Frances Burgess (neé Lockett)
(1910-1993)

A History of Cotton

The oldest known cotton cloth was made in Mexico over 5,000 years before the birth of Christ. Cotton was already known in India and China at this time and from there its use spread to Arabic and Mediterranean countries.

Cotton cloth was not manufactured in England until Tudor times. It was only after the mechanical inventions of the Industrial Revolution (1760-1815) that cotton was manufactured in Britain on such a large scale. There was already a thriving textile industry in the north-west of England by 1760 which included linen, wool, silk and fustian (a mixture of linen and cotton). Manchester 'cottons' (a woollen cloth of a certain weave) were also very popular.

It was not long before cotton mills had sprung up all over the North of England. The new factory system heralded an age in which the cottage was replaced by the slum dwelling, the country by the town and the workshop by the factory. It was a golden age for the cotton industry - a time when " Britain's bread hung by Lancashire's thread.".

However the industry was not always so fortunate. The Age of the Factory was also an period of change and unrest - the industry received its first wake-up call to this effect in 1861 in the form of the Lancashire Cotton Famine. A period of 'boom or bust' followed until the industry eventually sank virtually without trace, leaving in its wake a legacy of mill towns and cities, which would serve as a reminder to future generations of the importance of what was once the most successful of British industries.

Being Cotton Queen

Between 1930 and 1939 a major event in the cotton towns of North West England was the annual Cotton Queen competition. This was a three week event that was held in Blackpool. The winner would then spend a year travelling around the country promoting cotton at exhibitions, fashion parades, public events and organisations. This colourful ceremony was a glamorous occasion and a welcome Escape from the otherwise despondent 1930's.

It was organised by the 'Daily Dispatch' newspaper and sponsored by the cotton industry - the aim being to promote cotton. To be eligible to enter the annual competition, the girls had to work in the cotton industry and be aged between 16 and 26. Would be Cotton Queens had to send their photo in to their local newspaper and as many as twenty towns would then elect a local queen. There was tremendous interest in Hyde and across the local area and crowds lined the streets for the big procession that culminated with the crowning of their Queen.

All the local winners then went to Blackpool for a few days and the national queen was chosen in a ceremony at the Tower Ballroom.

Being the national cotton queen was a prestigious, exciting and glamorous role and for one year the chosen girl did not have to work in a mill but instead travelled the country, with a chauffeur and chaperone, promoting cotton goods.

The first national Cotton Queen was Frances Lockett of Hyde in 1930.

Frances Lockett

The first winner of the national Cotton Queen competition was Frances Lockett who worked at Newton Mill in Hyde. She was nineteen when she won the Cotton Crown.

In many ways Frances was a typical mill girl. She grew up in a two-up/two-down house in Hyde where her father was a Policeman. She left school at the age of 14 and started to work in the mill as a weaver. She worked hard during her time there and spoke proudly of being given the more complex patterns. She was graceful and tall, towering over just about every man she met! It was not however just for her appearance that she was chosen as Cotton Queen. She spoke extremely well for her industry and was never overawed in her many meetings with the rich, famous and the public itself, maintaining a sense of modesty and humour as fame suddenly descended upon her.

After being crowned the National Cotton Queen, Frances Lockett was given a civic reception in her honour and more than 20,000 people turned out to welcome her back to Hyde. Frances was also taken through the streets, which were decorated with flowers and ribbons, in an open landau carriage drawn by four bay horses. Mounted police led the procession and she was followed by the Kingston Mill Band, a troupe of Morris dancers, more than 300 workers from Newton Mill, members of the Hyde Lads Club, 40 cars and the Hyde Borough Brass Band.

Thousands of mill workers had voted to send their finalists to the final judging event at the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool and thousands more 'Dispatch' readers voted for the mill girl who would represent the spirit of the industry. To her surprise, Frances won. She was pictured on the front pages of the 'Evening Chronicle' and the 'Daily Dispatch' on 30 June 1930 - the 'Dispatch' article went on to describe the 'beautiful weaver who won the crown'.

Being Cotton Queen meant Frances had the opportunity to travel extensively throughout Britain. An official visit to lunch at the House of Commons enabled her to meet Stanley Baldwin, Ramsay MacDonald, Lloyd George and Margaret Bondfield. They were all charmed by the Cotton Queen - in later years, Frances recalled with amusement her horror when one member of the Lords made a pass at her!

Here Frances recalls the excitement at the events she attended; '...I did mannequin parades, they had cotton balls, cotton weeks at Lewis's and Kendals and I went all over Great Britain. Mr Ramsay MacDonald was the Prime Minister and I had an interview with him. He said he wished he was coming to the cotton ball that night. We had a ball at Covent Garden. Then I met Mr [David] Lloyd George. He had a feel at my dress and he said 'Is this cotton?' and I said 'Oh yes'. He said 'It's lovely, I must get Megan to buy some of this.'

However, Frances Lockett's experiences also give a glimpse in to the depression from which the cotton industry was suffering. 'I went to Kendals...with the cotton weeks that we had. We had them all over the country you see and I used to go for a week to different places and talk about the towels...[but] we didn't sell the cotton materials unfortunately.'

Cotton Queen fever seized public imagination; there was after all little else to cheer. A popular song, the Waltz of the Cotton Queen, commemorated Frances' success and the sheet music sold well. It expressed the feelings of local people at a time when there was uncertainty as to the future of the industry...

So, what became of Frances after her year of fame? She returned to J & J Ashton's Mill in Hyde and continued to work there happily as a weaver until her marriage to local policeman James Burgess in 1937. Fame pursued her locally for the rest of her life. The whole of Hyde turned out to watch her wedding and no journalist could visit the town without an interview. She was constantly in demand for charity events. None of this altered her. To the end of her life she remained unassuming, direct and full of fun.

By the time of her death in 1993, all the 37 cotton mills of Hyde bar one had closed. The 'Cotton Queen years' are remembered fondly by many local people and hark back to a time when Lancashire's most important industry thrived for all the world to see.