More about Sileby's History

Occupations – 1813 to 1831 in Sileby, Leicestershire, England.

Boatmen

Blacksmiths

Bricklayers

Butchers

Carpenters

Carriers

Farmers

Framesmiths

Framework Knitters

Gardeners

Glaziers

Labourers

Lace Makers

Lace Merchant

Millers

Publican

Ragman

Sawyers

Servants

Shoemakers

Tailors

Wheelwrights

Wool Comber

Far from being a backwater village based on centuries of old traditions and working practices, Sileby was a forward looking, innovative and changing place. Over half the working population was engaged in a manufacturing trade, albeit on a very small scale. Nevertheless, the transformation from an agricultural to semi industrial village was well underway. Agriculture still had a quarter of the working population toiling within it, but the tide had turned with regard to occupational structure.

Sileby was quickly developing the skilled workforce that hosiery and footwear factories would be able to draw on later in the century. These were changes that would remodel the village morphology and change the nature of the whole community forever.

All information was found in the magazine ‘Bygone Sileby’.