the salvage 'dole' peculiar to Lowestoft. Children are still employed in the Norwich silk-throwing and worsted yarn mills despite the reduced cost of raw materials. He gives wages rates for home loom weavers, shawl and chalet makers and chamlet weavers, although commercial relations with China are problematic. The employment of hand loom weavers has been affected by the loss of raw materials and the Court of Guardians Incorporation in Norwich has regulated poor relief. Kay states that the throwing mills in Suffolk and Norfolk have maintained hours of work and numbers employed. The recent commercial down turn has now affected the rural silk weavers of Sudbury, Glemsford and Haverhill like the Spitalfields weavers. He claims that 'tranquillity prevails throughout Norfolk and Suffolk' but reports some opposition to the new law in two unnamed unions.