Running outside, chasing your friends, playing with Legos–these are things you might remember doing as a young child. However, from the late 1700s to the mid-1800s in Britain, being paid meager wages and working for as much as sixteen-hour days with dangerous mining equipment was the norm for many young, British children. During the Industrial Revolution this was an ugly reality. Many working-class families found it necessary to have their children work alongside them in the mines. Because of their size and cooperation, and because it was easier to pay them less, these children were paid about five times less than men for the same number of hours worked, which for these young miners could be up to fourteen-hour days.1
Before the Mines and Collieries Act of 1842, children as young as four were allowed to work in the mines.2 Just imagine such young children running around a dark coal mine–it simply does not sound safe at all. These children were hired to be able to get into those hard to reach places that fully grown adults were unable to get into. During the Industrial Revolution, coal was a major source of energy, and was extremely important because it burned hotter than wood charcoal. The primary use of coal was used as a source of energy, and used to power the steam engines of factories, where many other children also worked. Because of its high demand and necessity, it helped increase jobs for the working people. Because of these factories, major industrial cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, and Liverpool, grew at a fast pace from small villages into large cities.3
In British coal mines, children typically had one of three jobs. Trappers, typically the youngest, would open and close the wooden doors–also called trap doors–to allow fresh air to flow through the mine. These trappers would sit in darkness for almost twelve hours at a time. It may seem a simple task, but if one of these little ones fell asleep, the job could become very dangerous. Other jobs were the tasks of hurrier and thruster. These jobs were usually given to older children and women. These workers had to pull and push tubs that were full of coal along the roadways, all the way to the pit bottom. The hurriers would be harnessed to the tub, and the thrusters would then help hurriers by pushing these tubs of coal. The thruster would have to push tubs of coal weighing over 600 kilograms from behind with their hands and the tops of their heads. The thrusters, mainly older girls, had to carry these baskets of dug coal, which were much too heavy for them. Because of their heavy weight, it would then cause their young, growing bodies to develop with deformities. The last typical job was the getter. This one was typically assigned to the oldest and strongest, usually grown men or strong, older teens. This job required them to work at the coal face, cutting the coal from the seam with a pickaxe. This was typically the only job where they would use a candle or safety lamp for light, as cutting the coal required it.4 Although the work at the coal mine may not seem very difficult, it was very dangerous. In one unnamed coal mine, 58 of the total 349 deaths in one year involved children thirteen years or younger.5
Those who worked in coal mines–whether below or above ground–were exposed to life-threatening working conditions that could ultimately be detrimental to their health. Children, mainly boys as young as eight, worked as breakers. Here, the coal was crushed, washed, and sorted according to size. The coal would come down a chute and along a moving belt. These breaker boys would work in what was called the picking room. Here, they would work hunched over for ten hours a day, six days a week, sorting the rock and slate from the coal with their bare hands. If their attention even drifted for a second, they could lose a finger in the machinery.6 The work also resulted in their exposure to a large amount of dust. In some cases, the dust was so dense that their vision would be obstructed. This dust would also get into their lungs, which needless to say, was terrible for their health.7 These children sometimes even had a person prodding or kicking them into obedience to make sure their attention did not stray.
These working conditions for children continued until the United Kingdom’s Parliament passed the Mines and Collieries Act of 1842. The act included a report that informed the public about how children as young as five years old were working as trappers for “twelve hours a day and two pennies a day.”8 It was not until the Children’s Employment (Mines) Report came out alongside it in 1842 that Parliament passed the act that all boys and girls under the age of ten were not allowed to work in the coal mines.9 Even after this law prevented children under fourteen from working in the mines, people still found ways around it. For example, since some regions did not have a compulsory registration of birth, someone could easily lie and claim that these boys were simply “small for their age.” Finally, with this legislation came the snowball effect of humanitarians and a larger awareness of health and safety regulations for workers, which led to the start of the end of child labor in England.10
- Children’s Employment Commission First Report of the Commissioners (Mines), (Halifax: Irish University Press, 1842), 77-81. ↵
- Encyclopedia Britannica.com, December 2012, s.v. “Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th earl of Shaftesbury,” by Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. ↵
- New World Encyclopedia, February 2017, s.v., “Child Labor,” by New World Encyclopedia Contributors. ↵
- Great Britain Commissioners, The Condition and Treatment of the Children employed in the Mines and Colliers of the United Kingdom Carefully compiled from the appendix to the first report of the Commissioners With copious extracts from the evidence, and illustrative engravings, (London: 1842), 19-59. ↵
- J. M. Mason, “Protection of Children,” The Westminster Review Vol. 36 (1841): 66. ↵
- Jane Humphries, “Short stature among coal-mining children: A comment,” Economic History Review 1, no. 3 (1997): 533. ↵
- Jane Humphries, “Short stature among coal-mining children: A comment,” Economic History Review 1, no. 3 (1997): 535. ↵
- Encyclopedia Britannica.com, December 2012, s.v. “Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th earl of Shaftesbury,” by Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. ↵
- “Early Factory Legislation.” Parliament. UK. (April 9th, 2017). ↵
- J. M. Mason, “Protection of Children,” The Westminster Review Vol. 36 (1841); 45-47. ↵
98 comments
Cheyanne Redman
The featured image for this article is really what caught my attention, anything concerning children pulls at those heart strings. I can’t imagine a young four year old child working the same labor as a grown man. Children should have a childhood, learn in a more relaxed way, and finally grow into what they want to do not be forced into it at such a young age. Im extremely glad things are now different and that children have a childhood with no worries in the world.
