The inspiration for the books in my new series was the terrible hardship which hit the Lancashire mill towns from the close of 1861 until the spring of 1865, when the supply of raw cotton completely dried up because of the American civil war. In the 1860s the Lancashire spinning and weaving mills were totally dependent on imported cotton and that cotton came from plantations of the southern states of the American Union.
Some politicians had previously warned that being dependant on one supplier for the raw goods to support a staple industry was foolish, and some steps had been taken to source raw cotton from other countries, including India. But no one had foreseen the sudden catastrophe that the outbreak of war in America would bring.
When the northern states, led by Abraham Lincoln, blockaded the ports of the southern states to prevent them profiting from sales of their cotton, Lancashire that was reduced to abject poverty as the mills were forced to close down and workers were laid off with no wages.
In 1861, the population of Blackburn was 61,126. Out of this number about 25,000 were directly employed in various branches of the cotton trade. But as the total population included dependants such as small children it’s estimated that 79% of the inhabitants were directly dependant on the cotton industry. In addition to this, there were around 3000 people employed in engineering and machine making in the town and with the closure of the mills their work dried up too. Shopkeepers were also directly affected as is clear from an account given by my own great, great grandfather, William Eastwood.
In later life, William was interviewed by a local newspaper, The Blackburn Times, and this is what he said.
I first went to work at Brookhouse mill. I was put in the spinning room at eight years of age. There was no half time then. I remained at Brookhouse for about 15 years, then went to Plantation mill, run by Will and Tom Turner, but after a while this place was stopped and I started a grocer’s shop on Primrose Bank. Later I took a shop on Peter Street. We had that shop during the Cotton Famine. We had to let people have a lot of groceries on credit, because they had no money to pay for them, and we lost a great deal as a result. In fact, it almost ruined us. We were owed nearly £100 out of which we got very little back. And, of course, £100 was a great deal to us at that time.
On the 1861 census, taken in April of that year, William’s occupation is given as Grocer and Cotton Spinner. His sons are all working in the cotton industry as cotton piecers, cotton creelers and his brother James who is living with them is a minder. The Cotton Famine must have hit them hard, putting most of the family out of work as well as causing them to lose a huge amount of money in the shop.
There was no welfare state back then and any help offered to those who had no money came from voluntary donations. In Blackburn a relief committee was formed, although at first many of the workers were too proud of their independence to accept help. But as time passed it was clear that the only alternative was starvation. A soup kitchen was set up on Cleaver Street and I’ve drawn on contemporary accounts of this as background for my story. The ingredients I’ve mentioned, the amount made and the cost are all factual.
Much of the detail has come from a book named The History of the Distress in Blackburn written by William Gourlay in 1865 when the worst of the crisis was over. It’s a fascinating account and I hope it has added a note of authenticity to the series, even though all my characters are entirely fictional.
Later, various classes were set up around the town to give the workers some employment for a small wage, and I’ve used this as inspiration for the second book in the series The Sewing Class Girl.
Some help also came from the northern union of America. Abraham Lincoln sent food, mostly flour, to alleviate the starvation of the cotton workers. The most famous of these is probably the George Griswold and some of the barrels from this shipment still survive. I know there is one in the museum at Rochdale. And if you ever visit Manchester you will see a statue of Abraham Lincoln in Lincon Square, which commemorates this aid. Of course there was a political strand to this help. The southern states had expected England to support them and send war ships to break the blockade so that the cotton would flow. Lincoln was keen that this shouldn’t happen and he wanted to express his gratitude to the cotton workers for supporting him and his fight for the abolition of slavery. The issue of slavery cannot be overlooked. As well as it being one of the main issues of the American war, it was an integral part of the cotton industry. The previous growth and prosperity of the cotton towns had been built on raw material picked by slaves. It’s often said that the Lancashire workers put up with starvation because they supported abolition. I think the truth is possibly more nuanced. Whilst they knew slavery was wrong, many simply wanted to get back to work and feed their families.
The American civil war dragged on until 1865, after which the cotton began to flow again and the town saw a rise in prosperity.
By 1871, William is still a grocer. He has two children still living at home, George, my great grandfather, and Ellen, who are both cotton weavers. I hope that this meant that life was much better for them now that the cotton was once more flowing into the country, with the main difference being that it was no longer being picked by slaves.
The Soup Kitchen Girl is Book One of the Cotton Crisis series. It will be published as a print and ebook on 17th September 2026. Available to pre-order now.
Libby Ashworth - author 