Source B, an interview between the superintendents who looked after Greg’s apprentices at Quarry Bank Mill and a government official checking on how apprentice children were treated, describes reasonable working conditions and good care standards, as the children are described as not looking as well when they first come as when they have been at the mill for a while. However, it deals only with three aspects of work in mills and only shows a small part of the interview. Although the site visit and other sources back up what the extracts from the interview were saying, Greg was present and there is no evidence of the officials visiting the mill.
Source C, information from a general textbook by Dr Pauline Gregg (who was of no relation to Samuel Greg), gives evidence about the bad aspects of mills. However, the source is limited by the fact that it was a general textbook (i.e. it did not focus on particular mills), it does not give information about other mills and her account of punishments seems to rely on Robert Blincoe. A historian wrote it, however, so lots of research will have been done and it should have no bias although it may not be reliable for specific examples.
Source D, an account of the punishment of Esther Price by Robert Hyde Greg, describes punishments at Quarry Bank and shows how they were softer than other mills. This is backed up by evidence from the site visit, which shows that punishments were not as harsh at Quarry Bank. However, only one punishment is mentioned and Greg would want to appear to be a good and kind man.
The fifth and last source, Source E, is a picture of a mule-spinning mill in 1835 and therefore shows visual evidence from inside the mill. Other evidence such as the machines can back up this source. However, the picture only shows one part of the mill, other evidence contradicts this and we do not know where the artist of the picture got his evidence.
The site visit to Quarry Bank was also useful and limited in different ways. It was useful as we could see first-hand the sites and sounds of the mill. The machines could be seen working and the size of the rooms could be noted. Information boards provided primary source evidence and it gave additional information on the living and working conditions in the mill. Visitors were able to appreciate Quarry Bank Mill as a rural mill. People who lived and worked there provide much of the evidence. However, we also have to consider the fact that Quarry Bank Mill is a public attraction as well as a historical site. Working conditions cannot be shown as they were, as health and safety regulations have to be considered. Only a few machines at a time could be operating to keep noise down, cotton fibre did not fill the air and the machines cannot be working in a state of danger. There is also a small chance that the Gregs have been hiding something away.
My other research backs up evidence that Quarry Bank Mill was a good place to work. Samuel Greg put guards on machines and extractor fans before legislation forced him to do so. Greg’s punishments were not harsh compared to a lot of other mills. However, most other evidence about mills is bad – my research states that children were hung over machinery by their hands and one girl lost her leg after having been caught in the dangerous machinery.
In conclusion, I think that the above information sources are too unreliable to tell us fully what mills were like in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. For example, most sources have been influenced by Samuel Greg to make his mill look better and due to health and safety rules, the site visit was also too limited to get a good picture of what Quarry Bank Mill used to be like.
