Textiles as an Applied Science at the University of Leeds, 1904 to 1979

Abstract

The textile department at the Yorkshire College of Science was opened in 1875 and absorbed into the University of Leeds in 1904. Thereafter it was transformed from a well-equipped centre for technical education, meeting local industrial needs, to an applied science department of high academic achievement, and international renown, with a graduate employment record which was both successful and diverse. Throughout, it received the generous support of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers. The transformation, which was neither straightforward nor painless, required a strategic response to each of three questions by three successive generations of university managers, as follows. Firstly, can a technical curriculum be sustained in a university setting? Secondly, can the study of textiles be redefined as an applied science? Thirdly, can other disciplines be included to provide broader insights? By considering the responses, this article explores the manner in which social relationships, academic behaviour, industrial practice, and industrial change interacted to shape the curriculum and the research agenda, during an era of large-scale textile production in the UK.

Keywords:

• vocational training
• industrial research
• applied science
• wool textiles
• textile technology
• textile design

Acknowledgements

My sincere thanks are due to Professor Michael Hann, formerly of the School of Design at the University of Leeds, for encouraging me to write this article and for commenting on the final draft. I am also grateful to the staff of Special Collections at the University library for their guidance, and to an anonymous reviewer for helpful and constructive advice.

Notes

1 A.N. Shimmin, The University of Leeds: The First Half Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1954), pp. 11–29.

2 J.J. Walsh, ‘The University Movement in the North of England at the End of the Nineteenth Century’, Northern History, 46, 1 (2009), pp. 124–126.

3 Katharine Chorley, Manchester Made Them (London: Faber & Faber, 1950) (Re-issued by Silk Press Books, Hale, 2001), pp. 57–64.

4 University of Leeds, Calendar 1996–97, p. 21.

5 Walsh, p. 128.

6 E. Barker, Universities in Great Britain: Their Position and Their Problems (London: SCM Press, 1931), p. 80; M. Wiener, English Culture and the Decline of the Industrial Spirit, 1850–1980, Second Edition, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp. 16–24.

7 M. Sanderson, The Universities and British Industry, 1850–1970 (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1972), pp. 234–236; J.F. Crowley, ‘Science as a Factor in the Development of the Textile Industry’, Journal of the Textile Institute (JTI), 8, 3 (1917), pp. 170–183.

8 Leeds University Library, Special Collections (LULSC), especially LUA/ADM/010/83/1, LUA/ADM/010/83/5 and LUA/ADM/010/83/11.

9 K.C. Jackson and P. Grosberg, ‘The Recession in the British Textile Industry 1979–80’, JTI, 72, 5 (1981), pp. 201–205. This is a classic contemporary account.

10 K.C. Jackson, ‘Educational Prerequisites for a Diversified Textile Industry’, Niches in the world of textiles : papers presented at the World Conference May 22–24, 1996, Tampere, Finland : the 77th World Conference of the Textile Institute (Manchester: Textile Institute in association with Tampere University of Technology, 1997) Vol 1, pp. 41–52.

11 J.F. Donnelly, ‘Science, Technology and Industrial Work in Britain, 1860–1930’, Social History, 16, 2 (1991), p. 201.

12 Shimmin, The University of Leeds, pp. 160–164.

13 C.S. Whewell, ‘The Clothworkers’ Company and the University of Leeds’, The University of Leeds Review, 17, 2 (1975), pp. 305–316; C.S. Whewell, ‘Collaboration with Industry in the Department of Textile Industries’, The University of Leeds Review, 22 (1979), pp. 191–207.

14 P.H.J.H. Gosden and A.J. Taylor, eds, Studies in the History of a University, 1874–1974: To Commemorate the Centenary of the University of Leeds (Leeds: EJ Arnold, 1975).

15 R.L. Blaszczyk, Fashionability: Abraham Moon and the Creation of British Cloth for the Global Market (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2017), pp. 62–70.

