Hidden From History: Children and Young People in the Woollen Mills of the Stroud Valleys in the Early Nineteenth Century

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The Stroud area of Gloucestershire was a major producer of woollen cloth up to the late nineteenth century. This article describe the roles that children and young people played in the industry. It fills a gap in local historiography; and shows that over the 1830s the pattern of children’s employment in the mills of the area changed such that by the end of the decade, following legal restrictions on working hours for children, those under 13 were rarely employed. This contrasts with the woollen industry in the West Riding of Yorkshire where many children remained in the workforce. The article also argues that distinguishing between ‘children’ and ‘young people’ is neccessary in the context of the emotive phrase ‘child labour’.