In the 19th century, child labor was not a new invention. Poor families have always influenced children to enter the workforce as soon as they were able bring in income. Additionally, children often made practical and cheap employees for big businesses. By the mid-1800s, it was the norm for children to work a dozen hours a day doing hard labor, often in coal mines. Around the same time, the working conditions had become so bad that legislature and literature used their influence to improve working circumstances for child workers.
In the year 1842, author and poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, observed and read reports regarding the dire conditions and exploitation of children in the coal mines of Britain. A year later, she published her poem The Cry of the Children. Her poem advocates for the children workers by appealing to the public. Published widely, starting in the capital of Scotland, Browning’s poem was a powerful protest against the terrible state of child labor in Britain.
The Cry of the Children first appeared in the August issue of Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine in 1843. Leading up to this, British parliament had passed different labor laws that supposedly helped the children’s working situation, limiting the age and hours that they could work. By 1844, in response to the public outcry, Parliament once again had to make changes to the labor laws. With the intention of diminishing the exploitation of young workers, working hours were limited to ten hours a day.
Mining coal in the 19th century became a more significant trade due to the expansion of railways all over England. The railways also made it easier to transport the coal to factories working with coal and steam engines, raising the demand. Lady Victoria Colliery at Newtongrange was one Victorian coal mine that expanded rapidly. Towards the end of the Victorian era, this mine became Scotland’s first super-pit, a mine that excavates earth to create a large pit instead of narrow, underground tunnels. This potentially allowed for fewer child workers, who had previously been required to fit into the claustrophobic spaces of the mine. This mine was a mere nine miles south of Edinburgh along the railway, where The Cry of the Children was first heard.
Works Cited
Great Britain Commissioners. The Condition and Treatment of the Children employed in the Mines and Colliers of the United Kingdom. 1842. British Library, London. https://www.bl.uk/britishlibrary/~/media/bl/global/dl%20romantics%20and%.... Accessed 7 Aug. 2018
Griffin, Emma. “Child Labour.” Discovering Literature: Romantics & Victorians, 15 May 2014, https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/child-labour. Accessed 7 Aug. 2018
“The Colliery.” National Mining Museum Scotland, https://nationalminingmuseum.com/. Accessed 7 Aug. 2018