Global Community is a term we hear often in the news. The concept is that what happens in one country has an affect on other countries. In my recent travels, I discovered that this is not a new idea.Global Community is a term we hear often in the news. The concept is that what happens in one country has an affect on other countries. In my recent travels, I discovered that this is not a new idea.
One Sunday while at church in Skipton, North Yorkshire, England, I was approached by a man who said, "Are you that American woman who is asking questions about Skipton?"
I confessed, and he handed me his business card saying, "I am the local historian and would like to talk to you. Give me a call."
I learned that Robert Jackson has a BS, MS and a Doctoral level degree in textiles. He is retired from the textile industry and has taken up his love of history. During our interview, he had facts and figures, names of Kings, dates of battles, but then one story popped into the conversation that intrigued me. It is about Global Community.
During the mid 1800s, as it had been before, most of the vast area known as Yorkshire was owned by the Duke of Devonshire. It had been passed down through the family for generations. It was run much like a feudal system. In Skipton, this system was financially supported by textile mills. The Duke owned the mills, the housing, the shops, and basically the people. Everyone looked to him for their very existence. Fortunately he was a benevolent owner.
Each mill was a complete operation. They took the raw product, processed it, spun it into thread and wove it into fabric. The mill workers owed their very lives to the success of the mill. They lived in mill housing and bought at mill shops.
But the raw product they used was cotton from the United States, more specifically the states that made up the Confederate States of America. When the Yankees threw up a blockade around all Confederate ports, it was impossible to get the raw material to operate the mills in Skipton.
Business almost came to a standstill. The worst depression in their history came to be. The mills closed, workers were laid off, no one had money to spend, so the shops went out of business. It was desperate times.
Fortunately, the Duke was an astute businessman. He sent to Egypt for cotton. His mills became specialized. One made thread of both cotton and wool. Another did weaving; others made garments. This specialization increased production while reducing overhead.
He also began searching all over Europe for other businesses that would relocate in Skipton. It was necessary for him to relinquish ownership of much of the town in order to establish these new industries.
This diversification brought eventual prosperity. More people moved in to work in the new factories. New shopkeepers found a lucrative market. A large part of present day Skipton, known as Middletown, was built as company housing to accommodate this influx of new people.<
Where would Skipton be today if there had not been an American Civil War? It is surmised that it might be just another little village, mired in tradition, struggling to survive.
It has always been a small world, hasn�t it? Happy travels.