Eleanor Mosley (or Elinor Mosely; 1700–?) was an English milliner and a member in the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers. Mosley successfully ran her own millinery business as a single woman in eighteenth-century London.
Life and career Eleanor Mosley was the daughter of a successful apothecary in York, England. In April 1718, when she was seventeen years old, she was entered into an apprenticeship to George Tyler and his wife, Lucy. The apprenticeship was registered with the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, of which George Tyler was a registered member or master.Erickson, Amy Louise. "Eleanor Mosley and Other Milliners in the City of London Companies 1700-1750." History Workshop Journal (Oxford University Press) 71, no. 1 (2011):147. Between 1714 and 1725, George and Lucy Tyler took on six young women as apprentices. Since George Tyler was registered as a clockmaker with the Clockmakers' Company,Erickson, Amy Louise. "Eleanor Mosley and Other Milliners in the City of London Companies 1700-1750.":149. it is likely these young women were actually apprenticed to his wife Lucy.
In 1727, Mosley completed her apprenticeship, became a member, or mistress, in her own right of the Clockmakers' Company, and set up her own business in London. That same year, she took on her own sister, Catherine, as an apprentice and one month later took a second apprentice, Mary Bate, the daughter of a clergyman from Kent. She was paid £50 for each girl. At least two other of Mosley's sisters were also milliners - Elizabeth, who was apprenticed to a milliner in York; and Dorothy, who eventually took over Mosley's business.Erickson, Amy Louise. "Eleanor Mosley and Other Milliners in the City of London Companies 1700-1750.":160.
Mosley moved her business to a rented shop on Lombard Street in 1729 and in 1736 was able to purchase her own property on nearby Gracechurch Street. She lived and worked at this location with her apprentices for at least a decade.Erickson, Amy Louise. "Eleanor Mosley and Other Milliners in the City of London Companies 1700-1750.":158. This area of London around Lombard and Gracechurch Streets was the principal market area of the city and home to wealthy merchants such as goldsmiths, mercers, apothecaries, and bankers. In 1732, Mosley took on her third apprentice, Mary Newton, the daughter of a London goldsmith. Eleanor's first two apprentices completed their apprenticeships in 1734 and she then took on her fourth apprentice that same year. She took on two apprentices in 1738 and her seventh, and final, registered apprentice in 1739. Eleanor apparently was the sole proprietor of her business, as no other names were recorded on the tax roles as business partner or co-owner.Erickson, Amy Louise. "Eleanor Mosley and Other Milliners in the City of London Companies 1700-1750.":159. In addition to her apprentices, Eleanor probably had domestic servants to run her household and possibly other shop assistants.
The Clockmakers' Company recorded Mosley's marriage in 1747 (although she may have actually married in 1744) when she was in her forties. Mosley's marriage happened rather late in life, however it was not unheard of in this time period. Although the property on Gracechurch Street remained in her maiden name, after 1744 she no longer lived there. The name of Mosley's husband was not recorded in the Clockmakers' Company registers and it is unknown whether she continued in business in another location, took on any more apprentices, or even remained in London. It would not have been unusual for Mosley to have remained in business of some sort after her marriage, as most women in eighteenth-century London continued to work after getting married.Erickson, Amy Louise. "Married Women's occupations in eighteenth-century London." Continuity and Change (Cambridge University Press) 23, no. 02 (2008): 269 In 1749, Eleanor's sister Dorothy started renting the shop from Eleanor. The last official mention of Eleanor Mosley was in 1752 when Dorothy took possession of the property. It is not known if Dorothy Mosley bought the property or if she inherited it due to Eleanor's death.
In a time when most unmarried women worked as domestic servants, Mosley was both a trained craftswoman as well as a businesswoman who successfully ran her own shop for at least fifteen years in a well-to-do area of London. Additionally, she was a member of a livery company in her own right - most women acquired membership through their husbands. Mosley commanded high apprenticeship premiums and never had less than two apprentices at any one time. After marrying in her forties, she passed her business on to her sister.
London livery companies (trade guilds) and apprenticeships Although guilds had been formed around specific trades, by the eighteenth century many of the London guilds, known as Livery Companies, no longer had monopoly control of their indicated trades.Erickson, Amy Louise. "Eleanor Mosley and Other Milliners in the City of London Companies 1700-1750.":151. Only a few companies by this time specified the actual trade to be practiced by its members, so members of the company could practice a trade completely unrelated to the named trade of the company.Erickson, Amy Louise. "Eleanor Mosley and Other Milliners in the City of London Companies 1700-1750.":152. In order to run a business and trade within the walls of the City of London, membership in one of the companies was required for both men (known as masters) and women (known as mistresses).
