The Great Exhibition and after

The chemicals required, in order that a fabric composed of both vegetable and animal substances may be made to receive an equal and regular dye, are necessarily varied and intricate;

The Great Exhibition of 1851 rendered the year memorable for many sectors of British industry, including the worsted industry. The jurors' report divided its fabrics into five classes: (a) all-wool, (b) wool/cotton, (c) wool/silk, (d) wool/silk/cotton and (e) alpaca and mohair mixed with cotton or silk. In classes (b)-(d) the British manufacturer was clearly superior; in fact, few such fabrics were made on the Continent. The juries noted that

"The result could not have been obtained had not the skill and enterprise of the manufacturers been aided by that of the worsted dyers.

 

 

 

 

but so successful have been the efforts of the dyers, that goods made of white cotton warp and worsted weft can be dyed quite as perfect in colour as French merinos composed of wool alone."