Kershaw's hat factory

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Photo St Albans Museums (ref PH8457)

Kershaw's factory today

Photo St Albans Museums (ref PX6590)

then and now

By Janet Ouston

During the nineteenth century straw hat making was a major industry in St Albans. Straw was plaited by poor women and children at home, and sold to factories at the the weekly plait market. The plaits were then sewn to make hats. The photos show Kershaw's hat factory, then and now. Most hat factories were in the Victoria Street and Marlborough Road areas.