Palace of Westminster

Home of Parliament, meeting place of the "brothers" EBB addresses at the start of "The Cry of the Children," demanding that they attend to the horrific laboring conditions endured by children in English mines and factories: "Do ye hear the children weeping, O my brothers?" EBB read about these child laborers in widely publicized reports issued in 1842 and 1843 by the Parliamentary Children's Employment Commission.

Parent Map

"The Cry of the Children" in Elizabeth Barrett Browning's World and Our Own

Coordinates

Latitude: 51.499479400000
Longitude: -0.124809200000

Timeline of Events Associated with Palace of Westminster

Date Event Manage

1842 to 1843

Reports of the Children's Employment Commission

Parliament established the Children's Employment Commission to investigate child labor in mines and factories.  In 1842 and 1843 they issued massive reports about the abusive conditions under which children were laboring in these industries.  This in part inspired EBB to write her famous poem, "The Cry of the Children," as a sort of call to action to stop the injustices.  Click here to see two student-created videos about what it was like to be a child working in nineteenth-century British mines and factories.

 The Royal Commission on Children's Employment The Royal Commission on Children's Employment
1844

Factory Act of 1844

Parliament passed a futher act to try and enforce more rules, because the Factory Act of 1833 proved unsucessful. There were more restrictions on age and hours of work, as well as hours to be set aside for schooling. While this act was being debated, Elizabeth Barrett Browning was writing her poem, "The Cry of the Children."