Child Workers and Industrial Health in Britain, 1780-1850

Historians have long recognised the importance of child health during the Industrial Revolution, but few have explored the health of working children in any analytical detail. In this comprehensive study, Peter Kirby places the occupational health of employed children within a broad context of social, industrial and environmental change during the period 1780 to 1850. The book explores the deformities, fevers, respiratory complaints, industrial injuries and physical ill-treatment which have long been associated with child labour in the factory workplace. The result is a more nuanced picture of child health and child labour during the classic 'factory age' which raises important questions about the enduring stereotype of the health-impaired and abused industrial child. Peter Kirby is Professor of Social History and Director of the Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare at Glasgow Caledonian University. Table of Contents Introduction: : Locating Children's Industrial Health Child Health and the Manufacturing Environment Child Health in the Industrial Workplace Certifying Surgeons, Children's Ages and Physical Growth The Ill-Treatment of Working Children Conclusion: Relocating the Health of Industrial Children, 1780-1850 Appendix Bibliography