ONE hundred and ninety eight years ago, on July 5, 1826, the British Parliament, then a Tory majority led by Robert Banks Jenkinson the Earl of Liverpool, passed a bill that stuck a dagger through the heart of Worcester’s working community.

It decided to end the ban on the import of gloves.

During the 1700s, aided by the waterborne highway of the River Severn which facilitated the transport of raw materials,  the city had grown to be the centre of the country’s glove-making industry.

In 1777 Dents built the first glove factory on South Quay and became the first to industrialise the process of preparing leather and cutting the designs.

Although much of the sewing was done by women working in their own homes and paid per pair of gloves.

Cutters in the factory underwent a seven-year apprenticeship. It was a very skilled job to get the most number of gloves out of each hide.

Each full-time male cutter required 12 to 15 female sewers working at home.

Sewers were recruited from the urban centre and from local rural villages. Cut leather was transported out on a weekly basis to collection points.

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The peak of the industry was between 1790 and 1820 when half of all British gloves were made in Worcester.

In the 1820s there were 150 manufacturers of leather gloves in Worcester and 30,000 to 40,000 people were estimated to be employed in the glove industry across Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

The 1826 bill changed all that and when foreign import tax on gloves was lifted reportedly thousands of people starved in Worcester, while many left to go to work in bigger industrial cities.

This seismic blow to the city’s fortunes is recorded in Worcester’s History and Heritage Calendar and here are a few more important events in July over the centuries.

July 1, 1964: If you were a motorist back then you might remember this day because it was when traffic wardens began patrolling Worcester’s streets.

At the time Worcester City still had its own police force – West Mercia didn’t exist until 1967 – and the wardens were based at the force HQ in Deansway from where they set out to help enforce some sort of order on the streets.

July 30, 1866: Sir Charles Hastings dies. When Charles Hastings died at the age of 72 he left behind a legacy that continues to give today.

Surgeon, philanthropist, RGS alumni and founder of the British Medical Association,  Hastings was educated and brought up in Worcester becoming a house surgeon at the Royal Infirmary aged only 18.

Hastings had a close relationship with Worcester, dedicating time and money to help tackle the multiple cholera outbreaks the city suffered and went on to found the Worcester Museum of Natural History.

And finally. The Arboretum Pleasure Grounds were opened in July 1859.

By all accounts the gardens were magnificent with promenades, terraces, flower beds, a cricket pitch, a bowling green and archery butts with a crystal pavilion and fountain.