42 Geo. 3, c. 73. Apartments and beds of male and female apprentices. Clothing of apprentices. Time of working. Night work. Apprentices to be instructed in and arithmetic. Instruction and tices on Sundays. Sect. 7. "That the room or apartment in which any male apprentice shall sleep, shall be entirely separate and distinct from the room or apartment in which any female apprentice shall sleep; and that not more than two apprentices shall in any case sleep in the same bed." Sect. 3. "That every such master or mistress shall constantly supply every apprentice, during the term of his or her apprenticeship, with two whole and complete suits of clothing, with suitable linen, stockings, hats, and shoes; one new complete suit being delivered to such apprentice once at least in every year." Sect. 4. "That no apprentice that now is or hereafter shall be bound to any such master or mistress, shall be employed or compelled to work for more than twelve hours in any one day, (reckoning from six of the clock in the morning to nine of the clock at night), exclusive of the time that may be occupied by such apprentice in eating the necessary meals: Provided always, that, from and after the first day of June one thousand eight hundred and three, no apprentice shall be employed or compelled to work, upon any occasion whatever, between the hours of nine of the clock at night and six of the clock in the morning." And see 3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 103, s. 1, post, 5. Sect. 6. "That every such apprentice shall be instructed, in some reading, writing, part of every working day, for the first four years at least of his or her apprenticeship, which shall next ensue from and after the second day of December one thousand eight hundred and two, if he or she is an apprentice on the said second day of December one thousand eight hundred and two, and for the first four years at least of his or her apprenticeship, if his or her apprenticeship commences at any time after the said second day of December one thousand eight hundred and two, in the usual hours of work, in reading, writing, and arithmetic, or either of them, according to the age and abilities of such apprentice, by some discreet and proper person, to be provided and paid by the master or mistress of such apprentice, in some room or place in such mill or factory to be set apart for that purpose; and that the time hereby directed to be allotted for such instruction as aforesaid, shall be deemed and taken on all occasions as part of the respective periods limited by this act during which any such apprentice shall be employed or compelled to work." Sect. 8. "That every apprentice, or (in case the apprentices shall atconduct of appren- tend in classes) every such class, shall, for the space of one hour at least every Sunday, be instructed and examined in the principles of the Christian religion, by some proper person to be provided and paid by the master or mistress of such apprentice; and in England and Wales, in case the parents of such apprentice shall be members of the Church of England, then such apprentice shall be taken, once at least in every year during the term of his or her apprenticeship, to be examined by the rector, vicar, or curate of the parish in which such mill or factory shall be situate; and shall also, after such apprentice shall have attained the age of fourteen years, and before attaining the age of eighteen years, be duly instructed and prepared for confirmation, and be brought or sent to the bishop of the diocese to be confirmed, in case any confirmation shall, during such period, take place in or for the said parish; and in Scotland, where the parents of such apprentice shall be members of the Established Church, such apprentice shall be taken, once at least in every year, during the term of his or her apprenticeship, to be examined by the minister of the parish; and shall, after such apprentice shall have attained the age of fourteen years, and before attaining the age of eighteen years, be carried to the parish church to receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, as the same is administered in churches in Scotland; and such master or mistress shall send all his or her apprentices under the care of some proper person, once in a month at least, to attend during Divine Service in the church of the parish or place in which the mill or factory shall be situated, or in some other convenient church or chapel where service shall be performed according to the rites of the Church of England, or according to the established religion in Scotland, as the case may be, or in some licensed place of Divine worship; and in case the apprentices of any such master or mistress cannot conveniently attend such church or chapel every Sunday, the master or mistress, either by themselves or some proper person, shall cause Divine service to be performed in some convenient room or place in or adjoining to the mill or factory, once at least every Sunday that such apprentices shall not be able to attend Divine service at such church or chapel; and such master or mistress is hereby strictly enjoined and required to take due care that all his or her apprentices regularly attend Divine service, according to the directions of this act." 42 Geo. 3, c. 73. Justices at sessions yearly to appoint mills, &c., who two visitors of shall visit and report condition thereof to quarter sessions. Sect. 9. "That the justices of the peace for every county, stewartry, riding, division, or place, in which any such mill or factory shall be situated, shall, at