Working/Living Conditions

Question 1

Bone Cleaning

Answer 1

A common job for women which included cutting meat off of animal bones for bone china production. The bones were often from carcasses, where maggots thrived

Question 2

Soap Making

Answer 2

A job which included boiling animal organs to create soap out of their fat. There was a huge risk of going blind from boiling water spitting up (had no eye protection). The extra organs that weren’t used would be flushed into the water system, contaminating it

Question 3

1833 Factory Act

Answer 3

• No children under 9 could be employed
• Children aged 9-12 had to work a maximum of 9 hours per day
• Children aged 13-18 had to work a maximum of 12 hours a day
• Under 18s could not work at night
• Children aged 9-11 would receive 2 hours of schooling per day
• There was a break of 1 and a half hours provided for meals during the day
• 4 full-time inspectors would be appointed to enforce the act

Question 4

Before 1833, how many hours a week did people work on average?

Answer 4

14 hours over a 6 day week

Question 5

1842 Mines Act

Answer 5

Banned women and children under 10 from mine work

Question 6

1844 Factory Act

Answer 6

Led to more inspectors being appointed improving efficiency, but removed educational causes

Question 7

What year were the Combination Acts repealed?

Answer 7

1825, allowing the existence of trade unions

Question 8

Examples of middle class individuals that helped the working class?

Answer 8

• Titus Salt - Saltaire
• Robert Owen - New Lanark
• Localised, not nationalised, so not very effective in the long term

Question 9

Before 1833, how many hours a week did people work on average?

Answer 9

14 hours a week for 6 days a week

Question 10

What did employers do from the late 1700s

Answer 10

Employers began building rows and rows of cheap housing organised back-to-back – they were built efficiently, back lacked quality

Question 11

How many bricks deep were foundations of back-to-back housing?

Answer 11

3 bricks deep

Question 12

How were respiratory conditions caused by living in back-to-back housing?

Answer 12

They lacked natural light, so candles and oil lamps were frequently used, which contributed to respiratory problems. These were also made worse from the smoke coming from factories

Question 13

Rent for ‘front’ houses?

Answer 13

2s 6d per week

Question 14

Rent for ‘back’ houses?

Answer 14

1s 10d

Question 15

What fraction of workers in Birmingham lived in back-to-back houses?

Answer 15

2/3

Question 16

How many back-to-back houses did Nottingham have by 1841?

Answer 16

12,600

Question 17

Poor sewage systems led to outbreaks in cholera. Where was the first major one?

Answer 17

Sunderland, 1831, killing 32,000 within a year (spread around the country)

Question 18

How much did the population in urban areas rise by (%) every decade between 1801-51?

Answer 18

27%

Question 19

Chadwick’s 1842 report

Answer 19

Of 687 streets inspected in Manchester:
- 248 were unpaved
- 112 were ill-ventilated
- 252 had stagnant pools of effluence or piles of rubbish
It also found that 57% of children born to working class parents died before their 5th birthday

Question 20

What did the 1847 Factory Act introduce?

Answer 20

It introduced the 10 hour working day for women and children, although this was often exploited by employers to be 12 hours per day by managing breaks and using relays

Question 21

What year were relays made illegal for women and children?

Answer 21

1850

Question 22

1853 Factory Act

Answer 22

Restricted working hours from 6am-6pm, with children unable to work outside of these hours

Question 23

Why might the restriction of hours on children be fought against?

Answer 23

Parents wanted their children to work more, not less, to help their families economically