CHILDREN IN FACTORIES
(John Fielden, The Curse of the Factory System)
Sir R. Peel’s evidence before a committee of the House of Commons, 1816:—
“Having other pursuits, it was not often in my power to visit the factories, but whenever such visits were made I was struck with the uniform appearance of bad health, and, in many cases, stunted growth of the children. The hours of labour were regulated by the interests of the overseer, whose remuneration was regulated by the quantity of work done” (p. 9).
Evidence of John Moss, overseer of Blackbarrow Mill, near Preston (summarized):—
The children in the mill were almost all apprentices from London parishes. They were worked from five in the morning to eight at night all the year round, with only one hour for the two meals; in making up lost time they frequently worked from five in the morning till ten at night, and invariably they worked from six on the Sunday morning till twelve, in cleaning the machinery for the week!
| “Did the children sit or stand at work?” | “Stand.” |
| “The whole of their time?” | “Yes.” |
| “Were there any seats in the Mill?” | “None.” |
| “Were they usually much fatigued at night?” | “Yes, some of them were very much fatigued.” |
| “Where did they sleep?” | “They slept in the apprentice house.” |
| “Did you inspect their beds?” | “Yes, every night.” |
| “For what purpose?” | “Because there were always some of them missing; some sometimes might be run away. Others sometimes I have found asleep in the mill.” |
| “Upon the mill-floor?” | “Yes.” |
| “Did the children frequently lie down upon the mill floor at night when their work was over and fall asleep before their supper?” | “I have found them frequently upon the mill floor after the time they should have been in bed” (p. 10). |
Mr. Horner’s statements in the House of Commons, 6th June, 1815.
“These children were often sent one, two, or three hundred miles from their place of birth, separated for life from all relations. It had been known that with a bankrupt’s effect a gang ... of these children had been put up to sale and were advertised publicly as a part of the property ... a number of these boys, apprenticed by a parish in London to one manufacturer, had been transferred to another, and had been found by some benevolent persons in a state of absolute famine.... Not many years ago an agreement had been made between a London parish and a Lancashire manufacturer ... that with every twenty sound children, one idiot should be taken!” (p. 11).
Report of Commissioners, 1833, from Scotland, p. 41. Evidence of a Spinner.
“I find it difficult to keep my piecers awake the last hours of a winter evening; have seen them fall asleep and go on performing their work with their hands while they were asleep, after the billey had stopped. When their work was over, I have stopped and looked at them for two minutes, going through the motions of piecening when they were fast asleep, when there was no work to do, and they were doing nothing; children at night are so fatigued that they are asleep often as soon as they sit down, so that it is impossible to wake them to sense enough to wash themselves, or even to eat a bit of supper, being so stupid in sleep” (p. 19).
Half-overseer’s evidence.
Does not like the long hours; he is very tired and hoarse at night and that some of the young female workers in his, the spinning flat, have so swelled legs, one in particular, from standing so long, about 17 years old, that she can hardly walk; that various of them have their feet bent in and their legs crooked from the same cause (p. 21).