Work and Unemployment 1834–1911, Volume 1: The Meanings of Work

377 Pages·2022·3.262 MB·English

by  Marjorie Levine-Clark

WORK AND UNEMPLOYMENT
1834–1911

WORK AND
UNEMPLOYMENT 1834–1911
Edited by
Marjorie Levine-Clark
Volume I
The Meanings of Work
F irst published 2022
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
a nd by Routledge
5 2 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
R outledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 selection and editorial matter, Marjorie Levine-Clark; individual
owners retain copyright in their own material.
T he right of Marjorie Levine-Clark to be identifi ed as the author of the
editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-367-33510-6 (set)
eISBN: 978-0-429-32033-0 (set)
ISBN: 978-0-367-33515-1 (volume I)
eISBN: 978-0-429-32032-3 (volume I)
DOI: 10.4324/9780429320323
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Bibliography xii
General introduction 1
Volume 1 Introduction 20
PART 1
The respectability of honest toil 33
1 W. Cobbett, ‘To the Labourers of England, on Their Duties
and Their Rights’ ( 1831) 35
2 J. Livesey, ‘An Address to Working Men’ (1838) 41
3 J. F. Bray, Labour’s Wrongs and Labour’s Remedy (1839) 48
4 Anon., ‘The Production and Distribution of Wealth’ (1840) 51
5 J. Adshead, D istress in Manchester: Evidence (Tabular and
Otherwise) of the State of the Labouring Classes in 1840–42 (1842) 58
6 The B ritish Workman on the nobility of labour 65
6 .1 M . Howitt, ‘Labourer’s Thanksgiving Hymn’,
B ritish Workman (1856) 67
6 .2 R ev N. Hall, ‘The Dignity of Labour’, B ritish Workman
(1856) 68
6 .3 ‘No. I. – The Working Man’, B ritish Workman (1859) 72
v
CONTENTS
7 Rev. A. Oxenden, ‘The Labourer at His Work’, in
The Labouring Man’s Book (1860) 75
8 Dr J. C. Hall, The Trades of Sheffi eld . . . Read before the
National Association for the Promotion of Social Science,
2nd ed. (1865) 82
9 J. B. Glasier, ‘Honest Toil’ (c. 1890) 100
10 G. Milligan, ‘A Man and His Work’, ‘Only a Working Man’,
and ‘The Toiler’s Toast’, in L ife Through Labour’s Eyes
(1911) 106
PART 2
Men and machines 115
11 Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, The Working
Man’s Companion: The Results of Machinery . . . A n Address to
Working Men (1831) 117
12 Anon., The Petition of the Undersigned Operative Spinners and
Others Employed in the Spinning of Cotton Wool into Yarn,
in Ashton-under-Lyne and Its Neighbourhood (1832) 129
13 G. C. Burrows, ‘Introduction’, ‘Letter I’, ‘Letter VI’, and
‘Appendix’ in A Word to Electors. Letters to the Present
Generation on the Unrestrained Use of Modern Machinery
Particularly Addressed to my Countrymen and Fellow Citizens
(1832) 133
14 Debating political economy and the condition of the handloom
weavers 144
14.1 G. P. Scrope, The Letter of George Poulett Scrope, Esq., M.P.,
to the Chairman of the Central Committee of the Hand Loom
Worsted Weavers, of the West-Riding of York: With Their
Answer to the Same (1835) 146
14.2 J. Dewhirst, ‘To George Poulett Scrope, Esq., M.P.’,
Poor Man’s Guardian , 1 August 1835 148
15 J. Maxwell, Manual Labour versus Machinery (1834) 157
vi
CONTENTS
16 Anon., ‘The Present Condition of British Workmen’ (1834) 174
17 H. Leggeth and S. Cowle, ‘The Address of the Female
Chartists of Manchester to Their Sisters of England, Ireland,
Scotland, and Wales’ (24 July 1841) 176
18 W. Carpenter, ‘The Question of Machinery Fairly Stated’,
‘Machinery Creates a Demand for Manual Labour’, and
‘Condition of the Hand-Loom Weavers’, in Machinery as
It Affects the Industrial Classes and the Employment of Children
in Factories (1844) 181
19 Literary depictions of mechanization 193
19.1 C. Dickens, chapter 5 ‘The Key-Note’, Hard Times
(1854) 195
19.2 B. Brierley, ‘Out of Work’, in T ales and
Sketches of Lancashire Life (1885) 197
2 0 J. Samuelson, ‘Introductory’, ‘The Displacement of
Hand-Labour in Agriculture’, ‘Displacement of General
Labourers by Machinery’, and ‘Inferences – The General
Question of Labour – Conclusion’, in Labour-Saving
Machinery (1893) 201
PART 3
Women’s work: productive and reproductive 221
21 J. Livesey, ‘To the Females Employed in Factories and All
Our Large Manufacturing Establishments’ (1 February 1832) 223
22 Chartist women 233
