Robin Longbottom examines how a child weaver went on to establish a woodturning business

UNTIL the development of the dobby loom (and the Jacquard loom in France), only cloth with a simple pattern could be woven on a handloom without assistance.

To produce a simple pattern the weaver had to operate up to eight foot treadles, each of which raised a heddle that lifted the yarn in the warp for a shuttle to pass through with the weft. Weaving a more complex pattern required multiple heddles and these had to be pulled up and down separately by a boy who sat on a high bench at the back of the loom. He was known as a 'draw boy', corrupted over time to 'dobby'.

By 1840 a mechanism to replace the draw boy had been invented, reputedly in Sutton-in-Craven although there is no evidence to support this claim. The mechanised dobby was fitted on top of the loom and could be operated by one or two treadles. It had a system of wooden bars, known as lags, that were linked together to form an endless chain that rotated over a cylinder. Each lag had a series of holes along its length into which pegs could be fixed. The dobby was in fact a simple form of computer that set in motion a process that was triggered by the position of pegs in the lags and automatically lifted the appropriate heddles to create a pre-determined pattern.

The early dobby mechanisms could only be used on handlooms but in 1867 a successful powered dobby loom was developed by George Hattersley & Sons of Keighley, enabling manufacturers to dispense with cottage handloom weavers and bring multiple machines into their weaving sheds. This created an increase in the demand for lags and pegs and much of this demand was met by William Thompson of Sutton and his successors.

William Thompson was born in Glusburn in 1837 and moved to Sutton with his parents when he was still a boy. At the age of 14 he was working at home with his father as a worsted handloom weaver. They were both probably weaving on dobby looms, however in his late teens he changed course and became a joiner. Having had experience of the dobby, which was largely made of wood, he turned to making them along with doing other general joinery work. By 1862 he had built a timber workshop on land adjoining Low Fold Farm in North Road, Sutton, and had erected a windmill to power his wood-turning lathes.

When Hattersley’s developed the powered dobby, they made the mechanism but not the wooden lags and pegs. This provided an opportunity for William, and he began to specialise in lag and peg making. As the business expanded, he set on men and boys, including his brother James and his nephews Walter and John. The wooden shed was extended to accommodate more workers and machinery but in the late 1880s new premises next door at Rose Mount were acquired. The stone building, originally a barn, was extended to include a boiler house with a tall square chimney, a small engine house and a blacksmiths shop.

When William Thompson died suddenly in 1899 his daughter offered the business to Walter and John – they bought it and founded W & JR Thompson (Woodturners) Ltd. They continued to run the business from Rose Mount until about 1920 when they moved to new premises in Holme Lane, Sutton. The firm expanded into making a huge variety of small wooden items including bobbins, light pulls, toggles for duffle coats, sticks for toffee apples, wooden houses for the Monopoly game and even yoyos.

At its height, the business employed over 100 people, but the introduction of plastics took its toll and what was known locally as the 'Lag Shop' finally closed its doors in 2004.