The Hosiery Industry in Leicester in the Late Nineteenth Century

Abstract

Like Coventry, Leicester was the centre of a thriving industry during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. But the difference in conditions between Leicester’s domestic hosiery knitters and those of the surrounding villages, while noticeable, was not nearly so great as the difference in conditions between weavers in Coventry and its surrounding villages. This was due to the relatively poor conditions of knitters in Leicester rather than prosperity in Leicestershire villages.