Child Labor and Education During the Industrial Revolution

What jobs are being depicted here?

Compare your daily routine with that of a factory girl working in Lancashire 1820. How are they different?

• What is your schedule like in comparison?

• Do this on the Left Side.

How Child Labor Was Obtained?• Many parents initially were unwilling to allow their

children to work in these new textile factories. • To overcome this labor shortage factory owners had

to find other ways of obtaining workers. • One solution to the problem was to obtain children

from orphanages and workhouses.• These children became known as pauper

apprentices.---WHITE SLAVERY• This involved them signing contracts that virtually

made them the property of the factory owner.

How Child Labor Was Obtained

• By 1790 Greg became convinced that the best solution to his labor problem was to build an Apprentice House and to purchase children from workhouses.

• The building for the apprentice houses cost £300 and provided living accommodation for over 90 children.

• At first the children came from local parishes such as Wilmslow and Macclesfield, but later he went as far as Liverpool and London to find these young workers.

How Child Labor Was Obtained?• To encourage factory owners to take workhouse

children, people like Greg only paid between £2 and £4 for each child they employed.

• Greg also demanded that the children were sent to him with "two shifts, two pairs of stockings and two aprons.”

• Eventually families needed all the children to work to get by.

• Employers often chose children for their speed, manual dexterity, suppleness, and willingness to work long hours for little pay.

Welcome to the new form of slavery: White Slavery!

PROFIT

LUXURY

POVERTY IGNORANCE

INDIFFERENCE

GREED

What point is the cartoonists making with this political cartoon?

How can you tell?

What would be a good sarcastic caption for this historical political

cartoon?

Types of Child Labor

• The 90 children (60 girls and 30 boys) at Styal made up 50% of the total workforce.

• Overall in textile factories, children made up 50% of workforce, while women made up 25%.

• The children received their board and lodging, and two pence a week.

• The younger children worked as scavengers and piecers, but after a couple of years at Styal they were allowed to become involved in spinning and carding.

• The older boys became skilled mechanics.

Add to the Left Side.

Add to the Left Side.

Faces of Child Labor

Add to your Left Side.

Types of Work• Scavengers had to pick up the loose cotton from under

the machinery• Piecers had to lean over the spinning-machine to repair

the broken threads• After a couple of years they were allowed to become

involved in spinning and carding• Textiles was the biggest industry, after agriculture• It was part of the “domestic system”, which also

included nail-making, glove-making, and stocking-making

• Lace-making, straw-plaiting, and button-making were some domestic industries using children

Work of the ScavengersJohn Brown wrote about Robert Blincoe's experiences in a

textile mill in an article for The Lion newspaper (15th January 1828)

• The task first allocated to Robert Blincoe was to pick up the loose cotton that fell upon the floor. Apparently, nothing could be easier... although he was much terrified by the whirling motion and noise of the machinery. He also disliked the dust and the flue with which he was half suffocated. He soon felt sick, and by constantly stooping, his back ached. Blincoe, therefore, took the liberty to sit down; but this, he soon found, was strictly forbidden in cotton mills. His overlooker, Mr. Smith, told him he must keep on his legs.

Work of the Scavengers

Frances Trollope, Michael Armstrong, the Factory Boy(1840)• A little girl about seven years old, who job as scavenger,

was to collect incessantly from the factory floor, the flying fragments of cotton that might impede the work... while the hissing machinery passed over her, and when this is skillfully done, and the head, body, and the outstretched limbs carefully glued to the floor, the steady moving, but threatening mass, may pass and repass over the dizzy head and trembling body without touching it. But accidents frequently occur; and many are the flaxen locks, rudely torn from infant heads, in the process.

Piecers• Piecers had to lean over the spinning-machine to

repair the broken threads.James Turner was interviewed by Michael Sadler's

Parliamentary Committee on 17th April 1832.• The work of the children, in many instances, is

reaching over to piece the threads that break; they have so many that they have to mind and they have only so much time to piece these threads because they have to reach while the wheel is coming out.

Work of the PiecersJohn Fielden, speech in the House of Commons

(9th May 1836) • “At a meeting in Manchester a man claimed that a

child in one mill walked twenty-four miles a day. I was surprised by this statement, therefore, when I went home, I went into my own factory, and with a clock before me, I watched a child at work, and having watched her for some time, I then calculated the distance she had to go in a day, and to my surprise, I found it nothing short of twenty miles.”

Supporters of Child Labor---It Is Not So Bad---Work of the Piecers

Edward Baines, The History of the Cotton Manufacture (1835)

• “It is not true to represent the work of piecers and scavengers as continually straining. None of the work in which children and young persons are engaged in mills require constant attention. It is scarcely possible for any employment to be lighter. The position of the body is not injurious: the children walk about, and have the opportunity of frequently sitting if they are so disposed.”

Supporters of Child Labor----It Is Not So Bad---Work of the Piecers

E. C. Tufnell, one of the Factory Commissioners, wrote about the work of piecers in 1834.

• “Three-fourths of the children employed are engaging in piecing at the mules, which, when they have receded a foot and a half or two feet from the frame, leave nothing to be done. If a child remains during twelve hours a day, for nine hours he performs no actual labour.”

