Maria
Maria
Jul 23, 2017 · 3 min read

CHILD LABOR LAWS 1800's Great Britain

All Labor unions, laws, politicians and political parties come from

Great Britain (1819 — 1889). When the Industrial Revolution transformed the English economy, children and women became the resource that was cheap enough to run the new economy. Protecting them was essential not only in law but in actual fact.

Under Sir Robert Peel, England developed it’s beginning Labor legislation. Earlier than in any other country was a law limiting the use of Child Labor — the Cotton Factories Regulation Act of 1819. It forbid children under 9 years old from working. My own understanding of these times is in the form of memories as I had a past life as a member of the House of Commons in the 1800's when the primary new legislation for Labor was being written.

I was born in Glasgow, Scotland. I remember being a young boy who had to work at coal mining in order to make a living. It was really difficult and I remember starving from the hunger. I have a sense of my home and my relatives. One scene involves my mother or my grandmother handing me a piece of bread with great kindness when I was in the kitchen with her. I was given extra food as a way to better survive and to grow up to an age where I could go to London and better politically represent my area of Scotland. The Great Famine in Ireland affected Scotland too.

Eventually I was a member of and worked for a labor union representing coal miners. In this capacity I was elected to the House of Commons. I moved to London where I was to spend the rest of my life. It was about 1848 when I moved.

In order to have the proper political influence I was given a marriage of convenience. A woman from a higher class was arranged to be sure that I would have more possible ways of communicating. I remember that she fascinated me and we had a good time together. In fact as events played out I was really married. I assume that we lived with my wife’s relatives in her home or together given our own home. With that I took on the years of trying to develop and make relevant the Labor Law that I knew would help Scotland and the UK.

We continued on with our lives in the midst of various crises. During the Great Famine or Great Hunger in Ireland (1845 — 1852) 2/5ths of the population was lost as they relied on potatoes as a crop when it had no way to grow. One million died and one million emigrated. We in England were devastated by it. The Famine effected Scotland and was probably part of the reason that I moved to London in the 1840's.

I learned in my current lifetime that this woman’s reincarnation was as a male British rock star. When I was able to learn more about him in this lifetime I used to try to see ways that his personality was relating to the time and places that we had lived together. I think the only thing that came between us was the fact that social drinking was required of my past life character. As a politician I at times drank more than would allow me to relate well to a partner.

One thing I became aware of as a result of knowing this rock star was that oppression of women in Victorian England was of profound concern both to her and to myself. Issues such as “corsets” worn by women were important to challenge. They were too destructive to be healthy to wear. I’m sure I insisted that she not wear one so that her ribs would not be crushed.

A great thing about this 19th Century era in Labor Politics was that around the world there was a real interest in any sort of thinking that would allow us to make real changes to protect those who were vulnerable. People would come from out of town to visit and discuss with us their ideas which was very stimulating for developing new ways of thinking.

Through the years our work evolved legislation that increasingly protected working women, children and men. From unenforced laws against Child Labor in the early 1800's to the more developed Labor laws of 1889. Worker’s pay, hours, types of work, etc. were all influenced to give the majority of them a better deal.

The law of this time did influence the whole field of Labor law and was important to developing reform in other countries such as France.

The detailed facts on this time are on Wikipedia. Labor Laws France, USA, and Europe.

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