Sadler report

Introduction

The Sadler Report was a report written in 1832 by Michael Sadler. The document protected children working in textile factories as well as women. The Report included testimonies of workers in the factory, who spoke before the Sadler committee, led by Michael Sadler. The following provides an in-depth view of the history and affects the Sadler Report on labor of women and children.

Michael Sadler Early Years

Michael Sadler(1780-1835), the son of James Sadler, was born in Snelston, Derbyshire, on January 3rd 1780. His family practiced the religion of the Curch of England but he later rejected their views and became sypathetic of the Methodist Church or Methodism. One of his earliest publications was An Apology for Methodists written in in 1797. In 1800 he moved to Leeds and began to work with his father and in 1810 he started a company with his brother selling Irish linen. During this period of his life he became less interested in business and more interested in the experience of the poor which stayed with him for the rest of his days.

Michael Sadler in Parliament

In 1829 Sadler was offered the seat of Newark in the House of Commons, and appointed a part of Parliament by the Duke of Newcastle. He accepted and was elected with a majority of the votes, 214 to be exact. He quickly established himself as a motivational speaker and moved to the seat of Aldborough in Yorkshire. Though he had moved up in the societal ladder, his interest in the poor remained. While in office Sadler wrote a series of pamphlets to inform the public such as On Poor Laws for Ireland reflecting the Irish Poor Laws being enforced in Ireland and, The Factories Girl's Last Day in 1830.

Legislation

On March 16th 1832, Sadler attempted to introduce legislation in order to limit a child's work day (under the age of 18) to ten ours a day. He descibed in his own words the suffering that many children were facing in the factories but members of the Parliament still refused to pass the bill. However, this led to members agreeing to look into the issue one more time. This time around Michael Sadler formed a committee in which he was the chairman, and provided testimonies of 89 workers. This committe included men such as John Cam Hobhouse and Thomas Fowell Buxton who were also reformers for labor. These testimonies later became known as The Sadler Report.

The Report

The following was an exerpt from one of the interviews held between the committee members and a young man named Matthew Crabtree.

"'What age are you?'

Twenty-two.

'What is your occupation?'

A blanket manufacturer.

'Have you ever been employed in a factory?'

Yes

'At what age did you first go to work in one?'

Eight

'How long did you continue in that occupation?'

Four years.

'Will you state the hours of labour at the period when you first went to the factory, in ordinary times?'

From 6 in the morning to 8 at night.

'Fourteen hours?'

Yes.

'With what intervals for refreshment and rest?'

An hour at noon.

'When trade was brisk what were your hours?'

From 5 in the morning to 9 in the evening.

'Sixteen hours?'

Yes.

'With what intervals at dinner?'

An hour.

'How far did you live from the mill?'

About two miles.

'Was there any time allowed for you to get your breakfast in the mill?'

No.

'Did you take it before you left your home?'

Generally.

'During those long hours of labour could you be punctual; how did you awake?'

I seldom did awake spontaneously; I was most generally awoke or lifted out of bed, sometimes asleep, by my parents.

'Were you always in time?'

No.

'What was the consequence if you had been too late?'

I was most commonly beaten.

'Severely?'

Very severely, I thought.

'In those mills is chastisement towards the latter part of the day going on perpetually?'

Perpetually.

'So that you can hardly be in a mill without hearing constant crying?'

Never an hour, I believe.

'Do you think that if the overlooker were naturally a humane person it would still be found necessary for him to beat the children, in order to keep up their attention and vigilance at the termination of those extraordinary days of labour?'

Yes; the machine turns off a regular quantity of cardings, and of course, they must keep as regularly to their work the whole of the day; they must keep with the machine, and therefore however humane the slubber may be, as he must keep up with the machine or be found fault with, he spurs the children to keep up also by various means but that which he commonly resorts to is to strap them when they become drowsy.

'At the time when you were beaten for not keeping up with your work, were you anxious to have done it if you possibly could?'

Yes; the dread of being beaten if we could not keep up with our work was a sufficient impulse to keep us to it if we could.

'When you got home at night after this labour, did you feel much fatigued?'

Very much so.

'Had you any time to be with your parents, and to receive instruction from them?'

No.

'What did you do?'

All that we did when we got home was to get the little bit of supper that was provided for us and go to bed immediately. If the supper had not been ready directly, we should have gone to sleep while it was preparing.

'Did you not, as a child, feel it a very grievous hardship to be roused so soon in the morning?'

I did.

'Were the rest of the children similarly circumstanced?'

Yes, all of them; but they were not all of them so far from their work as I was.

'And if you had been too late you were under the apprehension of being cruelly beaten?'

I generally was beaten when I happened to be too late; and when I got up in the morning the apprehension of that was so great, that I used to run, and cry all the way as I went to the mill. "

Sadler's Report Released

In the 1932 election, Michael went up against John Marshall a man who had more pull in Leeds. Sadler lost the election as well as his seat in Parliament. Though he was no longer a part of Paliament, his report was finally published in 1833. When Sadler's report was released to the public British citizens were appauled with the graphic details of factory life. Michael Sadler also eventually found out that worker's who testified were being dismissed and ceased with the interview process. This led to increased pressure on the British Parliament to protect children worker's rights. Sadler's work did not go down in vain because Lord Ashley, son of the 6th Earl of Saxbury, took his place as the leader of the factory reform movement.

Note: The Sadler Commission was an investigation into Indian University education at the end of the first world war. Not to be confused with this Michael Sadler.

References

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