Members from Kilbarchan visited two museums in one day last week. They both exceeded our expectations.
First up was the Paisley Thread Mill Museum (housed in one of the former mills). One of their volunteer guides explained why Paisley had become the ‘Thread capital of the World’ during the 19th & 20th Centuries. This was due to 2 local wealthy families the Clarks and the Coats. This was for their innovative ideas; the Clark family for their artistry and the Coats family for their business acumen. Their mills employed thousands of workers and their threads sold worldwide. The weaving industry declined in Paisley during the 2nd half of the 20th century when much of the production moved abroad. Our guide was such a knowledgeable and interesting chap to listen to that we didn’t really have time to view all of the artifacts and information in this museum so will probably make a return visit.
After a nice lunch in their small tearoom the group had a guided tour of the Sma Shot Museum. This small museum is a few former weaver’s cottages that were built in the 1750’s. It was full of artifacts from the 18th, 19th & 20th centuries. The guide (again a volunteer) gave an extremely interesting tour of the cottages which included the fact that former US President Ronald Reagan’s maternal family hails from Paisley.
During our visit we learned of course about the history of the artesan weavers of Paisley, how they lived and worked. The were originally self employed and relatively well off compared to most. being able to choose if they wanted to work on a particular day – or not! This was until middlemen known as ‘Corks’ or ‘Corkers’ became established. From our two visits we were surprised and delighted to learn of several ‘firsts’ for Paisley:
A dispute with the weavers over payment for the Sma’ Shot (see photo for explanation) led to the creation of the 1st Trade Union in Scotland.
Paisley was the first entire city to have access to filtered water in 1804.
Charles Babbage created his mathematical punchcard machine from a machine created in Paisley to aid weavers making Paisley Pattern shawls.
Paisley Floral Society is recognised as the first floral society. It was created by weavers as part of their plans for self-improvement and intellectual pursuits.
The earliest mention of the sport of Curling is recorded as being at nearby Paisley Abbey in 1541.