16 F.T. Mattison, ‘Government and Staff’, in Studies in the History of a University, eds Gosden and Taylor, pp. 197–200.

17 Donnelly, p. 194.

18 Yorkshire College, Clothworkers’ Report, 1899/1900, p. 1; A.F. Barker, ‘The Worshipful Company of Clothworkers’ Departments of the University of Leeds: A Historical Sketch Prepared for the Clothworkers’ Company’, University of Leeds Review, 5, 1 (1956), p. 76, 77; Professor John Beaumont, Obituary, Textile Manufacturer, 15 Sep. 1889, pp. 422–424.

19 LULSC: LUA/COM/001/179, Yorkshire College, ‘Memorandum by the Committee on the Draft Charter for a University in Yorkshire’, 2 May 1903, pasted into Council minute book. Quotation reproduced with the permission of Special Collections, Leeds University Library.

20 E. Ashby, Technology and the Academics: An Essay on the Universities and the Scientific Revolution (London: Macmillan, 1958), pp. 60–68.

21 LULSC: LUA/COM/001/179, letter, 8 May 1903, Owen Roberts, Clerk to the Clothworkers’ Company, to WF Husband, Secretary of the Yorkshire College, copy pasted into Council minute book.

22 LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/1, letter, 11 Jun. 1903, Roberts to Husband.

23 C.G. Lupton, vote of thanks following a lecture by W.H. Bragg to the Textile Institute Congress held at the university in 1916. Lecture published as W.H. Bragg, ‘Physical Science and its Application to Industry’, JTI, 7, 3 (1916), pp. 185–193; LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/1, printed list of Master, Wardens, and Assistants of the Clothworkers’ Company, dated 1899–1900.

24 See also Ashby, Technology and the Academics, pp. 84–85 and J.B. Speakman, ‘Technology in the University’, University of Leeds Review, 2, 1 (1950), pp. 40–46.

25 M.E. Sadler, ‘Welcome by the Vice-Chancellor’, JTI, 7, 3 (1916), pp. 194–201. The institutional memory of Lord Kelvin’s contribution was long lasting, see for example LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/2, letter, 10 Dec. 1922, Arthur Smithells to Vice-Chancellor.

26 M.W. Beresford, ‘Red Brick and Portland Stone: A Building History’, in Studies in the History of a University, eds Gosden and Taylor, pp. 178–179.

27 Vera Whitehead, The Clothworkers’ Library: History and Development 1880–1996 (unpublished typed and bound manuscript, 1996), pp. 1–3.

28 LULSC: LUA/DEP/007/2010.661, album, ‘The Clothworkers’ Departments of the Yorkshire College, Leeds’, circa 1900 to 1903, presents a remarkable photographic record of facilities during that period.

29 For student numbers and course entries see University of Leeds, Clothworkers’ Reports, 1904/05 to 1911/12.

30 R. Beaumont, Woollen and Worsted Cloth Manufacture: Being a Practical Treatise for the Use of All Persons Employed in the Manipulation of Textile Fabrics (London: George Bell & Sons, 1888).

31 R. Beaumont, Colour in Woven Design (London: George Bell & Sons, 1890).

32 LULSC: LUA/DEP/007/2010.661, album, Clothworkers’ Departments.

33 LULSC: LUA/COM/001/8, University of Leeds, Council Minutes, 18 Jun. 1913. Respectively, the academic members were Professors W.H. Bragg, Arthur Smithells, J.B. Cohen, and John Goodman. Aldred Barker wrote that at the close of his tenure Beaumont ‘unhappily sank under criticism – sometimes unkindly given’, see Barker, ‘The Worshipful Company of Clothworkers’ Departments of the University of Leeds’, p. 78. Roberts Beaumont died in 1922 aged 61, see obituary in Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Dec. 1922, p. 1219.

34 K.C. Jackson, ‘Defining Textile Technology as a Scientific Discipline: A Historical Perspective’, JTI, 114, 6 (2023), pp. 877–888 (Centenary Issue). The dichotomy is discussed at pp. 878–879.

