For my placement at Whitby Museum, I have been researching the town’s historical jet industry. Reaching its peak in the late 19th century, Whitby’s jet jewellery industry played a huge role in the local economy, with jet workers being among the best paid in Yorkshire at the time. Jet jewellery became extremely fashionable during the Victorian period, especially during the long mourning period following the death of prince Albert in 1861. Though the industry began to decline in the 1880s, jet remains an important part of Whitby’s history and jet jewellery continues to be sold in the town. This research has resulted in the exhibition ‘Jet Workers from Past & Present; reviving the old to new beginnings’, which shows how the jet industry has changed over time, and continues to be relevant to Whitby today.
Jet Workers from the past & present: Reviving the old to new beginnings Exhibition in the Library.
Though jet is known to be a form of fossilised driftwood that has undergone a process called ‘jetonisation’, there is not currently a definitive answer as to exactly how jet is produced. As a result, a number of myths about the origins of jet have proliferated, the most common of which being that jet is formed from the fossilised wood of the monkey puzzle tree. Jet’s properties make it ideal for use in manufacture of jewellery, particularly that it’s quite light, and its relative softness makes it fairly easy to polish and carve.
This is a piece of Jet from Moses Beedle Browns ‘bits & pieces’ box but can you spot the simulant?
‘Jet workers from Past & Present’ focuses on two jet workers from different periods of Whitby’s past: Moses Beedle Brown who was a jet worker during the initial decline of the industry in the late nineteenth century and into the early twentieth, who also worked as a chimneysweep and antique dealer, and Wilfred Braithwaite, the last jet worker of the Victorian tradition who continued to make and sell jet items until the 1960s.
Moses Beedle Brown (left) & Wilfred Braithwaite (right)
Wilfred Braithwaite’s workshop was rediscovered in 1978 and, thanks to the museum’s jet curator, Sarah Steele, I was able to inspect and photograph his tools (which will soon be on display at the Whitby Jet Museum). I was also fortunate to get access to a modern jet workshop, photos of which are also featured in the exhibition. Focusing on jet workers throughout Whitby’s history, ‘Jet workers from Past & Present’ shows how jet remained a part of the town’s story beyond its Victorian heyday.
Sarah Steele (middle: Jet Curator at Whitby Museum) & modern day Jet workers from the Ebor Jetworks, Church Street
Being an industry that was primarily focused in Whitby, the jet industry proved a fascinating topic to research. I was fortunate to have access to a wide range of resources in the Museum’s library and archive. The library holds several extensive works on the nature of the jet industry, such as ‘Whitby Jet Through the Years’ by Mabel McMillan, a former volunteer at the Museum, and ‘Jet’ by Helen Muller, as well as numerous others. Additionally, the archive is replete with material on Jet, including several historical articles written on Jet and a booklet written by J.G. Lyth, the last jet worker to be apprenticed in the Victorian Jet turning tradition. The Museum’s digitised Whitby Gazette archive also proved an invaluable resource for investigating individual Jet workers and how the industry changed over time.
Jet resources available in the library & archives
In addition to the Museum’s resources, ‘Jet Workers from Past & Present’ wouldn’t have been possible without the help of many of those working and volunteering at Whitby Museum. The volunteers working in the archive were a huge help in identifying sources and potential areas of research. One volunteer, Mike, even took me on a tour of Whitby to look at the yards in which the jet turners featured in the exhibition lived and worked. It was during this tour that many of the photos used in the exhibition were taken. Additionally, another volunteer, Jane, kindly loaned the collection of jet objects owned by Moses Beedle Brown, who was her great, great, great grandfather, for display in the exhibition. A huge thanks must also go to Archive Outreach Officer Claire Marris, who assisted me at all stages of the process, particularly in finding sources and in putting the exhibition together.
Volunteer Mike & Harry
By Harry Fines
MA Public History Placement, York
If you are interested in accessing the documents and books we hold on Jet, please contact the [email protected] or drop in for a visit Tuesday to Friday 10am to 4.30pm.