Work in the Mines• Many children had jobs as hurriers, pulling carts of coal as they

crawled along through mine tunnels.• The carts weighed from 200 to 500 pounds and rolled on cast-

iron wheels.• The hurriers wore a leather harness to pull the carts.• They could not stand up because the roof of the tunnel was

often very low, as little 20, 18, or even 16 inches. • The hours of work were not regular, but work started at 6:00 AM

and could last until 7:00 to 9:00 at night with no rest break. • Adult workers took days off, but the boys were expected to work

every day.• If they took off a day, they were expected to work extra the next

day.

How old do you think this child is? What do you base your answer on?

What do you think they are thinking? Why do

you think that?

What do you think these boys are thinking? Why do you think

that?

Work in the Mines

Work as Chimney Sweeps• Made use of small boys• Were likely to be burned, stifled, or

stuck half way up the chimney if care was not taken.

• Half starved so they could remain thin

• Many contracted cancer as a result of poor working conditions.

• Children were sometimes stolen from parents to sell as chimney sweeps.

• Soot covered the children who were barely washed.

• The small boys (or sometimes girls) slept in cellars on stacks of soot.

• Had to climb through shafts where they could suffocate.

Life as a Chimney Sweep• It was understood even in the Georgian period of our history that chimneys had to be

brush cleaned. • Way back to the 17th century the Master Sweep of the day would employ small

boys to climb and scramble up chimneys. • The task for these climbing boys was to brush clean the inside of the flue with

small hand-held brushes.• They also used metal scrapers to remove the harder tar deposits left by wood or

log fire smoke.• The boys were apprentices and were bound to the trade as young as seven years

old. • A Master was paid a fee to clothe, keep and teach the child his trade. • Sweeps' Boys were usually parish children or orphans, though others were sold

into the trade by their families. • Some grew up to be Journeymen (assistants to the Master), the remainder were

put out to various trades to try to learn a new occupation• In London, there was a London Society of Master Sweeps with its own set of

rules, one of which included that boys were not required to work on Sundays but had to attend Sunday School to study, learn and read the Bible.

Dangers of Being a Chimney Sweep• However, conditions for the boys were harsh and often

cruel. They slept in cellars on bags of soot and were seldom washed.

• Years of accumulated soot and grime often produced cancer of the testicles.

• It was a dangerous and filthy job for the boys to undertake, especially without the protection of safety clothing and respirators.

• Sadly there are recorded instances where these Climbing Boys choked and suffocated to death by dust inhalation whilst attempting to clean chimneys.

• Casualties were also frequent as boys became stuck in narrow flues or fell from climbing rotten chimney stacks.

Work as Chimney Sweeps Cont.

• A bill was passed in 1788 that stopped boys under 8 years old from being apprentices. – This bill was almost totally

ignored

• The Society for Superseding the Necessity of Climbing Boys was formed about 1800. – It tried to encourage the use of a

special brush instead of small boys.

Work as Chimney Sweeps• In the early part of the 18th century various types of chimney cleaning methods

were being developed. • An engineer from Bristol, Mr. Joseph Glass, is widely recognized as the inventor

of chimney cleaning equipment, which has become universal even to this day.• This was the design and introduction of canes and brushes, which could be

pushed and propelled up from the fireplace into the chimney above. • Early canes were made of malacca and imported from the East Indies. Brushes

were made of whale bones, no nylon or polypropylene. • The other method of cleaning flues that was developed originally came from the

Continent - Europe. • This was the ball, brush and rope system which was lowered down from the top

of the chimney.• The weight of the lead or iron ball pulls the brush down, thus cleaning the

chimney.• This procedure is still used widely in Scotland even today. • This is because of the historical contacts Scotland had with Europe. With the

Industrial Revolution and ever greater demand for coal production, chimney sweeps grew in numbers. In Victorian London, there were over 1,000 chimney sweeps serving the area.

Other Work• In the midland’s brickyards, little girls each caught and

threw 15 tons of bricks between 6 in the morning and 8 at night.

• Beggars who hired children often mutilated them, to gain pity (and more coins) from the public.

• Many girls worked as servants in richer homes. • Abandoned children or children who ran away to towns

were adopted by criminals. For them ‘work’ was picking pockets or prostitution.

• Girls often worked as ‘milk-maids’ for dairymen. – Put the yoke over their shoulders with huge buckets. – Get up at 3 or 4 in the morning and start their working day

milking 10 or 12 cows.

Working Hours• Examples: child of age four worked

12 hours a day with less than an hour for meals

• At a Northhamptonshire Lace School, the hours were from 6AM to 6PM in the summer and from 8AM to 8PM in the winter.

• In 1810 the total labour force of 350,000 included 101,000 children.

Working Hours• Children who were late for work

were severely punished. • If children arrived late for work

they would also have money deducted from their wages.

• Time-keeping was a problem for those families who could not afford to buy a clock.

• In some factories workers were not allowed to carry a watch.

• The children suspected that this rule was an attempt to trick them out of some of their wages.

PayWages in Lancashire in 1830

Age of Worker Male Wages Female Wages

under 11 2s 3d. 2s. 4d.

11 - 16 4s. 1d. 4s. 3d.