Milliners did not have a trade company of their own so they had to belong to other companies. Only Mosley and one other woman were recorded in the Clockmakers' records as milliners among the female members of the company, although it is highly likely other women were also milliners.Erickson, Amy Louise. "Clockmakers, Milliners, and Mistresses: Women Trading in the City of London Companies 1700-1750." n.d.:10 Some companies did continue to specify which trade could be practiced by their members and among those more milliners are found. Although female membership in the companies accounted for only one to two percent of the total membership, a significant number of them were milliners.Jessica, Collins. "Jane Holt, Milliner, and Other Women in Business: Apprentices, Freewomen, and Mistresses in the Clothworkers' Company, 1606-1800." Textile History 44, no. 1 (May 2013): 73-74. In the Haberdashers' Company nearly half of the girls apprenticed in the first half of the eighteenth century were apprenticed to milliners. In the Grocers' Company, two-thirds of the girls apprenticed between 1717 and 1743 were to milliners. In the Clothworkers' Company, of the eighty apprenticeships where the trade was noted, 25 were to milliners.Jessica, Collins. "Jane Holt, Milliner, and Other Women in Business: Apprentices, Freewomen, and Mistresses in the Clothworkers' Company, 1606-1800.":76
Membership in a guild could be attained through completing an apprenticeship (which is what Mosley did), through one's father, purchasing a membership, or by marriage. Wives could claim membership through their husbands and conversely they could transfer membership to their husbands when they married. Most women gained membership through their husbands.
For company apprenticeships, parents paid a premium to the master or mistress. Apprenticeships started when children were in their teens and lasted seven years.Erickson, Amy Louise. "Clockmakers, Milliners, and Mistresses: Women Trading in the City of London Companies 1700-1750.":1. The premiums paid for a millinery apprenticeship were relatively high - approximately the same amount as might be required to apprentice a boy to a merchant or apothecary.Erickson, Amy Louise. "Eleanor Mosley and Other Milliners in the City of London Companies 1700-1750.":150-151
Milliners The traditional definition of a milliner differs from the definition used now which exclusively means hatmaker. The Oxford English Dictionary defines an eighteenth-century milliner as "a haberdasher of small wares; seller of fancy wares, accessories and apparel, either originally (deriving from) those wares coming from Milan or from selling a thousand things."Oxford English Dictionary as cited in Erickson, Amy Louise. "Eleanor Mosley and Other Milliners in the City of London Companies 1700-1750.":154 However, there may be another derivation of the word. According to the Berg Companion to Fashion, milliner derives from the word "Millaner" which referred to merchants from the city of Milan who traveled to northern Europe with a variety of goods, such as silk, ribbons, lace, ornaments, and other general finery. They also brought news of the latest styles and variations on dress and served both men and women. The term dates to the early sixteenth century. Milliners also would have dealt in the fine straw hats from Florence which may have led to some to settle on hat making.Hopkins, Susie. "Milliners." In The Berg Companion to Fashion, by Valerie Steele. New York: Berg, 2010:508
Although no trade cards belonging to Eleanor Mosley have been found, these trade cards from c.1757-1758 show the variety of goods a milliner might carry.
In 1747, The London Tradesman (a guide to the trades) gave a list of a milliner's responsibilities: "The Milliner is concerned in making and providing the Ladies with Linen of all sorts, fit for Wearing Apparel, from the Holland Smock to the Tippet...the Milliner furnishes them with Holland, Cambrickm Lawn and Lace of all sorts and makes these Materials into Smocks, Aprons, Tippers, Handkerchiefs, Neckties, Ruffles, Mobs, Caps. The make up Cloaks, Manteels, Mantelets, Cheens and Capucheens of Silk, Velvet, plain or brocaded and trim them with Silver and Gold Lace or Black Lace. They make up and sell Hats, Hoods, and Caps of all Sorts and Materials; they find them in Gloves, Muffs and Ribbons: they sell Petticoats and Hoops of all Sizes."R. Campbell, The London Tradesman, London:T. Gardner (1747):207 cited in Campbell, Kimberly Chrisman. "The Face of Fashion: Milliners in Eighteenth-Century Visual Culture." Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies 25, no. 2 (2002): 160 In the seventeenth century, milliners were predominantly men but a change in fashionable dress for women led to milliners being mostly women. The mantua, an open-front gown with a loose-fitting unboned bodice cut all in one piece with the skirt, much like an overrobe became popular. The gown was worn over a corset and petticoat and the skirts of the gown were draped up to reveal the petticoat. The mantua started as an informal at-home gown but evolved into a more formal style that became acceptable at court.Sewell, Dennita. "Mantua." In The Berg Companion to Fashion, by Valerie Steele, New York: Berg, 2010:496-497 The gap in the front of the bodice was filled in with a stomacher which were often covered with lace, ribbons, and various other trimmings. Previously, most women's clothing had been made by tailors but this new style was easier to make and seamstresses moved into making mantuas. Before this seamstresses mostly made simple items such as shirts, chemises, cuffs, and collars. Even as the style of the mantua became more complicated and went out of style, women continued to make all sorts of clothing for women and the term mantuamaker became synonymous with dressmaker.