Victorian West Sussex

Background for teachers

Trade and industry

Unlike the North and Midlands, West Sussex remained predominantly an agricultural county, largely unaffected by industrialisation and the coming of mass production. Most of the population were involved in domestic service or farming. Most middle and upper class families employed servants, or at least one housemaid. Most of those involved in farming were agricultural labourers and farmers, or in occupations dependent on agriculture such as brewing, dairies, food-processing industries, milling, tanning and wool-making. Market gardening developed as a specialist ‘offshoot’, taking advantage of favourable growing conditions near the coast. Traditional crafts, such as basket-making, charcoal- burning, hurdle- making and thatching survived throughout the 19th century in West Sussex. Owners of the great estates, such as Arundel, Cowdray, Goodwood and Petworth, were the largest employers in the area, requiring workers both to farm the estate and to run the household.

The greatest change in working patterns was the shift towards service industries, which developed to support the burgeoning seaside resorts of Bognor, Littlehampton and Worthing. Fishing, and activities associated with the ports of Chichester, Littlehampton and Shoreham, became increasingly important. As the railway network spread across the county and the resorts developed, along with other market and commuter towns such as Horsham, Burgess Hill, East Grinstead and Haywards Heath, industries grew up which supported this housing and infrastructure growth: brick and tile making, cement works, limekilns and mineral extraction. As ports, resorts and towns grew so too did the range of shops and associated local trades.

Children's jobs

Many Victorian children worked from an early age in order to help support their families, particularly in the period before 1880 when schooling became compulsory for 5-10 year olds, and before 1891 when school fees were abolished. Children from the countryside could find work on farms and the great houses and their estates. Town children could find work in shops, hotels, offices, building firms and other small businesses. Another large employment sector was domestic service: maids, general servants etc.

In the 1851 census of Worthing, 48 children aged 10 to 13 were listed as working (see Learning Activity ‘Children at Work’ Source 5). They worked at the following jobs:

agricultural labourer (3)
baker and grocer’s assistant
barmaid
bricklayer’s labourer (3)
brickmaker’s labourer
dressmaker’s apprentice
errand boy (9)
gardener
grocer’s errand boy
hawker
house maid
house servant (8)
inn servant (2)
labourer (2)
labourer in coal yard
nurse girl (2)
nurse maid
nurseryman
page (2)
sawyer
servant (2)
shop boy
wheelwright (2)

Acts of Parliament

In the early years of the Industrial Revolution, some young children were working long hours, often in very bad conditions. Throughout the 19th Century, a series of Acts were put in place which brought improvements in working hours and conditions.

Textile factories

1833 Factory Act

No child workers under 9 years of age
Children between the ages of 9-13 to work no more than 9 hours a day
Children between 13-18 to work no more than 12 hours a day
Children not to work at night
Two hours schooling each day for children

1844 Factory Act

No child under 8 to be employed
Reduced the hours of work for children between 8-13 to 6.5 hours a day
Children 13-18 and women were not to work more than 12 hours a day Monday to Friday (with 1.5 hours for meal breaks), and 9 on Saturday
Certificates of age were to be granted only by appointed surgeons
Serious accidents were to be reported to these surgeons, who were to investigate their cause and report the result to the inspector
The factory was to be thoroughly washed with lime every 14 months
A register of children employed, dates of the lime-washing and so on, was to be kept
Certificates of school attendance were to be obtained for children

1847 Factory Act

Limited children’s (and women’s) working hours to 10 per day
A maximum of 63 hours to be worked per week from 1 July 1847
A maximum of 58 hours to be worked per week from 1 May 1848

This Act did not specify the times between which the maximum hours could be worked, which meant some workers had to work shifts in relays between 5.30am and 8.30pm.

1850 Factory Act

Fixed the period of employment for protected persons from 6.00am until 6.00pm in the evening in summer, and from 7.00am until 7.00pm in winter (with 1.5 hours out for meals)
All work to cease at 2.00pm on Saturdays

1874 Factory Act

Took half-an-hour off the working day in textile factories alone (result of trade union pressure)

Mines and other factories

1842 Mines Act

Women and girls, and boys under the age of 10, not allowed to work underground
Boys under the age of 15 not allowed to work machinery

1860 Mines Act

Boys under 12 not allowed underground unless they could read and write

1860 Bleach and Dye Works Act

Extended existing provisions to bleach and dye works

1864 Factory Acts Extension Act

Applied existing laws to 6 new industries

1867 Factory Act

Applied existing laws to all factories employing over 50 persons

Chimney sweeps

1834 Chimney Sweeps Act

Forbade the apprenticing of any boy under the age of 10 years
Forbade the employment of children under 14 in chimney sweeping unless they were apprenticed or on trial
Apprentices were not to be “evil treated” by their employers and children’s complaints were to be heard by Justices of the Peace

The act was largely ineffective as there were no means of enforcement.

1840 Chimney Sweeps Act