Pins were an important end-product of brass wire and considerable numbers were also imported. At the accession of James I in 1603 strong petitions and protests by native pin-makers were continually laid before the Court and Parliament; and it was stated that no fewer than 20,000 people, including women and children, were engaged in this one trade. The process of manufacture again was hardly a speedy one. In 1543, during Henry VIII's reign, the sale of pins was prohibited by law unless they were 'double-headed and have the heads soldered fast to the shank'. (16) This particular law, however, was soon repealed.
16 34 & 35 Henry VIII, c. 6.