The Bower & Collier Family History
Research by Colin Bower
Silk Weavers names Collier
Extract from Paper for Redchurch Street
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Plan for Redchurch Street Conservation Area
November 2009
...By the late 1680s, when Redchurch & Old Nichol Streets were slowly being occupied
by housing and small industry, Bethnal Green consisted mainly of weavers, many of
them overspills from nearby Spitalfields. They were often Huguenot immigrants,
whom the English welcomed as a cheap source of labour. The firm of Vavasseur,
Cartier& Collier had a silk weaving firm on the south side of Old Nichol Street, on the
corner of Turville Street c1876 – 1902. This building is believed to still exist.
There were several reasons why the silk and other industries prospered in Bethnal
green. The area was close to the canal and the dock.
This was aided by the construction of the Regent’s Canal in 1820’s and there was a ready supply of labour
(always increasing under successive waves of immigration). The downside to this
prosperity was the intense competition in all sectors of industry which resulted in a
proliferation of ‘sweating’ workshops and some of the worst housing and working
conditions in England.
The predominant industry in the ‘Old Nichol’ area was cabinet making, chair
manufacturing, French polishing and allied industries. The furniture trade was
accelerated from 1820, as it was possible to bring in imported timber via the Regent’s
Canal. The furniture trade became one of the most important industries in Bethnal
Green. To give an example of this, when in 1890, 15 acres of slum clearance was
carried out, in this area alone, there were 120 cabinet makers, 74 chair makers and 24
wood cutters and sawyers.
After 1890 there was a gradual decrease in employment in the silk industry. By 1940
it was no longer possible to import raw silk from France, and the industry died out.
The bombing during this period and slum clearance later made severe inroads into the
furniture trade, especially after 1945 when there was an acute shortage of timber. The
clothing industry however survived – Jewish immigration in the late nineteenth century
(and again before and after the secong world war), accelerated the numbers in the
clothing trade. The workshops were small, but employed large numbers of local
people. By 1901 7,310 were employed in ‘dresses, - this included tailors and shirt
makers, boot and seamstresses. Another 2,000 worked in textile fabrics. There were
also a large number of shoemakers. This was popular employment for women.
There was also a plethora of other manufacturing carried out in Bethnal Green....
Colin Bower
5 June 2023
Links to:
