Working in a factory
What was it like?
Factories were noisy places to work with the
machinery rattling and hissing. People working in them
had to shout to make themselves heard.
Britain was the first country in the world to have
machines which made all sorts of different things
such as spinning cotton and wool which had previously
been done by families at home.
Iron and Steel works
If you were unlucky enough to work in an
iron or steel works factory, workers got so
hot that they dripped with sweat. Flames
and sparks lit up the sky darkened by
smoke from factory chimneys.
What were cotton mills?
Cotton mills were factories where
cotton was spun into thread. In woollen
mills, wool was spun in a similar way. Once
made into thread, weaving machines turned
the thread into textiles (material), such as
carpets and cloth for clothes. Most of the
factories were in the north of England,
employing thousands of people.
Were factories safe places to work in?
As children had small nimble fingers, could crawl into small spaces under machines
and didn’t complain, factory owners tended to employ them rather than adults.
‘Piecers’ mended broken threads, whilst scavengers crawled under machinery to
collect up the scraps of cotton. If you were unlucky enough to get caught in the
machinery, you could lose your hair or even your arm!
New laws to protect workers
Lord Shaftesbury argued in Parliament for new laws to protect
children from working in factories as many were killed or badly
injured. As a result, two new laws came into effect:
1847 Ten Hour Act - No child to work more than 10 hours in a
day.
1874 Factory Act - No child under the age of 10 to be employed in a factory.