Hammersmiths of the Yekaterinburg plant in the first half of the 18th century

This article reconstructs the biographies of hammersmiths at the Yekaterinburg plant in the first half of the 18th century. The subject of the study is the professional and social group of hammersmiths at the Yekaterinburg plant in the first half of the 18th century as a key element of the industrial structure of the Ural mining and metallurgy sector. The study covers the formation and functioning of the hammersmith community, their labor and social relations, and the conditions for professional growth. Particular attention is paid to the individual biographies of the hammersmiths, which reflect the specifics of factory life, the dynamics of career trajectories, and the influence of administrative and economic factors on the workers' situation. Through an analysis of personal destinies, patterns of development in the industrial environment and social organization of Ural factories in the 18th century are revealed. The aim of the study is to reconstruct the biographies of representatives of this professional group and identify the factors that determined their social status, professional connections, and role in the production process. The methodological basis is formed by the principles of the "new biographical history," focused on the study of individual destinies as a tool for understanding the social and cultural processes of the era. The novelty of the study lies in its systematization of disparate factual data on the lives and work of hammersmiths and the identification of mechanisms of self-government among the artisan community. This study, using archival documents, identified the profile and career paths of more than twenty craftsmen. Working conditions, the structure of craftsmen's teams, the payment system, and disciplinary control were analyzed. Labor dynasties that determined the continuity of craft traditions were identified, as well as elements of internal self-regulation within the professional community, expressed in the independent election of inspectors and elders. The average age of a craftsman was determined to be approximately 45 years, reflecting the maturity of the professional workforce and the stability of the production environment. The obtained results provide a more detailed description of the social structure of 18th-century factory society, demonstrating the relationship between administrative control and internal corporate ethics. The findings complement existing understanding of social stratification and work culture in the 18th-century Ural mining industry. The study's findings allow us to consider hammersmiths as a key element of the industrial and social organization of the Ural mining industry, and the "new biographical history" method as an effective tool for studying the microhistorical aspects of Russia's industrial development.