17 - 21 10s. 2d. 7s. 3d.

22 - 26 17s. 2d. 8s. 5d.

27 - 31 20s. 4d. 8s. 7d.

32 - 36 22s. 8d. 8s. 9d.

37 - 41 21s. 7d. 9s. 8d.

42 - 46 20s. 3d. 9s. 3d.

47 - 51 16s. 7d. 8s. 10d.

52 - 56 16s. 4d. 8s. 4d.

57 - 61 13s. 6d. 6s. 4d.

 

Pay

• “Two children I know got employment in a factory when they were five years old…the spinning men or women employ children if they can get a child to do their business…the child is paid one shilling or one shilling and six pence, and they will take that (five year old) child before they take an older one who will cost more.” George Gould, Manchester Merchant, 1816

What would be a good sarcastic caption for this

historical political cartoon?

What would be a good sarcastic caption for this

historical political cartoon?

What would be a good sarcastic caption for this

historical political cartoon?

What would be a good sarcastic caption for this

historical political cartoon? Turn to your partner and

come up with one.

Dangers• One on the major complaints

made by factory reformers concerned the state of the buildings that they children were forced to work in

• The buildings were dirty, low-roofed, poorly ventilated, ill-drained, no conveniences for washing or dressing, and no means for carrying off dust

• The dust and floating cotton fiber in the atmosphere caused tuberculosis, bronchitis, asthma and byssinosis amongst cotton workers

Dangers• Unguarded machinery was a major

problem for children working in factories

• One hospital reported that every year it treated nearly a thousand people for wounds and mutilations caused by machines in factories

• A report stated that workers were often "abandoned from the moment that an accident occurs; their wages are stopped, no medical attendance is provided, and whatever the extent of the injury, no compensation is afforded."

Young children were maimed in the mines and in the mills.

Accidents• Unguarded machinery was a major problem for

children working in factories. • A report commissioned by the House of Commons

in 1832 said that: "there are factories, no means few in number, nor confined to the smaller mills, in which serious accidents are continually occurring, and in which, notwithstanding, dangerous parts of the machinery are allowed to remain unfenced."

• In 1842 a German visitor noted that he had seen so many people in the streets of Manchester without arms and legs that it was like "living in the midst of the army just returned from a campaign."

AccidentsDr. Ward from Manchester was interviewed about the health

of textile workers on 25th March, 1819.

When I was a surgeon in the infirmary, accidents were very often admitted to the infirmary, through the children's hands and arms having being caught in the machinery; in many instances the muscles, and the skin is stripped down to the bone, and in some instances a finger or two might be lost. Last summer I visited Lever Street School. The number of children at that time in the school, who were employed in factories, was 106. The number of children who had received injuries from the machinery amounted to very nearly one half. There were forty-seven injured in this way.

Accidents

• John Brown, A Memoir of Robert Blincoe (1828)

It happened one evening, when her apron was caught by the shaft. In an instant the poor girl was drawn by an irresistible force and dashed on the floor. She uttered the most heart-rending shrieks! Blincoe ran towards her, an agonized and helpless beholder of a scene of horror. He saw her whirled round and round with the shaft - he heard the bones of her arms, legs, thighs, etc. successively snap asunder, crushed, seemingly, to atoms, as the machinery whirled her round, and drew tighter and tighter her body within the works, her blood was scattered over the frame and streamed upon the floor, her head appeared dashed to pieces - at last, her mangled body was jammed in so fast, between the shafts and the floor, that the water being low and the wheels off the gear, it stopped the main shaft. When she was extricated, every bone was found broken - her head dreadfully crushed. She was carried off quite lifeless.

Accidents

John Allett started working in a textile factory when he was fourteen years old. Allett was fifty-three when he was interviewed by Michael Sadler and his House of Commons Committee on 21st May, 1832.

• Question: Do more accidents take place at the latter end of the day?

Answer: I have known more accidents at the beginning of the day than at the later part. I was an eye-witness of one. A child was working wool, that is, to prepare the wool for the machine; but the strap caught him, as he was hardly awake, and it carried him into the machinery; and we found one limb in one place, one in another, and he was cut to bits; his whole body went in, and was mangled.

• With your partner and discuss the point of this historical political cartoon?

• How do you know? • What political

cartoon techniques are being used?

Deaths• In the mid 1800s British Parliament set up an

investigation of child labor in mines and factories.• The report listed 50 deaths in a period of 3 ½ years

in the coal mines of the Bradford and Halifax district.

• Of the 50 deaths, 34 were children under the age of 16.

• Even though there were a number deaths and injuries, the report said that generally their health was good.

Leeds: 1780-1782Leeds: 1813-1830

Ages Percentage of Deaths Ages Percentage of Deaths

0-5 44 0-5 53

5-9 9 5-9 9

10-14 4 10-14 5

15-19 7 15-19 7

20-29 11 20-29 17

30-39 16 30-39 19

40-49 21 40-49 23

50-59 27 50-59 31

60-69 47 60-69 44

70-79 68 70-79 67

80-89 89 80-89 88

  Percentages of Death

Factory Pollution• One on the major complaints made by factory reformers

concerned the state of the buildings that they children were forced to work in.

