'2 poor Burnishers': victims of Birmingham's gilt button dispute, 1795-1800

Centre for West Midlands History Research Seminar

Ginny Hartley, Doctoral Researcher (Birmingham)

The Metal Button Act, 1796 was intended to protect the trading interests of Birmingham’s factors, merchants and, especially, its button-makers.  However, while the legislation was initiated in a spirit of co-operation, its implementation generated a bitter dispute between manufacturers.  Ginny Hartley examines the context of the legislation and the cause of the resulting dispute, focussing particularly on the consequences of this little-known episode in Birmingham’s industrial politics for some workers caught up in it.