Special Harris Tweed honour recalls industry birth 18/11/11
A special presentation was made today to a descendant of Lady Dunmore who played a vital role in creating the Harris Tweed industry.
At a ceremony in Shawbost the present Lady Dunmore paid tribute to her family‘s role in the now global industry which is celebrating the 100th year of the Orb mark .
Anne, Countess of Dunmore, whose late husband, the 9th earl of Dunmore, was the great, great grandson of the 6th Earl Alexander and Catherine Dunmore, was presented with the Harris Tweed Orb heritage award and a framed photograph of 100 island images representing the centenary of the unique fabric.
Lady Dunmore said the family was very proud of their link with the fabric.
She said: “She was, in fact, half Russian -
“It’s a wonderful fabric with such character. It really lasts for ever and is a wonderful crafted upper end product.”
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first legal trade marking created by a special Act of Parliament.
Since 1911 every piece of finished tweed has been stamped with the orb mark proving it was woven at weavers’ own home and manufactured exclusively in the Western Isles.
The sector has achieved 40% growth since 2009. It is now worth £4 million and supports over 400 jobs in the islands. Japan and the far East are growing importers of the cloth.
Donald Martin, chairman of the Harris Tweed Authority (HTA), said the cloth is successfully ditching its staid image and is presently popular with youth, creating a requirement to train new weavers in the islands.
He said: “The future is bright. Going by the marketing work of the mills and the HTA, we see a very rosy future for Harris Tweed.”
Tweed had always been hand woven in the Outer Hebrides for islanders’ own needs.
But it never hit the big time until Lady Dunmore, widow of the late Earl of Dunmore, asked some crofters in the Isle of Harris to weave tweed for her in the Murray tartan for her estate gamekeepers.
She was so impressed with their craftsmanship and began formal training and marketed their tweeds in London.
She effectively launched the Harris Tweed industry and the growing sales of cloth provided valuable income to improvised islanders at a time of dire hardship during the potato famine period.
The trademark protection Act has been an overwhelmingly successful measure to protect vital jobs and the islands’ economy.
Following a difficult number of years during the 90’s and early new millennium, the Harris Tweed industry has begun to revive due to increased application of the ancient cloth in ladies wear, home and corporate interiors, soft furnishing and in high quality accessories.
Crucially, the Orb trademark thwarted Yorkshire businessman Brian Haggas from shifting the last major island mill to the North of England three years ago.
The survival of the industry lay in the hands of the revival of the shut Shawbost
Mill run by newcomer Harris Tweed Hebrides which in two years went from zero to become
the largest producer. A independent mill at Carloway also produces the famous cloth.
The present Lady Dunmore (right) with Donald Martin, chair of the Harris Tweed Authority