Sir Anthony Carlile, a doctor at Westminster Hospital visited some textile mills in 1832.

• He later gave evidence to the House of Commons on the dangers that factory pollution was causing for the young people working in factories: "labour is undergone in an atmosphere heated to a temperature of 70 to 80 and upwards". He pointed out that going from a "very hot room into damp cold air will inevitably produce inflammations of the lungs". \

Doctors Reporting on Health Dangers…• Doctors were also concerned about the "dust from flax and the flue

from cotton" in the air that the young workers were breathing in. • Dr. Charles Aston Key told Michael Sadler that this "impure air

breathed for a great length of time must be productive of disease, or exceedingly weaken the body".

• Dr. Thomas Young who studied textile workers in Bolton reported that factory pollution was causing major health problems.

Most young workers complained of feeling sick during their first few weeks of working in a factory.

• Robert Blincoe said he felt that the dust and flue was suffocating him. This initial reaction to factory pollution became known as mill fever. Symptoms included sickness and headaches.

Factory Pollution Cont.Dr. Ward from Manchester was interviewed about the health of textile workers on 25th

March, 1919.• I have had frequent opportunities of seeing people coming out from the factories and

occasionally attending as patients. Last summer I visited three cotton factories with Dr. Clough of Preston and Mr. Barker of Manchester and we could not remain ten minutes in the factory without gasping for breath. How it is possible for those who are doomed to remain there twelve or fifteen hours to endure it? If we take into account the heated temperature of the air, and the contamination of the air, it is a matter of astonishment to my mind, how the work people can bear the confinement for so great a length of time.

William Cobbett reported a visit to a textile factory in the Political Register that he made in

September, 1824 (20th November, 1824).• The 1st, 2nd and 3rd of September were very hot days. The newspapers told us that men

had dropped down dead in the harvest fields and the many horses had fallen dead in the harvest fields and that many horses had fallen dead upon the road. Yet the heat during these days never exceeded eighty-four degrees in the hottest part of the day. What, then, must be the situation of the poor children who are doomed to toil fourteen hours a day, in an average of eighty-two degrees? Can any man, with a heart in his body, and a tongue in his head, refrain from cursing a system that produces such slavery and such cruelty.

Health ProblemsFrank Forrest, Chapters in the Life of a Dundee Factory Boy (1850)• About a week after I became a mill boy, I was seized with a strong,

heavy sickness, that few escape on first becoming factory workers. The cause of the sickness, which is known by the name of "mill fever", is the contaminated atmosphere produced by so many breathing in a confined space, together with the heat and exhalations of grease and oil and the gas needed to light the establishment.

William Dodd, A Narrative of William Dodd,: A Factory Cripple (1841)• One great cause of ill health to the operatives in factories is the dust

and lime which is continually flying about. Animal skins are soaked in a strong solution of lime. The lime gets intermixed with the wool and hair. It is put through the teaser in order to shake out the lime and dust. The machine, and all around, are covered with the lime and dust. The result is difficulty of breathing, asthma, etc.

Food in the Factories

• Factory owners were responsible for providing their pauper apprentices with food.

• Children constantly complained about the quality of the food. In most textile mills the children had to eat their meals while still working.

• This meant that the food tended to get covered with the dust from the cloth.

John Birley was interviewed by The Ashton Chronicle on 19th May, 1849.• Our regular time was from five in the morning till nine or ten at night; and on

Saturday, till eleven, and often twelve o'clock at night, and then we were sent to clean the machinery on the Sunday. No time was allowed for breakfast and no sitting for dinner and no time for tea. We went to the mill at five o'clock and worked till about eight or nine when they brought us our breakfast, which consisted of water-porridge, with oatcake in it and onions to flavour it. Dinner consisted of Derbyshire oatcakes cut into four pieces, and ranged into two stacks. One was buttered and the other treacled. By the side of the oatcake were cans of milk. We drank the milk and with the oatcake in our hand, we went back to work without sitting down.

Food in the FactoriesMatthew Crabtree was interviewed by Michael Sadler's Parliamentary

Committee (18th May, 1832)• I began work at Cook's of Dewsbury when I was eight years old. We had to eat

our food in the mill. It was frequently covered by flues from the wool; and in that case they had to be blown off with the mouth, and picked off with the fingers, before it could be eaten.

Sarah Carpenter was interviewed by The Ashton Chronicle on 23rd June, 1849.

Our common food was oatcake. It was thick and coarse. This oatcake was put into cans. Boiled milk and water was poured into it. This was our breakfast and supper. Our dinner was potato pie with boiled bacon it, a bit here and a bit there, so thick with fat we could scarce eat it, though we were hungry enough to eat anything. Tea we never saw, nor butter. We had cheese and brown bread once a year. We were only allowed three meals a day though we got up at five in the morning and worked till nine at night.

Table showing the Comparative Weight of Factory and Non-Factory Children (in lbs.)

