Witney events
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World events
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1086 the Domesday survey records 250 people as living in Witney
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1066 Battle of Hastings; Normans begin conquest of England
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1223 first fulling mill recorded in Witney
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1215 King John signs the Magna Carta
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1530 Witney had about 1000 inhabitants and another 1000 in its outlying hamlets
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1509 Henry VIII crowned king
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1584 the Earl of Leicester buys 30 blankets from Collier of Witney
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1558 Elizabeth I becomes queen
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1594 an 'alnager' or cloth searcher was appointed to work in Witney to inspect the woollen goods made there
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1588 defeat of the Spanish Armada
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1641 Witney blanket makers petition the House of Lords to protest that they were being overcharged by a blanket inspector
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1642-1645 Civil War in England
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1677 Dr Plot calls Witney the 'most eminent town for blanket making' in England
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1666 Great Fire of London
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1681 First recorded trade with Hudson Bay Company
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1711 The local trade guild known as the Witney Blanket Weavers' Company was formed
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1733 John Kay's flying shuttle invented
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1764 James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny, which was capable of spinning several threads at once
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1769 Richard Arkwright invented a cotton spinning frame that used water power
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1779 Samuel Crompton invented the spinning mule
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1782 The first piece of automated machinery arrives in Witney in the form of a 'rowing' machine for raising the nap on blankets
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1785 first power loom invented by Edmund Cartwright
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c.1800 flying shuttle first used in Witney
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1793-1815 Napoleonic Wars
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1818 John Early tours textile manufacturers in northern England to investigate and buy the latest machinery
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1820 George IV becomes king
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1833 a law was passed in Parliament that laid down a nine hour working day for children under the age of 12, they were also entitled to two hours schooling each day
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1838 the Assistant Handloom Weavers Commission arrives in Witney to investigate working conditions
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1837 Victoria crowned queen
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1850 only six major blanket manufacturers now control nearly all of the Witney trade
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1851 William Smith sets up his blanket business
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1851 Great Exhibition opens at Crystal Palace
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c.1857 William Smith installs first steam engine in Witney
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c.1858 power looms first installed in Witney Mill
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1861 the Witney Railway reaches the town
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1862-1865 American Civil War
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1874 working hours for women and children were lowered to 10 a day maximum, children under 14 were only to work for half a day
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1900 Mount Mills (Marriott's) was built
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1901 Edward VII becomes king
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1905 major fire at Witney Mill
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1906 from fleece to blanket record in 10 hours and 27 minutes, set by Early's
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1908 legal ruling that blankets marked as 'Witney' must be made in Witney
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1914-1918 First World War
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1930 Walker's open Crofts Mill
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1929 Wall Street Crash and Great Depression
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1940 Mount Mills sustains bomb damage
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1939-1945 Second World War
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1960 Charles Early and Marriott merge
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1952 Elizabeth II becomes queen
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1965 Fiberweaving introduced to Witney
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1969 Early's tercentenary; blanket-in-a-day record broken
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1969 Neil Armstrong becomes first man to walk on the Moon
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1975 Bridge Street Mill (Smith's) closes down
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1980 Crofts Mill (Walker's) closes
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1979 Mrs Thatcher elected first British woman Prime Minister
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1985 Mount Mills (Early's) closes
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2002 Early's, the last blanket making company in Witney, closes down (Witney Mill)
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