35 LULSC: LUA/COM/001/179, Yorkshire College, Textile Industries and Dyeing Advisory Committee of Council, Minutes, 25 Oct. 1901, written into the Council minute book. The Advisory Committee was composed entirely of lay members, apart from the Principal. The sub-committee had nine members and Mr Evans, the assistant clerk to the Clothworkers’ Company, attended all of the meetings.

36 LULSC: LUA/COM/001/179, ‘The Yorkshire College, Leeds, Clothworkers’ Departments, Report of the Sub-Committee on the Condition of the Dyeing Department’, 22 Jul. 1902, printed document pasted into the Council minute book.

37 LULSC: LUA/COM/001/179, Sub-committee minutes, 24 Jan. 1902, WG Perkin in attendance. Letter from AG Perkin to the sub-committee, February 1902, day not stated, copied into the Council minute book.

38 Shimmin, The University of Leeds, pp. 164–167.

39 LULSC: LUA/COM/001/179, letter, Raphael Meldola to Sir Owen Roberts, no date, printed and pasted into the Council minute book.

40 LULSC: LUA/COM/001/179, Sub-committee minutes, 16 Jun. 1902, written report from Prof Arthur Smithells, copied into the Council minute book.

41 LULSC: LUA/COM/001/179, Advisory Committee, Minutes, 17 Sep. 1902, written into the Council minute book; A Smithells, ‘Prof John James Hummel’, Obituary, Nature, 66, 25 Sep. 1902, p. 520.

42 LULSC: LUA/COM/001/179, Advisory Committee, Minutes, 2 Dec. 1902, written into the Council minute book; Shimmin, The University of Leeds, pp. 165–166.

43 City & Guilds candidates were presented annually in both dyeing and textiles until 1962 and 1963, respectively.

44 University of Leeds, Clothworkers’ Reports, 1904/05 to 1911/12.

45 The Textile Institute was awarded a Royal Charter in 1925 and continues as a chartered professional body with a large international membership.

46 G.A.B. Dewar, The Great Munition Feat, 1914–1918 (London: Constable, 1921), p. 268, quoted in Sanderson, The Universities and British Industry, p. 235.

47 LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/1, paper by AF Barker, ‘Board of Education Consultative Committee: Recommendations made to the Committee on 8 Sep. 1915’.

48 LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/1, paper initialled by Michael Sadler and AF Barker, ‘Technological Training for the Textile Industries’. Summarises conclusions from a preliminary meeting held, 17 Nov. 1915, for a meeting to be held 29 Nov. 1915. Subsequent developments to May 1916 are described in a further paper, ‘Coordination of Textile Instruction and Research in the West Riding of Yorkshire’, no date, no attribution.

49 Became the Wool Industries Research Association (WIRA) in 1930.

50 University of Leeds, Clothworkers’ Reports, 1915/16, 1916/17, 1917/18.

51 See especially, S.A. Shorter, ‘The Electrification of Fibres’, JTI, 9, 1 (1918), pp. 6–10 and W. Harrison, ‘Investigations on Textile Fibres’, Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 94 (1918), pp. 460–469, (communicated by Prof W.H. Bragg).

52 Jackson, ‘Defining Textile Technology as a Scientific Discipline: A Historical Perspective’, pp. 878–879.

53 LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/1, letter, 9 Feb. 1917, Vice-Chancellor to Alfred Barren, Textile Industries and Dyeing Advisory Committee.

54 LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/1, letter, 26 Oct. 1917, Registrar to AF Barker; LUA/ADM/010/83/11, ‘BRAWWI Report of the Council, 1918–19’, p. 2.

55 L. Anderson, The Story of WIRA (Leeds: WIRA Technology Group, 1988), p. 18.

56 LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/11, ‘BRAWWI Report of the Council, 1918–19’, p. 6, 7.

57 LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/11, letter, 8 May 1919, Arnold Frobisher, Secretary of BRAWWI to Registrar (as Secretary of the Joint Textile Research Committee); LUA/ADM/010/83/11, letter, 17 May 1919, H.J.W. Bliss, Director of Research at BRAWWI to SA Shorter; Board of Trade, Working Party Report: Wool, (London: HMSO, 1947), pp. 104–105.