Age Average weight of males in factories

Average weight of males not in

factoriesAge Average weight of

females in factoriesAverage weight of

females not in factories

9 51.76 53.26 9 51.13 52.40

10 57.00 60.28 10 54.80 54.44

11 61.84 58.36 11 59.69 61.13

12 65.97 67.25 12 66.08 66.07

13 72.11 75.36 13 73.25 72.72

14 77.09 78.68 14 83.41 83.43

15 88.35 88.83 15 87.86 93.61

Weight of Children in Factories: How Does This Compare To You?---Do On Left Side

Age Average height ofmales in Factories Age Average height of

females in Factories

9 3ft. 11in. 9 4ft. 0in.

10 4ft. 2in. 10 4ft. 1in.

11 4ft. 2in. 11 4ft. 2in.

12 4ft. 4in. 12 4ft. 4in.

13 4ft. 6in. 13 4ft. 7in.

14 4ft. 8in. 14 4ft. 9in.

15 4ft. 10in. 15 4ft. 10in.

16 5ft. 0in. 16 4ft. 11in.

 

Heights of Children in Factories: How Does This Compare To You?---Do On Left Side

Why were they this size? How would this affect the

type of work they did?

Why do you think the boys and girls were of similar

weight and height?

Punishments• Children who worked long hours in the textile mills became very tired and found it

difficult to maintain the speed required by the overlookers. • Children were usually hit with a strap to make them work faster.• In some factories children were dipped head first into the water cistern if they

became drowsy. • Children were also punished for arriving late for work and for talking to the

other children. • Parish apprentices who ran away from the factory was in danger of being sent to

prison. • Children who were considered potential runaways were placed in irons.

Jonathan Downe was interviewed by Michael Sadler's Parliamentary Committee on 6th June, 1832.

• When I was seven years old I went to work at Mr. Marshalls factory at Shrewsbury. If a child was drowsy, the overlooker touches the child on the shoulder and says, "Come here". In a corner of the room there is an iron cistern filled with water. He takes the boy by the legs and dips him in the cistern, and sends him back to work.

Punishments.• A blacksmith named William Palfrey, who resided in Litton,

worked in a room under that where Blincoe was employed. He used to be much disturbed by the shrieks and cries of the boys. According to Blincoe, human blood has often run from an upper to a lower floor. Unable to bear the shrieks of the children, Palfrey used to knock against the floor, so violently, as to force the boards up, and call out "for shame! for shame! are you murdering the children?" By this sort of conduct, the humane blacksmith was a check on the cruelty of the brutal overlookers, as long as he continued in his shop; but he went home at seven o'clock and as soon as Woodward, Merrick and Charnock knew that Palfrey was gone, they beat and knock the apprentices about without moderation.

PunishmentsSarah Carpenter was interviewed about her experiences in The Ashton Chronicle

(23rd June, 1849)• The master carder's name was Thomas Birks; but he never went by any other name

than Tom the Devil. He was a very bad man - he was encouraged by the master in ill-treating all the hands, but particularly the children. I have often seen him pull up the clothes of big girls, seventeen or eighteen years of age, and throw them across his knee, and then flog them with his hand in the sight of both men and boys. Everybody was frightened of him. He would not even let us speak. He once fell poorly, and very glad we were. We wished he might die.

• There was an overlooker called William Hughes, who was put in his place whilst he was ill. He came up to me and asked me what my drawing frame was stopped for. I said I did not know because it was not me who had stopped it. A little boy that was on the other side had stopped it, but he was too frightened to say it was him. Hughes starting beating me with a stick, and when he had done I told him I would let my mother know. He then went out and fetched the master in to me. The master started beating me with a stick over the head till it was full of lumps and bled. My head was so bad that I could not sleep for a long time, and I never been a sound sleeper since.

Punishments Continued• There was a young woman, Sarah Goodling, who was poorly and so she stopped

her machine. James Birch, the overlooker knocked her to the floor. She got up as well as she could. He knocked her down again. Then she was carried to the apprentice house. Her bed-fellow found her dead in bed. There was another called Mary. She knocked her food can down on the floor. The master, Mr. Newton, kicked her where he should not do, and it caused her to wear away till she died. There was another, Caroline Thompson. They beat her till she went out of her mind.

• We were always locked up out of mill hours, for fear any of us should run away. One day the door was left open. Charlotte Smith, said she would be ringleader, if the rest would follow. She went out but no one followed her. The master found out about this and sent for her. There was a carving knife which he took and grasping her hair he cut if off close to the head. They were in the habit of cutting off the hair of all who were caught speaking to any of the lads. This head shaving was a dreadful punishment. We were more afraid of it than of any other, for girls are proud of their hair.

Reformers of Child Labor

• Robert Owen---Utopian Socialist• Robert Peel, Sr.---Had Once Supported Child Labor• Joseph Rayner Stephens• Thomas Barnado• Charles Dickens• Lord Ashley Shaftesbury

– Leader of the child labor investigation in the House of Commons.

– This investigation brought to light the true reforms that were needed in child labor.

Lord ShaftesburyIt took many years and campaigns before Acts of Parliament finally approved by the House of Lords outlawed the use of Climbing Boys. In 1864 Lord Shaftesbury brought in the "Act for the Regulation of Chimney Sweepers" which established a penalty of

£10.00 for offenders.

What makes Lord Shaftesbury unique for his time period? Explain on your Left Side.

