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Early in 1854, the Holloway Brothers established a new clothing factory in Stroud, on a lane later known as Threadneedle Street. By June that year, 50 people were employed making 1,200 pairs of trousers per week. The company continued to expand. By 1890, 1,500 people were employed to meet increased demands. In 1899, Holloway Brothers built a specially designed factory at Brick Row, Stroud. It had spacious and well-lit workrooms for separate manufacturing processes. Nevertheless, the work still involved much hand sewing. The workforce included a large number of women who worked from home. 'When I left school at Easter 1916, I went to work . . .at George Holloway's Steam Sewing Factory at Stroud. . . . I didn't see anything of the steam sewing process, but sat at a bench with thirty other girls and sewed buttons on men's trousers ad infinitum...' Evelyn Pollard, Randwick and Roundabout, 1986, p.57 From January 2016, this website is managed by Stroud Local |
