Ten hours Act
Doc 2. piece of a document detailing which companies broke the law.
See transcript in PDF > doc 2b
Questions to help you:
- What is the most common offence recorded?
- Work out how much is fined for the different offences
- By looking at the fines, which offence is regarded as the most serious?
- How effective was the 1833 Factory Act? Explain your answer. (Hint: is the number of convictions a good or bad sign?)
Instructions to Mr. Clarkson 1836
You are one of the four factory inspectors in 1836 trying to enforce the 1st Factory Act. You have seen the evidence of abuse of the the law and you are unhappy with the present system.
You are summoned at the House of Commons to testify.
Prepare a speech explaining what you have discovered, suggesting ways to improve the law and better methods of enforcing it.
Doc 1.
Extract from a Factory Inspectors report – British Parliamentary Papers (1836) p. 353
My Lord, in the case of Taylor, Ibbotson & Co. 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. Believing the case scarcely possible, I asked every boy the same questions, and from each received the same answers. I then went into the house to look at the time book, and in the presence of one of the masters, referred to the cruelty of the case, and stated that I should certainly punish it with all the severity in my power. Mr Rayner, the certificating surgeon of Bastile, was with me at the time.
Questions to help you:
- Who gave the evidence to the factory inspector?
- Work out how many hours (not including breaks), the boys are reported to have worked without stopping
- Which parts of the new Factory Act have been broken?
- What does the tone of the letter tell us about what the factory inspectors thought about the firm Taylor, Ibbotson & Co?
- Having studied this source, would you be right to conclude that the 1833 Factory Act did nothing to solve the problems of child workers? Explain your answer