Lacemakers of Calais with Gillian Kelly

When
18 September 2025
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Via Zoom
Spaces left
459

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The Lacemakers of Calais in this story were men and women, mostly English born who moved to Calais from early 1820s to work in the burgeoning machine-made lace industry, which began in Nottingham, England at the end of the 1700s.

It evolved over the next 150 years from small operated wooden frames knitting a narrow, crude, fabric to sophisticated complex power-driven metal machines creating delicate fabrics with intricate patterns.

In addition to those who actually operated the machines that made the lace there were men and women with a variety of other skills required to keep the industry alive including engineers, mechanics, carpenters, watchmakers and of course designers. In Calais the industry flourished until late 1847 when social and economic turmoil led to widespread factory closures, leaving many lacemakers in Calais without work.

In response, some sought help from the British Government, which in 1848 offered migration assistance to the Australian Colonies of New South Wales and South Australia where they found new opportunities.

Presenter: Gillian Kelly OAM

About The Presenter

Gillian Kelly OAM has been researching and writing about local and regional history for many years. Gillian is a retired teacher and has a degree in Local History Studies from the University of New England. Living in Queanbeyan, with its underlay of Canberra’s history, piqued her interest in the lives of those who dwelt there at the edge of the remote County Murray in the first half of the nineteenth century. As well as writing for local and overseas publications, Gillian is a past Editor of Quinbean, the Journal of the Queanbeyan and District Historical Museum Society and of Tulle the Journal of the Australian Society of the Lacemakers of Calais. She also edited and wrote two books exploring the fascinating history of the Lacemakers: The Lacemakers of Calais (1990), (editor) and Well Suited to the Colony (originally published 1998, revised 2025).

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