How To Find Your Hatter Ancestors

Trade union records, directories and historic newspaper articles are all valuable sources

Warwick University’s Modern Records Centre ( warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc) holds trade union records (sometimes just reports and balance sheets) for the Amalgamated Society of Journeymen Felt Hatters, among other unions. Indeed, so many hatters and journeymen were in trade unions that Tracing Your Labour Movement Ancestors by Mark Crail (Pen & Sword, 2009) might be helpful.

Surviving records of hat companies in Atherstone (including Vero & Everitt) are held by Warwickshire County Record Office ( bit.ly/ warwickshire-ro). Stockport Heritage Library has some archives for local hat works including Christy’s ( bit.ly/stock-heritage), and Tameside Local Studies ( www.tameside.gov.uk/archives) holds Denton records. For more details of these holdings, search The National Archives’ catalogue: discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Hatter ancestors may be listed in Post Office and trade directories. Findmypast ( findmypast. co.uk) holds some, while Ancestry ( ancestry. co.uk) has the University of Leicester’s enormous collection of digitised historical directories. This is also freely available on the university’s website: le.ac.uk/library/specialcollections/explore/historical-directories.

Visit Grace’s Guide ( gracesguide.co.uk) for company histories, while the historical articles searchable in the British Newspaper Archive ( britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) may mention a relation by name (especially factory owners and union officials). Anyone taken to court for striking or picketing may also be named – this occasionally included women. Finally issues of the industry newspaper the Hatters’ Gazette are held by Stockport’s Hat Works, although it is not open at the moment ( bit.ly/hat-works).