Child Workers in England, 1780-1820: Parish Apprenticeship and the Making of the Early Industrial Labour Force

In the latest addition to Ashgate's Studies in Labour History Honeyman (history, Leeds) focuses on the lives and fate of children sent by their parishes to work in textiles mills. The children were apprenticed to the mill owners instead of being sent to the parish work house. Honeyman does not ignore the harshness of their lives, as chapters on neglect and abuse highlight. But she also notes that the parishes did make an attempt to follow up on the treatment of their wards and that allegations of abuse were usually investigated. She also places the practice of child labor within the context of social beliefs of the time and economic necessity. Examples of the experiences of individual children make this study both poignant and compelling. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Katrina Honeyman is Reader in Social and Economic History in the School of History, University of Leeds, UK.