58 Bias within the DSIR in favour of Fellows of the Royal Society and against industrial practitioners was identified and discussed in Crowley, pp. 170–183.

59 Barker, ‘The Worshipful Company of Clothworkers’ Departments of the University of Leeds’, p. 84, 86.

60 LULSC: MS 1565/1/14, report, ‘The Development of Research in the Department of Textile Industries of the University, Leeds’, 22 Jun. 1927, p. 5; F.T. Peirce, ‘Cotton Research and Academic Physics’, JTI, 23, 2 (1932), p. 9.

61 Jackson ‘Defining Textile Technology as a Scientific Discipline: A Historical Perspective’, pp. 884–886.

62 F.C. Toy, ‘The Influence of Science on the Cotton Industry’, JTI, 30, 9 (1939), pp. 387–399.

63 D. Edgerton, Warfare State: Britain, 1920–1970 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 108–144.

64 LULSC: LUA/COM/001/8, Council Minutes, 18 Mar. and 20 May 1914.

65 University of Leeds, Clothworkers’ Reports, 1920/21, 1922/23; E.A. Fisher, ‘Some Moisture Relations of Colloids: A Comparative Study of the Ratio of Evaporation of Water from Wool, Sand, and Clay’, Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 103 (1923), pp. 139–161 (communicated by Prof A. Smithells); E.A. Fisher, ‘Some Moisture Relations of Colloids: Further Observations on the Evaporation of Water from Wool, Sand, and Clay’, Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 103 (1923), pp. 664–675 (communicated by Prof A. Smithells).

66 K.T. Hall, The Man in the Monkeynut Coat: William Astbury and the Forgotten Road to the Double Helix (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), pp. 64–68.

67 University of Leeds, Clothworkers’ Report, 1923/24.

68 Indicative publications: J.B. Speakman, ‘The Extensibility of the Wool Fibre’, JTI, 15, 11 (1924), pp. T529–T532; J.B. Speakman, ‘The Gel Structure of the Wool Fibre’, JTI, 17, 9 (1926), pp. T457–T471; J.B. Speakman, ‘The Plasticity of Wool’, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 103 (1928), pp. 377–396 (communicated by Prof A.V. Hill); J.B. Speakman, ‘The Rigidity of Wool and Its Change with Adsorption of Water Vapour’, Transactions of the Faraday Society, 25 (1929), pp. 92–103; J.B. Speakman, ‘The Elastic Properties of Wool in Water at High Temperatures’, Transactions of the Faraday Society, 25 (1929).

69 W.B. Stephens, ‘The Curriculum’, in Studies in the History of a University, eds Gosden and Taylor, p. 283.

70 University of Leeds, Clothworkers’ Report, 1925/26 (Awarded to George Barker).

71 University of Leeds, Clothworkers’ Reports, 1917/18, 1918/19, 1928/29, 1935/35. From 1946 the textile department was at various times home to three other small research associations, see C.S. Whewell, ‘Collaboration with Industry in the Department of Textile Industries’, University of Leeds Review, 22 (1979), pp. 191–207.

72 L.H.C. Tippett, A Portrait of the Lancashire Textile Industry (London: Oxford University Press, 1969), p. 130.

73 Barker, ‘The Worshipful Company of Clothworkers’ Departments of the University of Leeds’, p. 84.

74 LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/2, paper by AF Barker, ‘The Past and Present Activities of the Department with Special Reference to Future Developments’ dated 10 Feb. 1925.

75 LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/4, ‘An Address given to the Court of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers on 2 Dec. 1941, by Professor F.M. Rowe, and subsequently elaborated at the request of the Clerk to the Company’. Quotation reproduced with the permission of Special Collections, Leeds University Library.

