Factory Acts
On the 2nd of December 1802, regulations and rules came into force for all textile mills employing three or more apprentices. This Health and Morals of Apprentices Act marked the first parliamentary attempt to regulate child labor in cotton mills. Sir Robert Peel introduced the bill after medical men from Manchester reported an outbreak of 'putrid fever' at a mill he owned in Radcliffe. The act required buildings to have sufficient windows and openings for ventilation. It mandated that ceilings and walls be cleaned at least twice yearly with quicklime and water. Each apprentice had to receive two sets of clothing including suitable linen stockings hats and shoes. A new set was provided each year thereafter. Night work between 9 pm and 6 am was forbidden for these young workers. Their daily hours could not exceed 12 hours excluding break time. All night-time working by apprentices had to be discontinued by June 1804. Every Sunday one hour was dedicated to teaching Christian religion while every other Sunday divine service was held in the factory. Local magistrates appointed two inspectors known as visitors to ensure compliance. One visitor was a clergyman and the other a justice of the peace. Neither inspector could have any connection with the mill or factory. Owners who refused to comply faced fines between £2 and £5. Despite these provisions the act went largely unenforced because enforcement was left to local magistrates who often ignored it.
Richard Oastler published a dramatic open letter in the Leeds Mercury newspaper in 1830 exposing terrible working conditions in Bradford factories. He escalated his rhetoric by claiming local child laborers were worse off than slaves on distant sugar plantations. Michael Sadler introduced a bill extending protection to children in other textile industries and reducing their working day to ten hours per day. Sadler's report of 1832 included explicit testimonies describing very bad conditions for women and children. The report shocked public opinion and calls were made to imprison flog and pillory recalcitrant factory owners. Anthony Ashley-Cooper 7th Earl of Shaftesbury took over leadership of the momentum in favor of factory reform in Parliament. He organized campaigns that achieved new laws with inspectors to identify and force reforms in the long run. A network of Short Time Committees had grown up in the textile districts of Yorkshire and Lancashire working for a ten-hour day Act. Many millhands hoped this would limit the adult working day as well. Witnesses noted there were few millworkers over forty and they expected to stop work at that age due to the pace of the mill unless hours were reduced. Richard Oastler responded that failure with a Ten Hour Bill would not dishearten its friends but spur them on to greater exertions leading to certain success. John Fielden was indefatigable in his support giving generously of time and money while vouching for the reality of evils of a long working day.
The Labour of Children etc in Factories Act 1833 established a professional Factory Inspectorate subordinate to the Home Office. This act set up inspectors with the right to demand entry and authority to act as magistrates. Under previous acts supervision had been by local visitors who were effectively discretionary. The inspectors were empowered to make and enforce rules independent of the Home Secretary. In 1835 the first report of the Factory Inspectors noted education clauses were totally impracticable. They also reported being unable to discover any deformity produced by factory labor or injury to health caused by working a twelve-hour day. The inspectors appointed were largely ineffective simply because there were not enough of them to oversee all 4,000 factories on the island. One factory inspector reported a case of a millowner sitting as magistrate on a case brought against his own sons. Magistrates habitually mitigated penalties to an extent which defeated the law. It was more profitable to break the law and pay the occasional fine than to comply. Millowners sat on the bench and adjudicated in their own cases because Althorp's Act repealed provisions forbidding this. The idea of government-appointed inspectors would gain traction within the following decades but for now they were mostly figureheads.
The Factories Act Extension Act 1867 made similar provisions for other textile trades including bleaching dyeworks lace work calendaring and finishing. A further act repealed these acts and brought ancillary textile processes including outdoor bleaching within the scope of the main Factory Act. Another act extended the Factory Act to cover occupations such as potteries lucifer match making percussion cap and cartridge making paper staining and fustian cutting. In 1867 the Factories Act was extended to all establishments employing 50 or more workers. An act applied to workshops establishing less than 50 workers subjecting them to requirements similar to those for factories. These workshops were administered by local authorities rather than the Factory Inspectorate. There was no requirement on local authorities for enforcement or penalties for non-enforcement of legislation for workshops. The effectiveness of regulation varied from area to area. A blanket ban on Sunday working in workshops became a problem for observant Jews. A separate act allowed Sunday working by Jews. The newly-legalised trade unions aimed to reduce working hours both by direct concession by employers and by securing legislation. The 1873 Trades Union Congress congratulated itself on a general concession of the nine-hour day in leading engineering establishments.
Millowners believed in laissez-faire economics arguing that market forces should regulate labor conditions. They feared shorter hours would reduce profits lower productivity and make them less competitive. One millowner MP agreed the 1819 bill was widely evaded but remarked this put millowners at the mercy of millhands. He stated provisions had been evaded in many respects and it was now in the power of workmen to ruin individuals by enforcing penalties. Another millowner supported a bill saying he agreed there was much requiring remedy. He doubted whether shortening hours would be injurious even to manufacturers interests as children could pursue occupation with greater vigor. In 1844 Lord Ashley moved an amendment changing definition of night to 6 pm to 6 am after allowing 90 minutes for meal breaks only ten-and-a-half hours could be worked. This passed by nine votes. Voting on factory bills was not on party lines revealing both parties split into various factions. Five members voted against both ten and twelve hour limits creating an impasse. Richard Monckton Milnes warned during debate that Ashley's first victory could never be undone by any subsequent vote. Morally the Ten-Hour question had been settled though government might delay. The introduction of the ten-hour day proved to have none of the dire consequences predicted by its opponents. Its apparent success effectively ended theoretical objections to the principle of factory legislation.
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Common questions
What was the first parliamentary attempt to regulate child labor in cotton mills?
The Health and Morals of Apprentices Act on the 2nd of December 1802 marked the first parliamentary attempt to regulate child labor in cotton mills. This act applied to all textile mills employing three or more apprentices.
When did Richard Oastler publish his open letter exposing working conditions in Bradford factories?
Richard Oastler published a dramatic open letter in the Leeds Mercury newspaper in 1830 exposing terrible working conditions in Bradford factories. He claimed local child laborers were worse off than slaves on distant sugar plantations.
How many inspectors were appointed under the Labour of Children etc in Factories Act 1833?
The inspectors appointed under the Labour of Children etc in Factories Act 1833 were largely ineffective simply because there were not enough of them to oversee all 4,000 factories on the island. The act established a professional Factory Inspectorate subordinate to the Home Office.
Which year did the Factories Act Extension Act apply to all establishments employing 50 or more workers?
In 1867 the Factories Act was extended to all establishments employing 50 or more workers. A separate act applied to workshops establishing less than 50 workers subjecting them to requirements similar to those for factories.
What happened when Lord Ashley moved an amendment changing the definition of night work in 1844?
Lord Ashley moved an amendment changing the definition of night to 6 pm to 6 am after allowing 90 minutes for meal breaks only ten-and-a-half hours could be worked. This passed by nine votes and effectively ended theoretical objections to the principle of factory legislation.