Lord Shaftesbury Interviewing a Child

• Lord Shaftesbury visiting the pauper workhouses---like in the Story of Lotte

Answer the questions on the Left Side of your notes.

The Ragged School Union also established regular dinners for underfed children.

Ragged schools for girls and boys were set up from 1844 to educate poor children. The president of the Ragged Schools union was Lord Ashley, who later became Lord Shaftesbury. This is a print showing a Ragged School for boys.

On Your Left Side, Answer The Following After Examining the Picture

• Ragged schools for girls and boys were set up from 1844 to educate poor children.

• The president of the Ragged Schools union was Lord Ashley, who later became Lord Shaftesbury.

• This is a print showing a Ragged School for boys

• What sort of education are the children receiving in this school?

• List the different skills you can see that are being learnt?

• What sort of skills do you think a ragged school for girls would teach?

What does the newspaper article tell us about Dr. Barnado?

What can you learn from reformers like Dr. Barnardo? Write this on the Left Side.

Barnardo and the Plight of Homeless Children

• Study this source carefully. What impression does this source give of life in the British empire in terms of the following issues:

• the reasons why people migrated within the empire?

• whether this migration was voluntary or forced?

• how the migration was organised and paid for?

• the scale of emigration? • the attitudes shown towards

the emigrants? • Explain whether you think

this source gives a positive or negative view of the empire.

Are you familiar with Dickens? How so?

Government Tactics To Try To Stop Child Labor:

• On 29th August, the government's the 1833 Factory Act was passed by Parliament.

• Under the terms of the new act, it became illegal for children under nine to work in textile factories whereas children aged between nine and thirteen could not be employed for more than eight hours a day.

• The main disappointment of the reformers was that children over thirteen were allowed to work for up to twelve hours a day.

To make sure this legislation was obeyed, the government appointed four factory inspectors.

• The inspectors were soon complaining that they were having great difficulty checking the ages of the children working in the factories.

• Although factory children had to obtain age certificates from local doctors it soon became clear that this was not stopping children under nine from working in textile factories.

Sneaky Tactics of Employers

J. S. Poulter, speech in the House of Commons, 9th May, 1836.• It is a common practice to obtain false certificates as to the ages of the

children. These children are dressed up to appear much older than they really are; and I can mention the names of children who, at eleven years of age, have been certificated as being thirteen years old.

James Harrison, a doctor from Preston, wrote a letter to factory inspector,

Leonard Horner, about age certificates.

The truth is rarely told. Employers and parents have good reasons to make false statements. My plan is to regard the minimum height for a child of eleven years of age to be 4ft. 1in.; twelve years, 4ft. 2in. and of thirteen, 4ft. 3in.; and not to give certificates of those ages to children who were under the minimum sized fixed for their respective ages.

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Sneaky Tactics of Employers• Leonard Horner, Inspector of Factories Report (1850)

On the 4th May, Mr. Jones and I visited the factory of Christopher Bracewell & Brothers at Earby. It stands apart from the village, in an open field, and as we came near, one of the brothers was seen running with considerable speed from the house to the mill. This looked very suspicious, but we did not discover anything wrong. A few days afterwards I received an anonymous letter stating that when Mr. Bracewell saw the factory inspector he went to the mill, and got those under age into the privies. He also said that the children worked from 13 to 14 hours a day. In a few days, Mr. Jones went again to the mill, taking the superintendent of police at Colne along with him. After having made his first examination, he directed the constable to search the privies, and there were found in them thirteen children. All of them were found to be illegally employed in the mill.

History of the Child Labor Laws in Britain

• In the next several slides, there are most of the child labor laws that were passed by Parliament.

• As we cover each one, on your Left Side identify the Positives/Strengths and Negatives/Weaknesses of each law.

• You can do this in a T-Chart.

1802 Health and Morals Factory Act

3. Every apprentice is to be supplied with two complete suits of clothing with suitable linen, stockings, hats and shoes

4. The hours of work of apprentices are not to exceed twelve a day, nor commence before six in the morning, nor conclude after nine at night

5. They are to be instructed every working day during the first four years of apprenticeship in reading, writing and arithmetic

6. Male and female apprentices are to be provided with separate sleeping apartments, and not more than two to sleep in one bed

7. On Sunday they are to be instructed in the principles of the Christian religion

The regulations, briefly stated, were the following:

1. The master or mistress of the factory must observe the law

2. All rooms in a factory are to be lime-washed twice a year and duly ventilated

1819 Factory Act• No children under 9 to work in factories. • Children from 9 to 16 allowed to work a maximum of

72 hours per week with one and a half hours a day for meals.

1833 Althorp`s Factory Act• Children from 9 to 13 to work a maximum of 42

hours per week; • also children aged 13 to 16 to work a maximum of 69

hours a week. • No night work for anybody under the age of 18.

Factory Act- 1833

• It was also known as Althorp’s Act• It prohibited the employment of children in all

textile factories that were run by water and steam.

• It limited the work day for children between the ages of nine and twelve.

• They were only allowed to work nine hours a day and 48 hours per week.

