Could You Survive as a Victorian Factory Worker?

’Could You Survive as a Victorian Factory Worker?’ As new technologies emerged throughout the 19th century, and the use of water and steam power became commonplace, millions of rural workers, including thousands of children, descended on the growing industrial towns to work in mills and factories. Northern cities such as Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield became industrial powerhouses, exporting textiles such as cotton, wool, silk and linen worldwide to Britain’s expanding empire. As well as producing textiles, these establishments would generate enormous profits for a new class of industrialists and entrepreneurs. But what was ordinary life like for a Victorian factory worker? What were the conditions and safety standards like in a mill in Victorian England? And how did their lives compare to ours today? In episode one of this two-part series, History Hit presenters Luke Tomes and Louee Dessent delve deep into the historic spirit of the 1800s industrial revolution, filling the shoes of a wealthy Victorian industrialist and a poor Victorian labourer respectively at National Trust’s Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire, built in 1784 by the renowned entrepreneur Samuel Greg. Together, using contemporary accounts and testimony, they’ll explore how your experience of the industrial revolution could be very different, depending on what you did for a living... and your place in society. So the question is, could you survive as a Victorian factory worker? Watch the video to find out! Sign up to History Hit TV now and get 14 days free: And remember, as YouTube subscribers, you can sign up to History Hit TV today with code YOUTUBE and enjoy 50% off your first 3 months! For more history content, subscribe to our History Hit newsletters: #historyhit #victorianera #victorianhistory 00:00 Introduction 01:51 Quarry Bank Mill 04:12 Mill Workers 06:28 Water Wheel 07:42 Cotton Mill Block 09:33 Spinning Mule 15:04 Child Indenture Contract (1785) 17:31 Working Conditions 19:47 Factory Discipline 23:18 Workers’ Toilet 23:57 ’Factory Time’ 25:54 Accidents and Injuries 30:21 Workers’ Rights 32:05 The Atlantic Slave Trade 34:26 Next Time...