Children of the Labouring Poor : The Working Lives of Children in Nineteenth-Century Hertfordshire
ISBN: 9781907396083
Platform/Publisher: Ebook Central / University Of Hertfordshire Press
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Limited; Download: 7 Days at a Time
Subjects: Economics; Business/ Management;

Chronicling the contributions children made towards their families' livelihoods in hard times, this detailed record catalogs the high price children had to paysacrificing their health and educationwhile employed in agriculture, chimney sweeping, straw-plaiting, silk-throwing, papermaking, and brick making in 19th-century Hertfordshire, England. This enlightening history demonstrates that the poor conditions in factories and mills, as well as in household chimneys, contributed to the many diseases and injuries that afflicted these young laborers. While there are examples of innovative manufacturers such as John Dickinson, who built respectable housing for his employees, the overall picture that emerges during this period is one in which Hertfordshire's children arduously struggled to make ends meet.

Eileen Wallace is a former history teacher and an archive-education officer for the Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies. She has been commissioned to make reports on the archives in museums in Essex and Hertfordshire. She has lived in Hertfordshire for 40 years.

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