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'''2. Factory apprentices''' | '''2. Factory apprentices''' | ||
Pauper apprentices were considered an object of compassion by some but as a burden by others. They became increasingly a source of unskilled and cheap labour and they were more and more apprenticed in a narrow range of rather unacceptable occupations. The more unhealthy trades, such as hatmaking and brickmaking, became highly "pauperised" and this in itself deterred the more respectable families from entering them. This was also the case with trades which offered poor career prospects afterwards, such as those in textiles, cotton, lace and framework knitting.<br>In the late 18th and early 19th centuries large numbers of poor, orphaned or abandoned children in London and the south of England were sent by overseers of the poor to work as apprentices in the textile mills of the industrial north. From about 1786 children were sent to Lancashire, Cheshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, and by 1805 to Glasgow, to work in the cotton, woollen, worsted and silk mill areas, often from the age of eight, until they were 21. | Pauper apprentices were considered an object of compassion by some but as a burden by others. They became increasingly a source of unskilled and cheap labour and they were more and more apprenticed in a narrow range of rather unacceptable occupations. The more unhealthy trades, such as hatmaking and brickmaking, became highly "pauperised" and this in itself deterred the more respectable families from entering them. This was also the case with trades which offered poor career prospects afterwards, such as those in textiles, cotton, lace and framework knitting.<br>In the late 18th and early 19th centuries large numbers of poor, orphaned or abandoned children in London and the south of England were sent by overseers of the poor to work as apprentices in the textile mills of the industrial north. From about 1786 children were sent to Lancashire, Cheshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, and by 1805 to Glasgow, to work in the cotton, woollen, worsted and silk mill areas, often from the age of eight, until they were 21. | ||
The factory owners advertised their vacancies quite widely. One in a Coventry newspaper in 1807, specifically addressed to overseers of the poor and churchwardens, asked for "a number of healthy boys and girls as apprentices to the business of Calico weaving; liberal and humane treatment may be relied upon; and a moderate premium only expected". In answer the parish officials wrote to the mill-owners to negotiate terms. If there were a number of possible apprentices and the mill was not too far away, the owner or his agent would come to the parish to sign the indentures and arrange the transport of the children. | The factory owners advertised their vacancies quite widely. One in a Coventry newspaper in 1807, specifically addressed to overseers of the poor and churchwardens, asked for "a number of healthy boys and girls as apprentices to the business of Calico weaving; liberal and humane treatment may be relied upon; and a moderate premium only expected". In answer the parish officials wrote to the mill-owners to negotiate terms. If there were a number of possible apprentices and the mill was not too far away, the owner or his agent would come to the parish to sign the indentures and arrange the transport of the children. | ||
The conditions in which some children were kept became notorious, but that factory apprentices actually went or were sent further from their homes than other apprentices has been a matter of some argument but the best authorities think that in general factory children were probably not sent further than other apprentices, but it was this aspect of pauper apprenticeship about which the 19th century philanthropists most often complained. | The conditions in which some children were kept became notorious, but that factory apprentices actually went or were sent further from their homes than other apprentices has been a matter of some argument but the best authorities think that in general factory children were probably not sent further than other apprentices, but it was this aspect of pauper apprenticeship about which the 19th century philanthropists most often complained. | ||
The terms served were, however, often exceptionally long, though some children were freed at various ages after 16, regardless of what the acts of parliament said. Some overseers, however, believed that a very young child should serve as a silk-weaver or chimney-sweep until he was 14 or 16, and then be apprenticed for a second term in a trade which would be more useful later. | The terms served were, however, often exceptionally long, though some children were freed at various ages after 16, regardless of what the acts of parliament said. Some overseers, however, believed that a very young child should serve as a silk-weaver or chimney-sweep until he was 14 or 16, and then be apprenticed for a second term in a trade which would be more useful later. | ||
The numbers of factory apprentices declined following the Health and Morals of Apprentices Act in 1802. This stopped any work at night and specified that, when three of more apprentices were employed, their working day should be a maximum of 12 hours, between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m., excluding mealtimes. They were also to be taught reading, writing and arithmetic, and to have new clothes yearly. | The numbers of factory apprentices declined following the Health and Morals of Apprentices Act in 1802. This stopped any work at night and specified that, when three of more apprentices were employed, their working day should be a maximum of 12 hours, between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m., excluding mealtimes. They were also to be taught reading, writing and arithmetic, and to have new clothes yearly. | ||
Improvements were slow in coming. In 1816 another Act restricted the distance to which the children could be sent to a 40-mile radius of their homes and they to be at least nine years old. The maximum number of hours worked in a day was reduced to 10 in 1847. When in 1834 one poor law commissioner asked an assistant overseer how the long-distance apprentices turned out after they were bound, his brutal answer was, "We have nothing to do with them afterwards". | |||
Another Act in 1802 had again said that registers of those apprenticed should be kept by the home parishes. They survive unevenly in the appropriate county record offices. A good example is that of apprentices in St Peter and St Paul parish, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, which has been printed for 1720-1848 by the Mansfield & District Family History Society. | |||
Many of these registers end in 1834 but the great changes in the poor law that year did not altogether put an end to parish apprenticeship. Many pauper children were bound out by the Poor Law Unions after 1834, but the parishes continued to take an interest and to raise money for the apprenticeship of individuals on whom they took pity, perhaps because the father had been transported or the children left destitute by some tragedy. In these cases the cost might be raised by a one-off collection, which would be easier to organise than an increase in the poor rate. The vestry minutes or churchwardens accounts should then provide the details. | |||
'''3. Charity apprentices''' | |||
Some parishes that had charitable funds spesifically for that purpose continued to arrange apprenticeship for suitable children after 1834. From early times a few benefactors bequeathed money to parishes with which to apprentice children. At Ardeley in Hertfordshire in 1655 Edward Head left £20 for the purchase of a piece of land, still called Apprentice Land, the income from which was to be used to apprentice children. For a while in the 1730s the vestry rather typically agreed that this should only be done if the boys were settled outside Ardeley itself. | |||
Fees for the more exclusive trades increased with time and it became difficult for parents to find means to apprentice their children. In some towns there were borough charities and other charitable institutions which helped. | |||
At Harrow in Middlesex, for instance, over 600 children, including girls in the 19th century, were helped by a chaity between 1648 and 1871. They are listed in Jim Golland's The Harrow apprentices (1981). The Bear Club at Devizes in Wiltshire was a social club which met at the Bear Inn and in addition to other charitable work, paid from its subscription fees for the apprenticeship of local boys, between 1765 and 1875. These have also been printed. | |||
A small number of charities even recognised the difficulties that an apprentice would face at the end of his term if he wished to set up as a master on his own. Some early indentures specified that the master give assistance to the apprentice at that time, with tools or even stock, but that became unusual. Webb's charity at Warwick even provided £5 at the end of the apprentice's term if the master certified that the boy had been satisfactory. | |||
Some charities provided interest-free loans. One founded by Sir Thomas White in the Midlands in 1542 required that the loans be repaid after nine years. It still flourishes and in 1990 the charity distributed over £600,000 to apprentices from Coventry, Northampton, Leicester, Nottingham and Warwick. | |||
The tax on Apprenticeship Indentures 1710-1811 | |||
to be continued | to be continued | ||