PATTERNS OF CHANGE – WORK AND LEISURE


A number of factory acts were also introduced. These factory acts reduced the number of hours worked and introduced inspectors to enforce the laws.


Extract from a factory inspector’s report (1836) I took the evidence from the mouths of the boys themselves. They stated to me that they commenced working on Friday morning, the 27th of May last, at six a.m., and that, with the exception of meal hours and one hour at midnight extra, they did not cease working till four o’clock on Saturday evening, having been two days and a night thus engaged.


Working in the mines


Coal was needed to fuel steam engines and in the production of iron. Most people worked as coal miners (colliers). Children were often employed because they could crawl through tunnels too narrow and low for adults.


Children did a variety of jobs in the mines. ● Trappers opened and closed the trap doors that allowed fresh air into the mines. They would usually sit in total darkness for up to 12 hours a day.


A trapper (left) and a hurrier ● Hurriers transported the coal that had been mined.


Dangers of working in the mines As the demand for coal grew, mines got deeper and coal mining became more dangerous. ● Gases caused explosions in which many miners died. The risk of explosion was reduced when Humphrey Davy invented a safety lamp.


● Poisonous gases could also be found. ● Underground pit collapses often occurred.


Death before the age of 25 was common among miners. Mine reforms


Mines Acts banned women and young children from working underground in the mines.


1. Who gave evidence to the factory inspector?


2. When did the boys start working?


3. How many breaks did the boys get?


4. How long had the boys been working?


31


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