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
Zeresh Haman
This article made me really sad. It was very fascinating, I have hear of the labor troubles that the U.S had but I was unaware that this went on in the U.K. as well. The working conditions that these children were under sound just terrible, and I cant believe they would let four year old children work. It makes me very sad to think that these children were robbed of their childhood, and were forced to work in an unhealthy and unsafe environment. Thank God for all the laws that were passed. This article was very good at addressing the issues of humanity, and was very informative.
Veronica Spryszynski
I was engaged in this article the whole time. I was shocked that children as young as four years old had to work 14-16 hours a day for five time lower than the man. I have heard about child labor in other parts of the world, but I learned new terms such as “hurriers”, “trappers”, “thrusters”, and “breakers”. These work places for children were unimaginable and unnecessary cruel conditions.
Clarissa Bustamante
Such an informative article! I’ve always studied that there was child labor in this time period, but I’ve never heard that there was child labor in coal mines. It’s crazy to think that children working in these coal mines for more than four hours a day, and in such horrible and dangerous conditions. This is no place for a child to be working at especially when that don’t make good enough money in the first place. They are literally putting their lives in danger and it is not right when they’re so young and even fully developed to work conditions like these.
Belene Cuellar
It’s hard to think how twisted everything was back then. Children as young as four years old shuffling around in dangerous coal mines while barely making any money for the life threatening jobs they have to do. This article brings to light the brutal reality children went through just for a meager wage at the end of the day, and not only kids it was also women and men that went through harsh conditions that left them with deformities. What angers me the most is that even though the “Mines and Collieries Act of 1842” passed people still found a way to put innocent children in harms way. The author really did a good job appealing to a more emotional approach on this topic.
Valeria Hernandez
Aimee Trevino picked an interesting and controversial topic. Child labor has been one of the biggest tragedy’s that forms part of our history. Children were exploited by the corporations. The article is graphic and sad yet the author remains objective. Giving readers information about the ignorance of that era. The article provides readers with a good understanding of Child labor and the neglect kids were exposed to in the 1700s.
Michelle Falcon
I read this article having an over whelming amount of disgust for the people that made the children work under these conditions. This article gave a clear incite as to how hard life most have been for these children what had to work in the coal mines. At that point in time events must have been hard if they made children as young as the age of four work to help support their families. Over all this article gave me a better understanding of what child labor was really like in England during this time.
Alejandra Mendez
I never knew of this issue until now, but I found this interesting as well as sad for all the children who did not have a childhood. I was aware of child labor in many different countries and studied it but it never came to my attention that this occurred in England. From the images pictured, the children obviously do not seem to be enjoying themselves, so it makes me wonder why anyone would think of putting these children to hard work as they did. There were many deaths of children due to accidents while working, but I don’t believe the torture stopped there. As the article mentioned, the harsh labor and environment was detrimental for the children’s health. One can only imagine that even beyond putting and end to this child labor, the children that were working in this mines developed a life-long trauma with physical and perhaps even mental issues as well form being crammed into tight pitch-black spaces.
Brianda Gomez
This article truly makes my heart ache. I cannot imagine all the horrible things these young children went through. They were put in so much danger. Young kids should not be spending hours in the dark working as trappers. They should be running outside in the sun, playing with their toys. They should not be put in such danger that could cause them to lose a finger or cause deformities at such a young age. They were also treated unfairly. They were paid less than a normal working man, although they were out in such danger.
Josselyn Arrieta-Meraz
It’s articles and writings like these that remind you of what the world once used to be and sadly still remains at times. Child labor is a topic that really puts in perspective what children in other countries and even in our own have gone through. The fact that these children were working at such a young age really makes it hard to believe that at such a young age they would have the minimal understanding of what and why it was that they were doing, they were children who were still growing but most importantly developing their body and their mind. They were never given the chance to be children and sadly this is a topic that has always been around, but you never actually think about the effects it may leave these children in a future. This really allows me to feel grateful for what I have and what I don’t, and although sadly child labor was and still is a reality, it’s pieces of writings like these that allow us to keep in mind such devastating happenings.
Alise Balderas
This article truly saddened me. In school, I remember learning about child labor, but was never aware of the density of this problem. Do not get me wrong, I do not believe that it is fair or moral for the oldest of adults to be exposed to working conditions such as the ones in the coal mine, but for children who do not even have all their “baby teeth” out and who do not have a choice in the matter, it is especially cruel. I am really glad this article was written, it puts things into perspective. It taught me to be grateful and appreciative for the things I have had, because even today, not everyone is as lucky (even if I do not feel lucky all the time, I know that I am) as me and I hope this teaches everyone who lives an “easy” life like I do compared to the way the world once was.