22.1 Anon., ‘Miss Mary Anne Walker on the People’s Charter’,
Northern Star (1842) 235
22.2 S. Price, ‘Address of the Female National Charter
Association of Upper Honley and Smallthorn’
(1842) 237
23 Reports of Special Assistant Poor Law Commissioners on
the Employment of Women and Children in Agriculture (1843) 240
vii
CONTENTS
24 E. Copley, ‘Introduction’ to The Young Women of the Factory,
or Friendly Hints on Their Duties and Dangers (c. 1840) 254
25 Anon., ‘Female Education and Female Labour’ (1845) 258
26 M. F. Tupper, ‘The Workwoman’, in A Dozen Ballads for the
Times about White Slavery (1854) 263
27 Sentimental Depictions of Working-class Women in the
British Workman 267
27.1 Anon., ‘A Few Words to the Wives of Working Men’,
British Workman (1856) 268
2 7.2 A non., ‘Finery and Freedom, or “Lucy’s Choice”’,
B ritish Workman (1858) 269
2 8 A. Munro, ‘Our Unemployed Females, and What May Best
Be Done for Them’ in Transactions of the Manchester Statistical
Society (1863) 276
2 9 T. Wright, ‘Working Men’s Homes and Wives’,
in The Great Unwashed (1868) 287
3 0 J. B. Kinnear, ‘The Social Position of Women in the
Present Age’, in T he Right of Women to Labour (1873) 294
3 1 M. Harkness, ‘Palm-Workers’, in T oilers in London; or
Inquiries Concerning Female Labour in the Metropolis (1889) 304
3 2 G. Reid et al., ‘Legal Restraint upon the Employment of
Women in Factories before and after Childbirth’ (30 July 1892) 311
3 3 Anon., ‘Health of Lead Workers’ (December 1893) 321
3 4 E. Dilke, ‘Preface’, in A. Bulley and M. Whitley,
Women’s Work (1894) 327
3 5 H. Bosanquet, Economics of Women’s Work and Wages (1907) 334
Index 343
viii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This collection became a project of the coronavirus pandemic. Who knew – in
June 2019, when I spent a month in London doing research – that I would not be
able to return to do additional work? This made the excellent assistance I received
from librarians and archivists at the Senate House Library, University of London;
the Reading Room at the London School of Economics and Political Science; the
National Archives; the London Metropolitan Archives; and the British Library
all the more important. I want to give a special appreciation to the staff at Sen-
ate House, who pulled documents they were in the process of digitizing so that I
could use them. I was able to spend that month in London thanks to a University
of Colorado Denver Offi ce of Research Services Large Research Grant. While
at home, the fantastic digital collections at the University of Denver allowed me
to continue my research during the lockdown without being terribly frustrated. I
have my husband, Michael Levine-Clark, dean of libraries at the University of
Denver, to thank for access to those materials.
The pandemic lockdowns and remote work provided me with unanticipated extra
time for this project, but the time was often anxious and unproductive due to the
circumstances. I am extremely grateful to Rachel Douglas, the editor for Routledge
Historical Resources, for being incredibly understanding of the erratic nature of com-
pleting a project during a pandemic and for her overall support and enthusiasm. Her
interest in the direction I wanted to take with the collection was encouraging from the
outset. Many thanks also to Simon Alexander, senior development editor, for answer-
ing many questions (sometimes the same one more than once, I imagine) and for his
kind assistance throughout. Marie Roberts patiently took me through the production
process, and I deeply appreciated her cheerful emails during a stressful time.
My colleagues in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences’ Dean’s Office at
the University of Colorado at Denver received more updates about this collection
than they probably wanted. Dean Pam Jansma and associate deans Rich Allen,
Laura Argys, Kathleen Bollard, Stephanie Santorico, and David Tracer took on
more than their fair share of work as I buried myself in writing. I cannot begin to
convey my thanks to all of them for their patience, good spirits, and friendship as I
received multiple extensions that made me less present as an associate dean. They
were all rock stars in helping get CU Denver through the worst of the pandemic.
ix