Christopher Sanchez
It’s interesting that they need kids to mine for coal and transport it. I can’t believe they allowed this to happen; I wonder what the other miners were thinking. I guess during that time some miners were dying and they needed more people. Also they didn’t care if some kids died because they weren’t a liability and they didn’t get paid as much as the adults did.
Hanadi Sonouper
To read about these terrible conditions once again is heart breaking, not only was this a terrible time for adults, but an even worse treatment for children. During the industrial revolution, there was increase for labor workers to continue working in factory or mines, and because they needed all the help they could get, implementing children under forced child labor was very malicious. No child should ever be sentenced to early death because of these difficult working conditions, the author did a great job at illustrating the story, and stating facts that pertained to the infants lives. It was life changing when they finally decided to change their policies to make better choices and life saving decisions for children.
Tyler Sleeter
Very interesting article with lots of information. I knew that children worked in factories and mines during the industrial revolution, but I did not know that children as young as four were included in that group. I look at my little sister, who is 8 now, and I could imagine putting someone that young to work under such unsafe conditions. It seems barbaric to us by our modern standards of child safety. I think I read somewhere that it has only really been since the end of the Victorian era that children have been allowed to play and go to school like children do these days. Up to that time, they were treated like miniature adults and if the family needed more money, the children were sent to work.
Saira Castellanos
Well good thing we have Labor Laws now and as well as England. Of course there are still places that use children to work, but who are we to say that their way is wrong. Just because we are American does not mean everyone needs to live to the standards that we do. For these families putting their children to work, they have no other choice. It is either send their children to work or starve. I do think that at four years old is pretty bad, but that is over now. The main picture of the article broke my heart then i started reading and it was even worse.
Tyler Thompson
It was very shocking to see how children were treated in England in the 19th Century. Although there was a surplus of labor, it was still a risk for the young children. They were put through rough environments with a even more dangerous amount of hours they were working. It is a good thing that the English Parliament decided to change their policies, and slightly make things better for the youth.
Elias Garza
I believe a little boy should be around his dad and learn how to use tools as he grows older, but working in the mines at four years old is harsh. Kids need a childhood and living under these circumstances is not worth living in. Although I do think using these little kids to fit into smaller areas of these mines is smart, I do think those kids should have went through what they did.
Kimberly Simmons
It’s shocking to read of the conditions these children endured. Each job a child could be assigned to – trapper, hurrier, thruster, breaker – all had detrimental effects that could, and more than likely did, kill them. It is interesting, however, to see how times have changed in comparison to the way things are now. Thank God regulations were put in place to save these poor children from a life not meant for them. Great job detailing the working conditions – it really opens one’s eyes.
Destiny Flores
Considering the laws and regulations that we have now regarding child labor, its completely mind boggling to think this is where child labor was back then. Especially when thinking about how young these kids were and the health risks from respiratory complications, dismemberment risks, and even skeletal deformities. As someone who just recently became an “adult”, to read this makes me glad that we have reached such progress in this category of our society.
Cristian Medina-Lopez
I have often heard about children working in mines and about how hard it was for them and it made me realize how much easier it is now with the different laws that are around now. I thought it was neat how the Mines and Collieries Act of 1842 was a push to help these kids get away from that life style and be able to experience at least a bit of their childhood being a kid instead of a worker.