cloth and carpets. In Victorian Britain, the cotton and wool industries
employed thousands of workers, mostly in the north of England.
Mill workers lived in small houses close to the factories.
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Why was factory work dangerous?
Factory owners employed children because they were cheap, did not complain, had
nimble fingers, and could crawl about under machines.
Small girls worked in mills as 'piecers'. They mended broken threads. 'Scavengers'
crawled beneath clattering machines to pick up scraps of cotton. They risked getting
caught in the machinery, losing hair or arms. Yet most mill-owners thought factory
work was easy. At first, there were no laws to protect working children.
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New laws to protect children
People called reformers, such as Lord Shaftesbury (1801-1885), argued in
Parliament for laws to stop child-work. Inspectors, called Commissioners, went into
factories and mines. They talked to working children to find out the facts. These are
three of the new laws passed by Parliament.
1841 Mines Act - No child under the age of 10 to work underground in a coal mine.
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.