the Midsummer sessions of the peace to be holden immediately after the passing of this act for such county, stewartry, riding, division, or place, and afterwards yearly at their annual Midsummer sessions of the peace, appoint two persons, not interested in, or in any way connected with any such mills or factories, to be visitors of such mills or factories in such county, stewartry, riding, division, or place, one of whom shall be a justice of peace for such county, stewartry, riding, division, or place, and the other shall be a clergyman of the Established Church of England or Scotland, as the case may be; and in case it shall be found inconvenient to appoint one such justice and one such clergyman as aforesaid, it shall be lawful to and for such justices, and they are hereby required to appoint two such justices or two such clergymen; and the said visitors, or either of them, shall have full power and authority from time to time throughout the year, to enter into and inspect any such mill or factory, at any time of the day, or during the hours of employment, as they shall think fit; and such visitors shall report from time to time in writing, to the quarter sessions of the peace, the state and condition of such mills and factories, and of the apprentices therein, and whether the same are or are not conducted and regulated according to the directions of this act, and the laws of the realm; and such report shall be entered by the clerk of the peace among the records of the session in a book kept for that purpose: Provided always, that in case Visitors may be there shall be six or more such mills or factories within any one such appointed for county, riding, division, or place, then it shall be lawful for such justices to divide such county, riding, division, or place, into two or more districts or parts, and to appoint two such visitors as aforesaid for each of such districts or parts.' And see 3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 103, s. 17, post, 8, extending this provision respecting visitors. Sect. 10. "That in case the said visitors or either of them shall find that any infectious disorder appears to prevail in any mill or factory as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for them or either of them to require the master or mistress of any such mill or factory to call in forthwith some physician, or other competent medical person, for the purpose of ascertaining the nature and probable effects of such disorder, and for applying such remedies and recommending such regulations as the said physician, or other competent medical person, shall think most proper for preventing the spreading of the infection and for restoring the health of the sick; and that such physician, or other competent medical person, shall report to such visitors, or either of them, as often as they shall be required so to do, their opinion in writing of the nature, progress, and present state of the disorder, together with its probable effects; and that any expenses incurred in consequence of the provisions aforesaid for medical assistance, shall be discharged by the master or mistress of such mill or factory.” districts. In infectious disorders, visitors may require the master, &c. to call in medical aid, &c. Sect. 11. "That if any person or persons shall oppose or molest any Penalty for ob of the said visitors in the execution of the powers intrusted to them by structing visitors. this act, every such person or persons shall for every such offence forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding ten pounds nor less than five pounds." 42 Geo. 3, c. 73. Sect. 13. "That every master or mistress of any such mill or factory who shall wilfully act contrary to or offend against any of the proviters, &c. offending, sions of this act, shall for such offence (except where otherwise directed) Penalty on mas Penalties recoverable before two justices, &c. No certiorari (a). Two copies hereof mill. forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding five pounds nor less than forty shillings, at the discretion of the justices before whom such offender shall be convicted as after mentioned; one half whereof shall be paid to the informer, and the other half to the overseers of the poor in England and Ireland, and to the minister and elders in Scotland, of the parish or place where such offence shall be committed, to be by them applied in aid of the poor rate in England and Ireland, and for the benefit of the poor in Scotland, of such parish or place: Provided always, that all informations for offences against this act, shall be laid within one calendar month after the offence committed, and not afterwards." Sect. 15. "That all offences for which any penalty is imposed under this act, shall and may be heard before any two or more justices of the peace, acting in or for the place where the offence shall be committed; and all penalties and forfeitures by this act imposed, and all costs and charges attending the conviction of any such offender or offenders, shall and may be levied by distress and sale of the offender's goods and chattels, by warrant under the hand and seal of any two or more justices of the peace acting for the county, stewartry, riding, division, or place where such offence shall be committed, rendering the overplus (if any) to the party or parties offending; and which warrant such justices are hereby empowered and required to grant, upon conviction of the offender, either by confession, or upon the oath of one or more credible witness or witnesses (which oath such justices