Lizzie Clark Millar Corsetmaker

My grandmother Lizzie gave her occupation as “corsetmaker” in the 1901 census. She was 15 yrs old and living in Kings Lynn, Norfolk with her parents Andrew and Elizabeth Millar and her siblings Maggie (18) and William (13). Andrew was a draper; Elizabeth kept house; Maggie was a confectioner (at a bakery); and William was still in school.

Before the turn of the century whalebone was used to make corsets and at some point it switched to spring steel. Whalebone stays were made from the baleen of whales - the strong supple material that came from the jaws of the right whale. It softened with the heat of the body and was firm yet supple.

Main industries in Kings Lynn in 1901 (from the Factories and Workshop Annual Report)

The principal industries in Kings Lynn in 1901 included tailoring and corset/dress making so it was a good place for Andrew to move with his family.

Andrew died from complications of diabetes later in 1901 and Elizabeth died a year later from tuberculosis. I don’t know how long the children stayed in Kings Lynn - they went their separate ways but by 1911 they were together again in Stamford where Maggie was married to auctioneer William Mason. Young William was living with her before heading out to India where he followed in his dad’s footsteps as a draper. Lizzie was housekeeping for William Mason’s business partner Benjamin Reedman.

I don’t know if she ever continued making money from her sewing skills - in one postcard she sent to Maggie from Scotland she talks about being in “the workshop”.

Fashions changed in the early 1900s and women’s clothing became less restrictive.

This photo of Maggie (from Lin Sherwin’s collection) shows her probably wearing a corset.

Muriel Lewis (wife of brother William Clark Millar) looking more relaxed in India

Lizzie’s early experiences and family connection to the textile industry gave her a love for fine clothing and my dad remembered that she always had beautiful clothes and that he was always well-dressed.

https://www.rom.on.ca/en/collections-research/magazine/a-19th-century-whalebone-corset

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