Houghton Regis Straw plaiting FACTS:
How far can straw plaiting in Houghton Regis be traced back?
Houghton Regis was mentioned in both the 1689 and 1719 Petitions to parliament as being a straw plaiting village.
Plaits made in Houghton Regis:
All kinds of Devon and fine split plaits
The Straw Trade 1871, page 18 Source: TG Austin
Employment in 1871
Employed in agriculture:
Farmers and their men 330
Farm boys 42
Total 372
Employed in Straw Plait Trade:
Men 41
Women 354
Children 24
Total 571
This was the second highest total in the chart, only beaten by Western Rural Parishes – 594
Employed in Straw Hats and Bonnets:
Hats and Bonnets
Men 14
Women 214
Children 13
Total 241
Merchants, Warehousemen, Clerks, etc:
Men 6
Women 0
Children 0
Total 6
The major hat/bonnet company Vyse had workrooms in Houghton Regis
Employed in Food, Clothing, etc:
Men 101
Women 55
Total 156
Other Trades, etc:
Men 95
Women 42
Children under 15 9
Total 146
Total traders not straw trade 674
Population of Houghton Regis 1871
Men 1119 (Adult male 632, boys 487)
Women 1293 (Adult female 806, girls 487)
Total 2412
Separate families (treating each lodger or set of lodgers boarding separately as a distinct family)
Total 560
Houses:
Inhabited houses 531*
Empty houses 82
*This comprises 560 families living in the 531 houses
There are fifty houses to let.
Size of area (of Houghton Regis) in Statue Acres: 4500
Numbers of educated children:
Educated
Boys 205
Girls 182
Total 387
Not Educated:
Boys 108
Girls 182
Total 273
Growth of Houghton Regis:
Today’s population is about 3 and a half times larger than in 1801 Source: TG Austin, The Straw Trade 1871
Straw Plait Schools:
In the 1890s through to the first few years of the 1900s there was a plaiting centre in Houghton Regis to try to revive the failing plaiting industry.
(Source: Various sources, inc. :
John Dony, A History of the Straw Hat Industry, page 94.)
1864 Second Report of The Commissioners with Appendix 1864
