STUDIES IN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY This series, specially commissioned by the Economic History Society, provides a guide to the current interpretations of the key themes of economic and social history in which advances have recently been made or in which there has been significant debate. Originally entitled 'Studies in Economic History', in 197 4 the series had its scope extended to include topics in social history, and the new series title, 'Studies in Economic and Social History', signalises this development. The series gives readers access to the best work done, helps them to draw their own conclusions in major fields of study, and by means of the critical bibliography in each book guides them in the selection of further reading. The aim is to provide a springboard to further work rather than a set of pre-packaged conclusions or short-cuts. ECONOMIC HISTORY SOCIETY The Economic History Society, which numbers around 3000 members, publishes the Economic History Review four times a year (free to members) and holds an annual con ference. Enquiries about membership should be addressed to the Assistant Secretary, Economic History Society, PO Box 70, Kingswood, Bristol BS15 5FB. Full-time students may join at special rates. STUDIES IN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY Edited .for tho Ecorwmic History Socie!J by Michael Sanderson PUBLISHED TITLES INCLUDE B. W. E. Alford British Economic Performance since 1945 B. W: E. Alford Depression and Recovery? British Economic Growth, 1918-1939 J. L Anderson Explaining Long-Term Economic Change Michael Anderson Approaches to the History of the Western Family, 150()-1914 R. D. Anderson Universities and Elites in Britain since 1800 DndltfY Baines Emigration from Europe, 1815-1930 Theo Barker and Dorian Gerhold The Rise and Rise of Road Transport, I 77D-1990 P. ]. Cain Economic Foundations of British Overseas Expansion, 1815-1914 S. D. Chapman The Cotton Industry in the Industrial Revolution Neil Charksworth British Rule and the Indian Economy, 180D-1914 Roy Church The Rise and Decline of the British Motor Industry L A. Cillrlrson Proto-Industrialization: The First Phase of Industrialization? D. C. Cokman Industry in Tudor and Stuart England Michael Collins Banks and Industrial Finance in Britain, 180D-1939 P. L Cottrell British Overseas Investment in the Nineteenth Century M. A. Crowthor Social Policy in Britain, 1914-1939 Ian M. Drummond The Gold Standard and the International Monetary System, 190()-1939 Allin Dyer Decline and Growth in English Towns, 140D-1640 M. E. Fal.W.r The Industrialisation of Russia, I 70D-1914 ]. R. Hams The British Iron Industry, I 70D-1850 J. Hamson The Spanish Economy from the Civil War to the European Community Joha Hatcher Plague, Population and the English Economy, 1348-1530 J. R. Hoy The Origins of the Liberal Welfare Reforms, 1906-1914 Colin H'!Ywood The Development of the French Economy, I 7S D-1914 R. H. Hilton The Decline of Serfdom in Medieval England Pameill Horn Children's Work and Welfare, 178D-1880s R. A. Houston The Population History of Britain and Ireland, ISOD-17 50 E. L Jones The Development of English Agriculture, 1815-1873 W. J. Macpherson The Economic Development ofj apan, c. 1868-1941 Donald N. McC/oslay Econometric History Hugh McLeod Religion and the Working Class in Nineteenth Century Britain J.D. Marshall The Old Poor Law, 1795-1834, Second Edition Alan S. Milward The Economic Effects of the Two World Wars on Britain G. E. Mingi!JI Enclosure and the Small Fanner in the Age of the Industrial Revolution R. J. Moms Class and Class Consciousness in the Industrial Revolution, 178D-1850 ]. Forbes Munro Britain in Tropical Mrica, 187D-1960 Cormac 0 Grnda The Great Irish Famine R. B. Outhwaite Dearth, Public Policy and Social Disturbance in England, ISSD-1800 R. B. Outhwaite Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England R. ]. Overy The Nazi Economic Recovery, 1932-1938 P. L. Payne British Entrepreneurship in the Nineteenth Century Roy Porter Disease, Medicine and Society in England, 155D-1860, Second Edition Alastair]. Reid Social Classes and Social Relations in Britain, 185D-1914 Richard Rodger Nineteenth-century Housing, I 78D-1914 Michael E. Rose The Relief of Poverty, 1834-1914 Michael Sanderson Education, Economic Change and Society in England, 178D-1870, Second Edition S. B. San/ The Myth of the Great Depression, 1873-1896 C. Schmik The Growth of Big Business in the United States and Western Europe, 185D-1939 Joan Thirsk England's Agricultural Regions and Agrarian History, !SOD-I 75 0 Michael Turner Enclosures in Britain, 175D-1830 J. R. Ward Poverty and Progress in the Caribbean, 180D-1960 Robert Woodr The Population of Britain in the Nineteenth Century OTHER TITLES ARE IN PREPARATION Children's Work and Welfare, 178 D-1880s Prepared for 1he Economic History Sociery by PAMELA HORN M MACMILLAN © Pamela Hom 1994 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WlP 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published 1994 by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 978-0-333-60200-3 ISBN 978-1-349-13315-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-13315-4 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Series Standiug Order If you would like to receive future titles in this series as they are published, you can make use of our standing order facility. To place a standing order please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address and the name of the series. Please state with which title you wish to begin your standing order. (If you live outside the United Kingdom we may not have the rights for your area, in which case we will forward your order to the publisher concerned.) Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 2XS, England. Contents Acknowledgements 6 Editor's Preface 7 Introduction: 1780-1850s 9 (i) Differing perspectives of childhood and child employment 9 (ii) The scale and nature of child employment 13 2 The Impact of Industrialization: 178Q-1850s 22 (i) 'Traditional' employments 22 (ii) The factory system and textile production 29 (iii) Mining, metalwork and miscellaneous manufactures 40 3 Rescue and Reform: 183Q-1867 50 (i) State intervention: its scope and limitations 50 (ii) Philanthropy and childhood deprivation 62 4 Work and Welfare: 1868-1880s 79 Conclusion: The Working-class Child in the 1880s 92 Appendices 95 Select Bihliograpf!y 98 Index 108 5 Acknowledgements I should like to thank Dr Michael Sanderson for his gener ous help and guidance. His encouragement has been of great assistance. P.H. The author and publishers wish to thank the following for permission to use copyright material: Manchester University Press for material from W. B. Stephens, Education, Literacy and Socie~ 183~70 (1987), pp. 322-3. Every effort has been made to trace all the copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrange ment at the first opportunity. 6 Editor's Preface In recent times economic and social history has been one of the most flourishing areas of historical study. This has mirrored the increasing relevance of the economic and social sciences both in a student's choice of career and in forming a society at large more aware of the importance of these issues in their everyday lives. Moreover specialist interests in business, agricultural and welfare history, for example, have themselves burgeoned and there has been an increasing interest in foreign economic development and Britain's role in the wider world. Stimulating as these scholarly developments have been for the specialist, the rapid advance ot: the subject and the quantity of new publications make it difficult for the reader to gain an overview of particular topics, let alone the whole field. This series is intended for undergraduates, sixth-formers and their teachers. It is designed to introduce them to fresh topics in the curriculum and to enable them to keep abreast of recent writing and debates. Each book is written by a recognised authority and authors are encouraged to present their subjects concisely to a wider readership without being either partisan or blandly disinterested. The aim is to survey the current state of scholarship, not to provide - in the words of the first editor - 'a set of pre-packaged conclusions'. Studies in Economic and Social History has been succes sively edited since its inception in 1968 by Professors M. W. F1inn, T. C. Smout and L. A. Clarkson and has expanded 7 with the growth of the subject. In particular there is now a concern to include more social history and more non English themes. The editor both commissions new titles and receives unsolicited proposals. In this way the series will continue to reflect and shape the ongoing development of this rich seam of history. MICHAEL SANDERSON General Editor Universi~ of East Anglia 8 1 Introduction: 17Bo-JB50s (i) Differing perspectives of childhood and child employment At the end of the eighteenth century two opposing philo sophies underpinned contemporary attitudes towards child hood. The first, and most widely held, stemmed from a belief in the innate sinfulness of all humanity and the consequent need to curb and control youthful high spirits. Habits of industry must be inculcated since 'idleness' was equated with moral weakness, and each child had to be trained so as to ensure that the correct values and beliefs were absorbed. For the upper classes this disciplined approach meant an emphasis on drudging memory work and the 'culture of the mind' [Cruickshank, 1981]. For the lower orders, it led to concern to promote early employment, either paid or unpaid. The educational writer and reformer, Mrs Sarah Trimmer, reflected these ideas when she declared in 1787 that it was 'a disgrace to any Parish, to see the Children of the Poor, who are old enough to do any kind of work, running about the streets ragged and dirty'. Likewise the Philanthropic Society, set up in 1788 to rescue criminal or abandoned children, regarded 'indolence' as the prime source of evil and 'industry' as the principal virtue. This not only encouraged acceptance of child labour in agriculture, mining, manufac ture and, especially for girls, in domestic service but it encouraged the promotion of schools of industry and similar educational institutions in the last decades of the eighteenth 9