1833 Factory Act • It was an attempt to establish a

normal working day• The working day was to start at

5.30 a.m. and end at 8.30 p.m.• Children age 9-13 could not work

beyond any period of nine hours• Children age 13-18 might not be

employed beyond any period of twelve hours

• From 8.30 p.m. to 5.30 a.m., the employment of such persons was altogether prohibited

1842 Mines and Collieries Act

• Banned all women and children under 10 from working underground.

• No-one under 15 years was to work winding gear in mines.

1844 Graham`s Factory Act• Minimum age for working in factories reduced to 8 years

old. • 8 to 13 years old to work a maximum of six and a half hours

a day. • 13 to 18 year olds to work a maximum of 12 hours a day

and the same applied to women. • Safety guards had to be fitted to all machines.

1844 Factory ActR. W. Cooke-Taylor, the author of The Factory System was also an Inspector of Factories.

In his book he explained the 1844 Factory Act. • The Factory Act of 1844 is an extremely important one in the history of family

legislation.• The Act reduced the hours of work for children between eight and thirteen to six and

a half a day, either in the morning or afternoon, no child being allowed to work in both on the same day, except on alternate days, and then only for ten hours.

• Young persons and women (now included for the first time) were to have the same hours, i.e. not more than twelve for the first five days of the week (with one and a half out for meals), and nine on Saturday.

Certificates of age were to be granted in future only by surgeons appointed for the purpose.

• Accidents causing death or bodily injury were to be reported to these surgeons, who were to investigate their cause and report the result to the inspector.

• The factory was to be thoroughly washed with lime every fourteen months. • A Register was likewise to be kept; in which were to be entered the names of all

children and young persons employed, the dates of the lime-washing, and some other particulars.

• Certificates of school attendance were to be obtained in the case of children.

1847 Fielder`s Factory Act

• 10 hour day introduced for under 18's and for women.

Factory Act- 1847• For the children under the age of 18 the Ten Hour Bill

helped limit their work day as well.• The work day was ten hours and the max number of

hours per week was 58 hours.• The flaw with this was that the legislation did not

include those children working in non-textile industries like mining, machinery making, and pottery making.

• More than 10% of the work force involved in non-textile industries were children.

• Later, in the 1867 Factory Act and the Workshop Regulation Act of 1867, the child labor laws were extended to all factories and workshops.

1847 Factory ActR. W. Cooke-Taylor, the author of The Factory System

was also an Inspector of Factories. In his book he explained the 1847 Factory Act.

• It limited the hours of labour to sixty-three per week from the 1st of July 1847, and to fifty-eight per week, from the 1st of May 1848, which with the stoppage on Saturday afternoon was the equivalent of ten hours work per day.

1867 Factory ActR. W. Cooke-Taylor, the author of The Factory System was also an

Inspector of Factories. In his book he explained the 1867 Factory Act.

• The Second Children's Employment Commission unanimously recommended the extension of the system of factory inspection to a number of occupations previously regarded as quite outside its sphere, and its modified application in others, hereafter to be dealt with; which seemed practically to exhaust the whole field of material labour.

The Factory Extension Act, 1867 provision was made to restrict the hours during which children, young persons and women are permitted to labour in any manufacturing process conducted in an establishment where fifty or more persons are employed.

1874 Factory ActR. W. Cooke-Taylor, the author of The Factory System

was also an Inspector of Factories. In his book he explained the 1874 Factory Act.

• The textile operatives, besides being the first to benefit by factory laws, had by this time become a well-organised body outside their sphere, they had evolved a powerful and well disciplined trade union to represent their interests.

• The success of the agitation was shown by the passing of the Factory Act 1874 which took half-an-hour a day off textile factories alone, leaving all others still subject to the settlement of 1850.

1891 Factory ActR. W. Cooke-Taylor, the author of The Factory System

was also an Inspector of Factories. In his book he explained the 1891 Factory Act.

• The Factory Act, 1891 made the requirements for fencing machinery more stringent.

• Under the heading Conditions of Employment two considerable additions to previous legislation.

• The first is the prohibition on employers to employ women within four weeks after confinement; the second the raising the minimum age at which a child can be set to work from ten to eleven.

1700’s Education: Before the Industrial Revolution• In 1700’s most children didn’t go to school instead they

were forced to work or beg on the streets during the day to support their families.

• Education is the process by which people acquire knowledge, skills, habits, values, or attitudes.

• By the early 1700s there was a further development in the nature of religious adult education.

• Of great importance was the growth of the Welsh Circulating Schools (which moved from place to place and were attended by adults and children), and the development of church societies and Sunday Schools.

• Elementary schools were run by men or women that were poor and couldn’t find any other employment

• Wealthy schools had text books, were as the poor schools had the children make letters out of sticks

Education Before The Industrial Revolution:

• During the 1700’s few children received an education.• Schools called charity schools were created by the

wealthy to educate the poor.• Working class children could not attend schools because

they had no clothes, were forced to work all day, or had to beg on the streets to support their families.

• Elementary schools were taught by women or men with no job who hung a sign in their window that said, “SKOOL”.

• Wealthier charity schools could afford pens and notebooks but poor schools used a pile of sand and sticks to draw letters.

Education early 1800’s• The government made laws enacted in the 1800’s

to increase mandated for children to be educated for a certain number of hours per day and made sure that all student learn the basics skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic.

