Nail makers (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Tuesday, August 09, 2011, 15:15 (4859 days ago) @ Jefff

Yet another incorrect assumption re new mills etc it seems !
From this http://www.information-britain.co.uk/history/town/Cirencester25/

I quote

"Wool continued to drive the expansion of Cirencester during the 16th and 17th century. The 18th century saw the market town’s fortunes decline sharply as the wool industry declined sharply. The Industrial Revolution passed the town by, even though a branch of a canal reached Cirencester.

In 1801 the population of Cirencester had risen to about 4,000 and a hundred years later, in 1901, it had doubled to 8,000. However, in the same one hundred years the population of Britain had quadrupled, so Cirencester had actually declined in relative size and importance. This was partly due to the final collapse of the wool industry there in the 19th century. An 1825 Act of Parliament formed a body of men called Improvement Commissioners who were granted had powers to pave, clean and light the streets of Cirencester. Oil lamps in the street were followed in 1833 by gas lights. Further signs of the updating of the town came with its first police force in 1839. The railway, often the bringer of boom times to a town, reached Cirencester in 1841. However, it had little impact on the town which continued to grow modestly into the next century."

So maybe your ancestor helped supply these improvements and benefitted from the railway too ?