are hereby empowered to administer); and in case such distress cannot be found, and such penalties, forfeitures, and costs shall not be forthwith paid, it shall and may be lawful for such justices, and they are hereby empowered and required, by warrant under their hands and seals, to commit such offender or offenders to the common gaol or house of correction of the county, stewartry, riding, division, or place where the offence shall be committed, for any time not exceeding two calendar months, unless the said penalty, forfeiture, and costs, shall respectively be sooner paid and satisfied: Provided always, that no warrant of distress shall be issued for levying any such penalty, forfeiture, or costs, until six days after the offender shall have been convicted, and an order made upon him or her for payment thereof; and no such conviction shall be removable by certiorari or bill of advocation into any court whatsoever." Sect. 12. "That the master or mistress of every such mill or factory to be affixed in the shall cause printed or written copies of this act to be hung up and affixed in two or more conspicuous places in such mill or factory, and shall cause the same to be constantly kept and renewed, so that they may at all times be legible and accessible to all persons employed therein." And see 3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 103, s. 27, post, 10. Conviction. Sect. 14. "That every such master or mistress shall, at the Epiphany sessions in every year, make, or cause to be made, an entry in a book to be kept for that purpose by the clerk of the peace of the county, riding, or division in which any mill or factory shall be situate, of every such mill or factory occupied by him or her wherein three or more apprentices ortwenty or more other persons shall be employed; and the said clerk of the peace shall receive for every such entry the sum of two shillings and no more." Sect. 16. "That every such conviction before such justices may be made in the following form; (to wit), County of fore to wit. } BE it remembered, that on the day of in the year A. B. was, upon the complaint of C. D., convicted beof the justices of the peace for the said county of [or, for (a) See R. v. Fell, 1 B. & Adol. 380, which was a case decided on this act and the now repealed act of 6 Geo. 4, c. 63. of or in the said county of as the case shall happen to be], in pursuance of an act passed in the forty-second year of the reign of his Majesty King George the Third, for [or as the case may be]. Given under our hands and seals, the day and year above written. Which conviction shall be certified to the next general quarter sessions, there to be filed amongst the records of the county, riding, or division." Sect. 17. The act is made a public act. 42 Geo. 3, c. 73. Public act. Persons under eighteen years of age not allowed to work at night in the mills or fac described. tories herein By the 3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 103, intituled "An Act to regulate the Labour 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 103. of Children and young Persons in the Mills and Factories of the United Kingdom," reciting, whereas it is necessary that the hours of labour of children and young persons employed in mills and factories should be regulated, inasmuch as there are great numbers of children and young persons now employed in mills and factories, and their hours of labour are longer than is desirable, due regard being had to their health and means of education:" it is enacted, "that from and after the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, no person under eighteen years of age shall be allowed to work in the night (that is to say), between the hours of half-past eight o'clock in the evening and halfpast five o'clock in the morning, except as hereinafter provided, in or about any cotton, woollen, worsted, hemp, flax, tow, linen, or silk mill or factory, wherein steam or water or any other mechanical power is or shall be used to propel or work the machinery in such mill or factory, either in scutching, carding, roving, spinning, piecing, twisting, winding, throwing, doubling, netting, making thread, dressing or weaving of cotton, wool, worsted, hemp, flax, tow, or silk, either separately or mixed, in any such mill or factory situate in any part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: Provided always, that nothing in this act shall apply or extend to the working of any steam or other engine, waterwheel, or other power in or belonging to any mill or building or machinery when used in that part of the process or work commonly called fulling, roughing, or boiling of woollens, nor to any apprentices or other persons employed therein, nor to the labour of young persons above the age of thirteen years when employed in packing goods in any warehouse or place attached to any mill, and not used for any manufacturing process; provided also, that nothing in this act shall apply or extend to any mill or factory used solely for the manufacture of lace." See 42 Geo. III. c. 73, s. 4, ante, 2. Sect. 2. "No person under the age of eighteen years shall be employed in any such mill or factory in such description of work as aforesaid more than twelve hours in any one day, nor more than sixty-nine hours in any one week, except as hereinafter provided." Sect. 3. Provided, " that if at any time in any such mill, manufactory, or buildings situated upon any stream of water, time shall be lost in consequence of the want of a due supply or of an excess of water, or by reason of its being impounded