Our Work on Mining Works - More Information

Zoe Bromley

In lots of ways, the domestic system (which preceded industrial development) was good. Families lived and worked together. They could start work when they wanted, and stop when they wanted. They could work hard – or have a rest when they wanted.

But the new factories changed workers lives:

- The new machines could make cloth much faster than the hand workers, who lost their jobs.
- The new factories employed more people, not less, because they were selling so much cloth.
- Factory workers were paid poor wages.
- Cloth made in factories was much cheaper.
- There were rules in the factories – workers were fined if they were late, or did not work hard enough.
- Factory workers start when the steam engine started, and worked until it stopped. Some factories started work at 3am. Workers often worked 14 hour days.
- Factories employed children and women. Many men lost their jobs.
- Women and children were easy to bully – ‘strappers’ hit them to make them work harder.
- The machines were not safe. Many people were hurt or killed.

Zoe Bromley

Why was the factory work dangerous?

Factory owners emploiyed children because they were cheap, did not complain, had nimble fingers, and could crawl about under machines. Children risked getting caught in the machinery, losing hair or arms. Yet most mills owners thought factory work was easy and at first there were no laws to protect working children.

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 to talk to children to find out the facts. Three of the new laws passed by parliament include:

- 1841: Mines Act. No children under the age of 10 to work underground in a coal mine.
- 1847: Ten Hours 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.

Emma Gagg

What were coal mines like?

Most coal was dug from deep mines. A long vertical shaft was dug from the surface. Leading off from it were side tunnels. Miners rode in a lift, worked by a steam engine. In the tunnels, they hacked at the coal with picks and shovels. Coal mines were dark, dirty and dangerous. The only light that came from candles and oil lamps. Gas in the mine could choke miners, or explode. Tunnels could flood or collapse. Accidents killed many miners.

How were coal mines run?

Coal mines were owned by the person on whose land they were dug. The mine owners sold their coal to factories. Some mine owners were very rich, but they paid miners low wages. They did not care about health and safety, so at first they let small children and women to work underground.

What jobs did children do in mines?

Some children pushed trucks of coal along mine tunnels. They were called ‘puttters’.

‘Trappers’ opened and shut wooden doors to let air through the tunnels. A trapper boy sat in the dark, with just a small candle, and no-one to talk to. Some children started work at 1 in the morning and stayed below ground for 18 hours. Children working on the surface, sorting coal, at least saw daylight and breathed fresh air.

Why was coal so important?

Most of the energy we use today comes in the form of electricity or oil. In Victorian times, energy came from water-power (waterwheels), from horses and above all from burning coal. Coal was as important to the Victorians as oil is to us today. Steam engines burned coal. Steam engines drove factory machines, locomotive pulling trains and steamships. All this coal had to be dug from coal mines. Britain had a lot of coal, deep in rocks beneath the ground…