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The Horrors of Child Labor in Libertariian England....(continued, p. 3)
George Brewster, an 11-year-old Victorian chimney sweep, is remembered as the last "climbing boy" to die in England on the job. His tragic suffocation in a narrow flue in 1875 caused a national outcry that finally forced Parliament to pass strict, enforceable child labor laws. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
The tragic turning point and subsequent legislative changes:
- The Incident (February 1875): Brewster was sent by his master, William Wyer, into a narrow 12x7.5-inch chimney flue at the County Pauper Lunatic Asylum in Fulbourn, near Cambridge. He became wedged and suffocated shortly after entering. [1, 2, 3]
- The Law Change (September 1875): Brewster's master was convicted of manslaughter. The case triggered massive public outrage, allowing the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury to push the Chimney Sweepers Act 1875 through Parliament. The law required sweeps to be licensed and registered, effectively ending the use of children as climbing boys. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
- Historical Recognition: Brewster became the youngest British person to receive an official blue plaque. Unveiled in Cambridge, the George Brewster Story serves as a permanent reminder of the sacrifices made by exploited Victorian children. [1, 2, 3]
Would you like to learn more about the activism of the Earl of Shaftesbury, or explore how other figures like Jonas Hanway tried to reform these laws earlier in the 1800s? [1]
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AI?
Fuck AI
I will not read article composed with AI
Suit yourself. AI is a tool, like a pen, a computer or a gun. Use it and judge it and keep an open mind, key to the acquisition of knowledge. Absolutism belongs in the madrassas, temples and other places dictating official thinking.
Reformists have long tried to solve the Dickensian ‘problem’ of child poverty:
1838: Oliver Twist asked for more.
1904: Over 100,000 school children did in London alone.
1965: Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) formed.
1997: UK had the highest rate of child poverty in the industrialised world
1999: UK PM Blair ‘Our historic aim will be for ours to be the first generation to end child poverty forever, and it will take a generation. It is a twenty-year mission, but I believe it can be done.’
2021: ‘.4 million children living in poverty in the UK, many of whom are not currently receiving Free School Meals.’
2024: ‘Child poverty is at a record high.’
2025: ‘The cobbled streets of Newport in Middlesbrough survive from the Victorian era. The staggering levels of child poverty here also feel like they belong in a different time. Six out of every seven children in Newport are classified as living in poverty.’
There will be no cure—as the incurably worsening situation throughout Neoliberal Europe/US, etc show—until capitalism is finally extirpated and done with.