Resource Pack : Work
At the beginning of Queen Victoria's reign children as young as five or six worked 12 hours a day in all kinds of jobs. They worked in mines, factories, as chimney sweeps and on farms and were often exposed to dangerous conditions and treated badly. Campaigners like Lord Shaftesbury brought this cruelty to the attention of Parliament and several pieces of legislation such as the 1874 Factory Act were brought in to protect children. Nowadays it is illegal for anyone under the age of 16 to have a full-time job.
Resources in this section
Below are a set of PDF documents for you to browse, download (right-click your mouse on the link and then choose "Save as ...") and print out.
N.B. Some of these files are quite large (up to 3MB) and so you are advised to download them, rather than click on the links and view them in your browser. This is particularly important for dial-up users.
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Boy Messengers Drill
Keywords: work, post office, messenger boys, london -
Boys Packing Tea
Keywords: work, food, drink, london, -
Boys Working in Field
Keywords: work, agriculture, horses, animals, farming -
Chimney Sweep and Boys
Keywords: work, chimney sweep, sweep -
Confectionary Apprentice Letter
Keywords: work, confectionary, bedfordshire, apprentice, letter -
Extract from Poor Law Report, 1853
Keywords: poor law, work, apprentice, workhouse -
Factory and Workshop Act 1878
Keywords: work, factory, law, legislation -
London Stable Lads
Keywords: stable lads, work, leisure, baby, london -
Match Girl
Keywords: match girl, london, work -
Page from Bowbridge Works Accident Register, 1896-1935
Keywords: work, factory, dundee, scotland, accidents, injury -
Report about Warrington Workhouse conditions
Keywords: workhouse, warrington, poor, work, food -
Wolverhampton Union Workhouse
Keywords: workhouse, work, wolverhampton, map, plan
Resource pack images have been provided by contributing archives.
