These facts being made public to the English nation, a society was
formed in London in 1843, called the Association for The Aid of
Milliners and Dressmakers. The president of this society is the Earl
of Shaftesbury; the vice presidents are twenty gentlemen of the most
influential position. Besides this there is a committee of ladies, and
a committee of gentlemen. At the head of the committee of ladies
stands the name of the Duchess of Sutherland, with seventeen others,
among whom we notice the Countess of Shaftesbury, Countess of
Ellesmere, Lady Robert Grosvenor, and others of the upper London
sphere. The subscription list of donations to the society is headed by
the queen and royal family.
The features of the plan which the society undertook to carry out were
briefly these:--
First, they opened a registration office, where all young persons
desiring employment in the dressmaking trade might enroll their names
free of expense, and thus come in a manner under the care of the
association. From the young people thus enrolled, they engaged to
supply to the principals of dressmaking establishments extra
assistants in periods of uncommon pressure, so that they should not be
under the necessity of overtaxing their workwomen.
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