Workshop of Tailor, John D. Findlay, Strathaven, ca. 1900
Title
Workshop of Tailor, John D. Findlay, Strathaven, ca. 1900
Category
Textiles
Description
This photograph shows the tailors and apprentices in the workroom of John D. Findlay, Clothier and Gentlemen’s Outfitter, 26 Barn Street, Strathaven. Tailors and their assistants traditionally worked sitting crossed leg on large tables. A raised surface helped to support the weight of heavy woollen fabrics typical to men’s tailoring, and kept garments clean whilst they were being stitched by hand. In earlier centuries tailors sat in the windows of their shops to take advantage of the natural light, however the bare wall in this photograph suggests that Findlay’s men worked in a back room workshop. Despite the smiles of some of the younger men it is a rather bleak depiction of the working conditions of men working in the traditional needle trades.
John Findlay, son of grocer and sometime silk handloom weaver William Findlay, was listed in the 1901 census as a tailor and employer living with his wife Elizabeth at 29 Jamesfield Cottage, Strathaven. Strathaven’s changing fortunes in the last quarter of the nineteenth century likely influenced John’s decision not to follow his father into the weaving trade. The introduction of silk weaving in 1788, followed by the building of a cotton mill in 1790 made Strathaven a textile town throughout the nineteenth century. In 1826, at the peak of production it had 900 working looms and weaving shops could be found in every street of this small South Lanarkshire town. Strathaven continued to thrive by producing textile designers and card cutters when Jacquard looms were introduced, but the mid-century introduction of power-looms undermined the handloom weaving industry. When the railway opened in 1863 younger men sought work outside the village, and by 1900, when John Findlay was 29, there were only 150 looms still at work in Strathaven.
Findlay’s tailors shop was in Barn Street, a short connecting road between the weaver’s shops of Green Street and the agricultural engineers, corn mills and wood yards in the Commercial Road. Descriptions of the local shops and trades mark Strathaven as typical of a small Scottish town once prosperous on textiles but fallen on harder times. Local agriculture maintained the business of a saddler and harness maker but by 1911 more modern forms of transport were also in evidence in the form of the Sandsknow Motor and Cycle Works. In clothing and general drapery Findlay’s competed with several other local tailors as well as a General Warehousman stocking linens, shirts, pants, braces, caps and ties.
The Scottish National Association of Tailors was formed in 1866 to maintain standards of training and represent the interests of journeyman tailors but the invention of the sewing machine undermined the need for traditional skills and by the end of the century the National Association also represented factory operatives and all aspects of the tailoring trades were threatened by sweated working conditions and the introduction of cheaper female labour.
John Findlay, son of grocer and sometime silk handloom weaver William Findlay, was listed in the 1901 census as a tailor and employer living with his wife Elizabeth at 29 Jamesfield Cottage, Strathaven. Strathaven’s changing fortunes in the last quarter of the nineteenth century likely influenced John’s decision not to follow his father into the weaving trade. The introduction of silk weaving in 1788, followed by the building of a cotton mill in 1790 made Strathaven a textile town throughout the nineteenth century. In 1826, at the peak of production it had 900 working looms and weaving shops could be found in every street of this small South Lanarkshire town. Strathaven continued to thrive by producing textile designers and card cutters when Jacquard looms were introduced, but the mid-century introduction of power-looms undermined the handloom weaving industry. When the railway opened in 1863 younger men sought work outside the village, and by 1900, when John Findlay was 29, there were only 150 looms still at work in Strathaven.
Findlay’s tailors shop was in Barn Street, a short connecting road between the weaver’s shops of Green Street and the agricultural engineers, corn mills and wood yards in the Commercial Road. Descriptions of the local shops and trades mark Strathaven as typical of a small Scottish town once prosperous on textiles but fallen on harder times. Local agriculture maintained the business of a saddler and harness maker but by 1911 more modern forms of transport were also in evidence in the form of the Sandsknow Motor and Cycle Works. In clothing and general drapery Findlay’s competed with several other local tailors as well as a General Warehousman stocking linens, shirts, pants, braces, caps and ties.
The Scottish National Association of Tailors was formed in 1866 to maintain standards of training and represent the interests of journeyman tailors but the invention of the sewing machine undermined the need for traditional skills and by the end of the century the National Association also represented factory operatives and all aspects of the tailoring trades were threatened by sweated working conditions and the introduction of cheaper female labour.
Image copyright
National Museums Scotland
Item Location
National Museums Scotland
Files
Citation
“Workshop of Tailor, John D. Findlay, Strathaven, ca. 1900,” Artisans in Scotland, accessed October 15, 2025, http://www.artisansinscotland.shca.ed.ac.uk/items/show/54.