In Search Of The Rope Makers Of Stepney
Rope makers of Stepney
In Stepney, there has always been an answer to the question, “How long is a piece of string?” It is as long as the distance between St Dunstan’s Church and Commercial Rd, which is the extent of the former Frost Brothers’ Rope Factory.
Let me explain how I came upon this arcane piece of knowledge. First I published a series of photographs from a copy of Frost Brothers’ Album in the archive of the Bishopsgate Institute produced around 1900, illustrating the process of rope making and yarn spinning. Then, a reader of Spitalfields Life walked into the Institute and donated a series of four group portraits of rope makers at Frost Brothers which I publish here.
I find these pictures even more interesting than the ones I first showed because, while the photos in the Album illustrate the work of the factory, in these newly-revealed photos the subject is the rope makers themselves.
There are two pairs of pictures. Photographed on the same day, the first pair taken – in my estimation – around 1900, show a gang of men looking rather proud of themselves. There is a clear hierarchy among them and, in the first photo, they brandish tankards suggesting some celebratory occasion. The men in bowler hats assume authority and allow themselves more swagger while those in caps withhold their emotions. Yet although all these men are deliberately presenting themselves to the camera, there is relaxed quality and swagger in these pictures which communicates a vivid sense of the personality and presence of the subjects.
The other two photographs show larger groups and I believe were taken as much as a decade earlier. I wonder if the tall man in the bowler hat with a moustache in the centre of the back row in the first of these is the same as the man in the bowler hat in the later photographs? In these earlier photographs, the subjects have been corralled for the camera and many regard us with a weary implacable gaze.
The last of the photographs is the most elaborately staged and detailed. It repays attention for the diverse variety of expressions among its subjects, ranging from blank incomprehension of some to the tenderness of the young couple with the young man’s hands upon the young woman’s shoulders – a fleeting gesture of tenderness recorded for eternity.
I was so fascinated by these photographs I wanted to go and find the rope works for myself and, on an old map, I discovered the ropery stretching from Commercial Rd to St Dunstan’s, but – alas – I could discern nothing on the ground to indicate it was ever there. The Commercial Rd end of the factory is now occupied by the Tower Hamlets Car Pound, while the long extent of the ropery has been replaced by a terrace of house called Lighterman’s Court that, in its length and extent, follows the pattern of the earlier building quite closely. At the northern end, there is now a park where the factory reached the road facing St Dunstan’s. Yet the terraces of nineteenth century housing in Bromley St and Belgrave St remain on either side and, in Bromley St, the British Prince where the rope makers once quenched their thirsts still stands.
After the disappointment of my quest to find the rope works, I cherish these photographs of the rope makers of Stepney even more as the best record we have of their existence.
Gang of rope makers at Frost Brothers (You can click to enlarge this image)
Rope makers with a bale of fibre and reels of twine (You can click to enlarge this image )
Rope makers including women and boys with coils of rope (You can click to enlarge this image)
Frost Brothers Ropery stretched from Commercial St to St Dunstan’s Churchyard in Stepney
In Bromley St
Images courtesy Bishopsgate Institute
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Fascinating stuff. Were there two Frost Brothers roperies? The previous article shows an illustration of the ropery at the west end of Cable St which runs under the railway viaduct extending to the south side of Commercial Street. This is also shown on the 1890s OS map.
Great photographs ! And surely all seven men in the second photograph are in the first one too ?
You’re absolutely right, they are fascinating photos and I think the moustachioed chap is undoubtedly the same person.
These pictures and their history is fascinating. I particularly love all the clothes worn then as I buy and sell French workwear at Portobello. I think
You must be right about the tall man with a bowler. He’s still wearing a knotted neckerchief.
Another fascinating glimpse into the lives of those working in old industries. The faces of the workers, men, boys and women, clearly show how hard their lives were.
One branch of my ancestors from Spitalfields were cigar makers, possibly as ‘piece workers’, and I would imagine their lives were similarly hard. My grandmother from that branch remembered going to the soup kitchens as a child.
You’ve taken us “in search” and even provided the treasure map. As soon as this group of 28
souls showed up on my screen, I was content to observe each face, all the clothing details, hands, equipment, surroundings, bales and more. After a careful inspection (and a leap of imagination) I’ve deduced that the two young women are sisters, (notice their eyes……..) and one sis is getting the full-on/hands-on-shoulders treatment from one of the men. However, this is all a ruse. HE is actually trying to attract the attention of the other sister, and his buddy nearby is observing this with an all-knowing grin. The boldness of draping his hands across the young woman is notable — and I suspect a complicated backstory was afoot.
This is an amazing photo/social document/narrative; and it invited speculation about the human stories behind each face. Thanks for the enlarged version. Remarkable.
Great image of the map in order to give us viewers an idea of the rope length. There’s still a rope makers in upper Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales, although their main custom now are Bell Ropes – for the bell ringers of course.
there was a rope walk between Antill road and the railway line (Bow E3) with access from the east end at Coburn Road. Looks like it has now been built on and it is called Cherrywood Close. It had only recently close when I lived in Antill Rd in about 1972