76 LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/2, notes by Registrar, ‘Interview at Clothworkers’ Hall, 12 May 1927’.

77 University of Leeds, Clothworkers’ Departments: Report of the Work Done under the Research Scheme Established in 1928 with the Aid of a Special Grant from the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers, Sessions 1928–29; 1929–30; Dec. 1931; Hall, The Man in the Monkeynut Coat.

78 LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/11, memorandum of a meeting between representatives of the Clothworkers’ Company and the Textile Industries and Dyeing Committee of Council, 14 Dec. 1927.

79 University of Leeds, Clothworkers’ Reports, 1917/18 to 1928/29.

80 Indicative publications: F.W. Dry, ‘The Genetics of the Wensleydale Breed of Sheep: 1. The Occurrence of Black Lambs, an Examination of Flock Records’, Journal of Genetics, 14 (1924), pp. 203–218; F.W. Dry, ‘Colour Inheritance of the Wensleydale Breed of Sheep’, JTI, 17, 3 (1926), pp. T180–T186; F.W. Dry, ‘Mendelian Breeding with Wensleydale Sheep’, JTI, 18, 10 (1927), pp. T415–T420 (British Association Research Conference, Leeds, 1927).

81 LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/2 letter, Sir Ernest Bain to Vice-Chancellor, 6 Nov. 1925; letter, Sir Ernest Bain to AF Barker, 19 Nov. 1925; letter, AF Barker to Vice-Chancellor, 29 May 1926.

82 LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/2, financial statement, 24 Jun. 1924.

83 The main contributions during the 1920s were A.F. Barker and A.F.B. Barker, ‘Wools and Wool Fibre Testing’, JTI, 15, 2 (1924), pp. T53–T60; A.F. Barker, ‘Touch and Sight versus the Microscope in Wool Classing and Sorting’, Nature, 115, 14 Feb. 1925, pp. 226–228; A.F. Barker, ‘Race and Environment as Affecting the Type of Sheep and the Wool Supplies of the World’, JTI, 18, 10 (1927), pp. T421–T430 (British Association Research Conference, Leeds, 1927).

84 LULSC: LUA/COM/001/254 and 255, University of Leeds, Senate Minutes, 6 Jun. 1923 and 1 Jun. 1927.

85 LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/2, letters, AF Barker to Vice-Chancellor, 8 Nov. 1926, 12 Nov. 1926, 3 Feb. 1927; LULSC: MS 1565/1/14, handwritten and typed papers describing recent research by academic staff of the Department of Textile Industries, no date.

86 LULSC: MS 1565/1/14, report, ‘The Development of Research in the Department of Textile Industries of the University, Leeds’, 22 Jun. 1927; LULSC: MS 1565/1/14, report ‘Textile Research’, unattributed, 21 Jun. 1927, covering letter dated 24 Jun. 1927; Hall, The Man in the Monkeynut Coat, pp. 58, 206; LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/2, report submitted with a letter from the Registrar to the Clerk to the Clothworkers’ Company dated 6 Jul. 1927.

87 Hall, The Man in the Monkeynut Coat, pp. 60–76.

88 C.S. Whewell, ‘Emeritus Professor John Bamber Speakman, CBE’, University of Leeds Review, 8, 4 (1963), pp. 351–359; Edgerton, Warfare State, p. 128, note 89, refers to Speakman’s move from War Office laboratory to university as unusual.

89 Barker, ‘The Worshipful Company of Clothworkers’ Departments of the University of Leeds’, 5, 1 (1956), p. 84, 85.

90 C.S. Whewell, ‘Prof AF Barker’, Obituary, Nature, 205, 20 Mar. 1965, pp. 1157–1158.

91 See C. Stephenson and F. Suddards, Ornamental Design for Woven Fabrics (London: Methuen & Co, 1897).

92 University of Leeds, Clothworkers’ Report, 1899/1900.

93 LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/2, letter, Sir Owen Roberts to W.F. Husband, 28 May 1903; LULSC: LUA/COM/001/179, Advisory Committee, Minutes, 14 Jul. 1903, statement pasted into the Council minute book.

