Factory Act

Factory Act, (1833), U.K. legislation enacted to regulate the employment of children in British textile factories.

The movement to regulate child labour began in Great Britain at the close of the 18th century, when the rapid development of large-scale manufacturing made possible the exploitation of young children in mining and industrial work. The first law enacted by Parliament to address the issue, the Health and Morals of Apprentices Act of 1802, was aimed at controlling the apprenticeship of pauper children to cotton-mill owners. It called for the apprentices—who were frequently orphans who lived in the factories—to be provided with decent accommodations as well as access to education, and it limited their working day to 12 hours. The law proved to be ineffective, however, because it failed to provide for enforcement.

The Factory Act of 1819 prohibited any child under the age of 9 from working, limited the work week of children age 9 to 13 to 48 hours, and required them to attend school part-time. The law was aimed specifically at cotton mills. But once again no enforcement mechanisms were created.

As the 1830s unfolded, the movement to regulate factory conditions gained strength both inside and outside Parliament. Having learned of the evils of child labour in factories, Richard Oastler, the manager of a large agricultural estate in Yorkshire, in 1830 began an attack in print on the employment of children. Although he had never previously opposed industrialism, he came to believe that the factory system as it existed was inimical to what he characterized as the “natural right to live well.” MPs Michael Thomas Sadler and Anthony Ashley Cooper (later 7th earl of Shaftesbury), along with textile manufacturers in Lancashire and Yorkshire, joined Oastler’s humanitarian fight for a 10-hour daily limit on factory work by persons under age 18.

In 1831 Sadler introduced a factory reform bill and became chairman of the 37-member committee to which the bill was referred. Among the many witnesses who appeared before the committee were children who had been crippled in factory accidents. A parallel royal commission found similar evidence of mistreatment and abuse of children in factories. Some adult workers who testified before the parliamentary committee lost their jobs. A number of prominent physicians who appeared as witnesses advocated a shorter working day and other reforms.

Ultimately, Parliament passed the Factory Act of 1833, which prohibited workers under the age of 9 and restricted the working day in textile mills to 12 hours for persons age 13 through 17 and to 8 hours for those age 9 through 12. The act also mandated that child workers under the age of 13 receive 2 hours of school per day. Crucially, the act established a four-member inspectorate to enforce the law and impose penalties.