in higher reservoirs, then and in every such case and so often as the same shall happen it shall be lawful for the occupier of any such mill, manufactory, or building to extend the time of labour in this act prescribed at the rate of three hours per week until such lost time shall have been made good, but no longer, such time to be worked between the hours of five of the clock in the morning and nine of the clock in the evening; provided also, that no time shall be recoverable after it has been lost six calendar months." Sect. 4. "When any extraordinary accident shall happen to the steam engine, water-wheel, weirs, or watercourses, grain shafting, main gearing, or gas apparatus of any such mill, manufactory, or buildings, by which not less than three hours' labour at any one time shall be lost, then and in every such case such time may be worked up at the rate of one hour a day in addition to the aforesaid and hereinafter restricted hours of labour, for the twelve following working days, but not after." Persons under eighteen not to twelve hours work more than a day. Extension of hours of working in certain cases. Providing for lost in cases of accident. unavoidable time Sect. 5. "And whereas during periods of drought and of floods the Loss of time from the want or excess of water in the for. 3 & 4 will. 4, e. 103. power of water-wheels on some streams is wholly interrupted, or so far diminished that the machinery or part or parts of the machinery dependant upon such power cannot be regularly worked at one and the same day time provided time, and in consequence thereof a certain portion of the time of such persons as are employed in the working of such machinery may be lost in each day during such period of drought or floods; be it therefore enacted, that it shall be lawful for the occupier of any mill, manufactory, or building, when time is so lost, then and in every such case and so often as the same shall happen, to extend the hours between which persons under eighteen years of age are hereinbefore allowed to work, (viz., from five of the clock in the morning till nine in the evening), as hereinbefore limited, to such period as may in such case be necessary to prevent the loss of time, and no longer: Provided always, that no child or young person within the respective ages prescribed by this act shall be actually employed a greater number of hours within the twenty-four hours of any one day than this act declares to be lawful; and provided also, that no child under thirteen years of age shall be employed after the hour of nine of the clock in the evening nor before the hour of five in the morning." Time for meals. Employment of children under nine years prohibited. The employment of children under eleven, twelve, and thirteen years of age for more than prohibited. Sect. 6. "There shall be allowed in the course of every day not less than one and a half hours for meals to every such person restricted as hereinhefore provided to the performance of twelve hours' work daily." Sect. 7. "From and after the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, it shall not be lawful for any person whatsoever to employ in any factory or mill as aforesaid, except in mills for the manufacture of silk, any child who shall not have completed his or her ninth year of age." Sect. 8. "From and after the expiration of six months after the passing of this act it shall not be lawful for any person whatsoever to employ, keep, or allow to remain in any factory or mill as aforesaid for a longer time than forty-eight hours in any one week, nor for a longer time than eight hours a day, nine hours in any one day, except as herein provided, any child who shall not have completed his or her eleventh year of age, or after the expiration of eighteen months from the passing of this act any child who shall not have completed his or her twelfth year of age, or after the expiration of thirty [calendar, 4 Will. IV. c. 1, s. 1, post, 14,] months from the passing of this act any child who shall not have completed his or her thirteenth year of age: provided nevertheless, that in mills for the manufacture of silk, children under the age of thirteen years shall be allowed to work ten hours in any one day." [By 4 Will. IV. c. 1, s. 2, post, 14, in mills for the manufacture of silk, children under the age of thirteen shall be allowed to work ten working hours every working day of the week.] Holidays to be allowed. Children employed Sect. 9. "All children and young persons whose hours of work are regulated and limited by this act shall be entitled to the following holidays; viz. on Christmas-day and Good Friday the entire day, and not fewer than eight half days besides in every year, such half days to be at such period or periods, together or separately, as may be most desirable and convenient, and as shall be determined on by the master of such children and young persons; provided nevertheless, that in Scotland any other days may be substituted for Christmas-day and for Good Friday, both or either, as such master may determine." Sect, 10. "If any child within the age hereinbefore restricted to nine hours of day labour shall have been employed in any one day for less than nine hours in one factory or mill, it shall be lawful for any person to employ such child in any other factory or mill on the same day for the residue of such nine hours; provided that such employment in such other mill or factory shall not increase the labour of such child to more than nine hours in any one day, or to more than forty-eight hours in any one week." |