94 A.F. Barker, An Introduction to the Study of Textile Design (London: Methuen & Co, 1903); A.F. Barker, ‘Fashions and Fabrics’, JTI, 16, 4 (1925), pp. P97–P102; A.F. Barker, Ornamentation and Textile Design, (London: Methuen & Co, 1930).

95 H.J. Woods, ‘The Geometrical Basis of Pattern Designs: Part I Point and Line Symmetry in Simple Figures and Borders’, JTI, 26, 6 (1935), pp. T197–T210; H.J. Woods, ‘The Geometrical Basis of Pattern Designs: Part II Nets and Sateens’, JTI, 26, 10 (1935), pp. T293–T308; H.J. Woods, ‘The Geometrical Basis of Pattern Designs: Part III Geometrical Symmetry in Plane Patterns’, JTI, 26, 12 (1935), pp. T341–T357; H.J. Woods, ‘The Geometrical Basis of Pattern Designs: Part IV Counterchange Symmetry in Plane Patterns’, JTI, 27, 12 (1936), pp. T305–T320.

96 The Central School of Arts and Crafts is now merged within Central St Martin’s College of Arts and Design.

97 C. Kisby, ‘The Training of Textile Designers for Woven and Printed Fabrics’, JTI, 29, 7 (1938), pp. P195–P200.

98 University of Leeds, Clothworkers’ Report, 1947/8, 1950/51.

99 Board of Trade, Working Party Report: Wool (London: HMSO, 1947), p. 110.

100 University of Leeds, Clothworkers’ Report, 1949/50.

101 J.B. Speakman, ‘Some Unsolved Problems’, Journal of Bradford Textile Society, 1945/46, pp. 23–27.

102 University of Leeds, Clothworkers’ Report, 1949/50.

103 Speakman, ‘Technology in the University’, pp. 40–46.

104 K. Powers and M.A. Hann, Tibor Reich: A Life of Colour and Weave (Leeds: University of Leeds, 2009).

105 University of Leeds, Clothworkers’ Report, 1947/48. In 1966 Ambler was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, for this work.

106 The Wool Industry Surplus Cloth Corporation and the National Wool Textile Export Corporation.

107 P Grosberg, The Changing Role of the Textile Engineer (Leeds: Leeds University Press, 1963) (Inaugural Lecture).

108 See especially University of Leeds, Clothworkers’ Reports, 1950/51 to 1965/66 inclusive.

109 Hall, The Man in the Monkeynut Coat, pp. 118–120.

110 University of Leeds, Clothworkers’ Report, 1943/44.

111 Ann Sumner, Mitzi Cunliffe’s Man-Made Fibres Commission in Context (Leeds: University of Leeds, 2016), pp. 15–21.

112 G. Owen, The Rise and Fall of Great Companies: Courtaulds and the Reshaping of the Man-made Fibres Industry (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), especially pp. 62–92.

113 LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/2, paper, ‘Courses at Leeds University’, Jun. 1950 (probably by J.B. Speakman); G. Whitaker, ‘Management as a University Subject’, University of Leeds Review, 3, 7 (1960/61).

114 Student numbers here and below are taken from the relevant Clothworkers’ Report.

115 Known for a short time previously as the School of Textiles and Design.

116 Blaszczyk, Fashionability, p. 190.

117 See especially University of Leeds, Clothworkers’ Report, 1923/24, p. 8.

118 LULSC: LUA/ADM/010/83/2, letter, 10 Jul. 1929, PM Evans to Registrar. The actual numbers in 1928/29 were 16 from overseas out of a total of 45 full-time students.

119 University of Leeds, Clothworkers’ Report, 1946/47 to 1966/67, inclusive, list all known positions obtained.

120 Department of Textile Industries, internal report, circa 1980, compiled from data supplied by the university Careers Service.