William Chandler’s Unconfirmed But Fascinating Occupation
William Chandler: 1595-1641
While I have persuasive genealogical records for my
ninth-great-grandfather William Chandler once he arrived in the Massachusetts
Colony in the 1630s (see previous post for the prompt “Worship”), I have been
unable to verify details about his earlier life in England. I was intrigued to
read the biography that accompanies his memorial on Findagrave. The author
provided information about that period of William’s life which I am still
trying to verify. One particularly fascinating item was the assertion that “William
was a point maker (lace tags used before buttons).”
I had never heard of points or pointmakers. Even though I
can’t yet prove this was William’s pre-emigration occupation, I wanted to learn
more. How were points used with textiles? What did they look like when used to
fasten clothing? And how were they made?
At first I imagined points as made from lace, because the
Findagrave writer called them “lace tags”. However I realized that was a
mistake once I found a couple definitions of “pointmaker”. According to the
table titled “Occupations and Crafts in Medieval London” on Fordham University’s
Medieval Londoners website (see No. 1 below), a pointmaker “made points, which
were ornamental cords, often ending in a metal point, used in clothing.” The
Family Tree Researcher website has another definition in their Dictionary of
Old Occupations: “Pointmaker: made the tips of shoe and boot laces.” (See No. 2
below)
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| Points fastening man's hose to his doublet |
But probably the best resource I found was a blog called “A
Damsel in This Dress”, which described points in detail and provided some
illustrations of their use in clothing from period artworks. The explanation,
from No. 3 below, is as follows:
“Ties and points are,
in a way, a variation of lacing as in principle the idea is similar – using a
strip or two of fabric or a cord to tie garments together. Points were
introduced first in medieval times, 11th-13th century, as a means of attaching
a single hose to the braies. In the following centuries, as hose extended up
and covered more and more leg and buttock, more points were needed, as was a
more robust garment to which they could be laced. Late medieval doublets,
pourpoints, etc, sport pairs of eyelets at the hem to which another pair on the
hose corresponds – a cord with metal ‘aguillettes’ was passed through the
eyelets and tied on top – a ‘point’. Similar method could also be used to
fasten doublets in front. Holding up hose and later britches by attaching them
to a doublet survived until about the mid 17th century – at the end, these were
mainly a decorative item, often fashioned from silk ribbons and sporting pretty
bows.”
Painting of Marie of Burgundy with points fastening sleeves to shoulder of dress
I wish I could find some sort of illustration of a
pointmaker at work, so I could truly understand what was involved in William’s
profession. If the point tips were made of metal, similar to the aglets or
plastic tips of modern shoelaces, were they made by dipping the cord into
molten metal, or were the metal end pieces pounded onto the cord? And did
William make the cord himself, or did he just assemble the finished product
from cord he purchased? I have so many questions, and have failed to find the resources
that could answer them.
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| Renaissance Fair re-creation of points--braided cord with metal tips |
When William Chandler came to colonial America, he
apparently abandoned the pointmaking business for the more practical business
of tanning. Leather was probably a more useful material in the rugged New World
than textiles, no matter how they were fastened.
Sources:
1. Medieval Londoners. Fordham University website. https://medievallondoners.ace.fordham.edu/occupations/
2. Family Tree Researcher website. https://www.familyresearcher.co.uk/glossary/Dictionary-of-Old-Occupations-jobs-beginning-P5.html
3. A Damsel in This Dress website. https://adamselindisdress.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/fastenings-across-the-ages/
4. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/16059896/william-chandler
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