The table provides data on the number of silk factories and their employees, categorized by gender, in England and Wales between 1851 and 1901.
Overall, the total number of workers experienced a dramatic decline over the period, with female employees consistently outnumbering males. In contrast, the number of factories showed an initial surge, peaking in 1861, before gradually decreasing in the later decades.
In 1851, the workforce was at its highest, with 53,964 male and 76,786 female employees, totaling 130,750. However, by 1861, this figure had dropped significantly to 109,869, a decrease of over 20,000 workers, as both genders experienced notable reductions. This trend of decline persisted steadily, with female workers decreasing to 25,567 and male workers plummeting to just 13,375 by 1901. Notably, women consistently accounted for the majority of the workforce, maintaining a gap of approximately 12,000 more workers than men in the final year.
In terms of factories, their numbers saw a dramatic rise from 272 in 1851 to 761 in 1861, marking the highest point over the 50 years. Following this peak, the number of factories decreased steadily, dropping to 693 in 1871. Despite a slight recovery to 702 in 1881, the downward trend continued, reaching 623 by the end of the period.