• In 1833 children aged 9-13 received two hours of education every day by law.

• 1880 six hours of education were mandatory for 5-10 year olds

• Majority of workers still could not read or write.

Nineteenth Century Changes

• The 1800’s led to many changes and advancements in education.

• The government decided to help because the literacy rate was too low and too many children were working in factories.

• They made laws so it was mandatory to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic.

• In Britain, 2/3 of women could not read or write and ½ of men could not read or write.

• They began to develop secondary schools that would teach industry techniques.

Charity Schools• Began in early 1800s for boys and girls of the

laboring community where the main aim was to teach religion, to read and to write.

• Taught handcrafts such as cobbling shoes and sewing. What the children made was sold to support the school.

• They had 15 hour school days, but most of the schools had trouble finding students because they were mostly working. Sundays schools were created for those kids working during the week.

• By 1833, 6 of 10 kids were attending school and 2 of those 6 were workers attending Sunday school.

Sunday Schools• Sunday Schools started in 1780. • They taught religion and were for

children who had to work doing the week and could only go to school on Sundays.

• The hours were from 9am-6pmwith breaks for divine rights and dinner.

Public Schools• These were for the sons of tradesmen and

craftsmen but attracted upper class boys too.• The food at the schools were very bad and it was

dangerous for the boys who were boarding there.• There was bullying and many riots. The older boys

had power over the younger boys and the used them as servants.

• The riots resulted in things like schools being burnt down. Because of these riots, many parents kept their kids at home and tutored them.

• The teachers and headmaster were allowed to whip the boys and did so often.

Public Schools• Public schools started in early 1440’s • More boys from the upper class attendant public schools.• There is a tendency to believe that education came to England with

the 1870 • Public schools had disorder, bullying and many riots .• The flagging system was a way for the older boys to hold power over

smaller boys.• The older boys would force the young boys to make their beds for

them, supply them with ink and paper, and generally made them at as their servants.

• Schools would teach Greek and Latin, they stressed school spirit, emphasized muscular Christianity and games like football and cricket as means of improving character.

• it was not until 1899, the establishment of the National Board of Education that free public education was available to all children in England.

• It was not until 1902, that public secondary education was available. In that same year, the school boards were abolished and the responsibility for education was placed in the hands of local government.

Grammar Schools

• These schools were for the poor and deserving boys but also attracted the upper class boys.

• Most grammar schools had the students board there.

• These schools were mostly located in small towns where the roads were very bad so parents kept the students at the schools.

Private Schools• The private schools were for the boys who were turned

away from other schools and universities because of their religious beliefs.

• They developed a more modern educational system that taught mainly commercial subjects such as navigation, surveying, and European languages

• The price for one year of boarding at a private school was 14 pounds, 12 shillings, and 9 pennies.

• That included dance lessons, supplies, and a weekly allowance. In the 1780s the price of school went up to about 20 to 25 pounds.

• The schools advertised and competed with each other by holding concerts and plays. Some schools offered a military education.

• The schools did not offer competitive sports though.

Eton College

Rugby School.

Public Libraries Act• Introduced in 1849 by William Ewart and Joseph

Brotherton because they wanted a public library in every borough.

• This act was made a law in 1850 but only applied to boroughs with a population over 10,000.

• This spread to Scotland and in Ireland it was changed to allow councils of boroughs to buy books.

• Many big businesses funded these libraries such as Andrew Carnegie who funded over 380 libraries in Britain.

Girls Schools• Education for girl was important in

the 1800’s • After the 1870's there were growing

numbers of girl's public schools• Many girls stayed home and were

taught by governess. • Mothers would teach them how to

cook and clean.

An Early Victorian Girls School

Women’s Education• Was a debated topic of the 1800’s • Some felt women’s roles as wives and

homemakers didn’t require an education. • While others believed women should be

given the same education opportunities as men.

• Girls were included in the laws providing education but could only attend elementary schools. Secondary schools limited to wealthy.

• People, like Mary Lyon who opened the 1st women’s college “Mount Holyoke Female Seminary”, opened secondary schools and colleges specifically for them.

• 1874 - London School of Medicine opened and after 2 yrs. of debate Parliament finally allowed women to register as doctors.

• During the end of the 18th century boarding schools for richer girls became more common and they taught music, dancing, and how to be charming.

Universities

• Students influential institutions provided Oxford and Cambridge with nearly all of their own students, and graduates of those Universities, dominated the British political and administrative best at least as late as the 1960s, as to a considerable extent they do today.

• Universities were only for the aristocracy or gentry, and women were excluded. Most students didn’t go to class or attend the lectures there was no need because they were never tested on it.

• It wasn’t until 1800 that Oxford made real demands of those seeking degrees.

Map of Victorian Cambridge.

Results of Education• The literacy of the general public grew greatly as

a result of mandated education. • Made magazines and books more popular. • Libraries with large collections opened as early as

the 1840’s in major cities. • Also lent books for small fees. • Mass circulation of newspapers were 1st printed

at this time.• Newspaper publishers benefited form the

combination of rapid communication provided by the telegraph, cheaper printing method, and improved distribution by railroad and steamship.