At the beginning of the industrial revolution, in 1833, the government introduced the first effective factory act, which prevented anyone under nine years old working in factories. The next act passed by the government was in 1834 and was called the ‘poor law reform act’, which replaced the Speen Hamland Agreement. The prime minister of the time, Benjamin Disraeli, said of the poor law: “It announces to the world that in England poverty is a crime”. People who could not afford to support themselves were sent to workhouses where they worked 16 hours a day and were fed gruel. Families were split up and the government discouraged people from working in them as they intentionally made to be as unpleasant as possible. At this time Britain was becoming an industrial nation through the industrial revolution under the reign of Queen Victoria. Disraeli also wrote a report, to demonstrate the poverty of Britain to the wealthy, called ‘Two Nations’ which said Britain was a nation divided between wealthy people and peasants. This was affirmed in Charles Booth’s book ‘Darkest England’ which outlined that although Britain was richest nation it was also the most poverty stricken. Statistics from this time confirmed the nations problem, for example, 20% of the population of Liverpool lived in squalid conditions usually in a cellar.
Though these condemning reports were published the government said that because the reports were based on findings in London they should be discounted, as it was a heavily overcrowded city. To prove that poverty was the rule rather than the exception a man named Sebohm Rowntree wrote three studies in response to the study by Charles Booth and based it in York which was a largely agricultural area. Both Rowntree and Booth worked towards more social policy for people living in poverty. The conservative government at the time worked on a non-intervention policy, and had previously only allowed the wealthy to vote so keeping them in charge for the majority of the Victorian era. After pressure from friendly societies and social sympathisers, and a change of prime minister, the age of social reform began. In 1867 the parliament reform act was passed which allowed all male householders to vote (though many of these were pressured by their employers to vote conservative). A few years later, in 1872 the secret ballot was introduced.
By this time the working week had been reduced to 56 hours per week with Sunday given as a day off, and the working class took up sport, particularly football. During the 1880’s the right to vote was extended to agricultural workers and local councils were established. Under these councils sewers were built and the number of hygiene related illnesses such as cholera dropped dramatically.
Towards the end of the century 50% of men who applied to the army, for the Boer war, were rejected as they were under nourished and uneducated. After the war the liberal party was voted into power for the first time. This was the beginning of the liberal reforms, which changed the country forever. Compulsory education and free school meals were introduced, as were national insurance, borstals, and employment agencies. Minimum wages laws were passed and the working day was cut to eight hours a day.
References
Emsley, C (1996), Crime and Society in England 1750 – 1900, Longman Group ltd, pg 82
Bibliography
Emsley, C (1996), Crime and Society in England 1750 – 1900, Longman Group ltd,
Hitchens, P (2003), A Brief History of Crime, Atlantic Books,
Newburn, T (2003), Crime and Criminal Justice Policy, Pearson Longman,
