Benjamin Law was born around 1773 in
Gomersal,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
the son of George Law and Mary Wilby. He is credited by many authors as the inventor of the
shoddy
Recycled wool, also known as rag wool or shoddy is any Wool, woollen textile or yarn made by shredding existing fabric and re-spinning the resulting fibres. Textile recycling is an important mechanism for reducing the need for raw wool in manufact ...
process. Benjamin Law set up his business at Howley Mill.
A memorial to Benjamin Law is in the grounds of
Batley
Batley is a market town in the Kirklees district, in West Yorkshire, England, south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield, in the Heavy Woollen District. In 2011, the popu ...
Parish Church.
An exhibition of "shoddy art", challenging misconceptions about disabled people, was held in Batley in May 2016. The history of the shoddy process was the conceptual starting point for the disabled artists, who used recycled and reused textile materials in their artworks. The exhibition was first shown in
Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
, and was chosen to tour in Batley, given that it is shoddy's birthplace.
References
External links
maggieblanck websiteShoddy exhibition
1770s births
People from Gomersal
Year of death unknown
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