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The invention of the Davy Lamp in 1816 made mines much safer places.

Britain 1815-1851 - Living And Working Conditions

Industrialisation transformed life in Britain. This GCSE History quiz explores crowded towns, harsh factory work, and the early efforts to improve working and living conditions.

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Fascinating Fact:

Factory work could be dangerous, with unguarded machines causing injuries. There was no sick pay or compensation, so an accident could push a family into deeper poverty.

In GCSE History, this topic explores how rapid industrial growth changed people’s daily lives. You study housing in new towns, conditions in factories and mines, and early attempts at reform and inspection.

Key Terms

Industrialisation: The growth of factories and machines that led to more people working in towns instead of in agriculture.
Tenement: A tall, crowded building divided into small rooms or flats where many working families lived.
Factory inspector: An official who visited workplaces to check hours, safety rules, and child labour laws.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What were living conditions like in British industrial towns?

Many families lived in cramped, damp housing close to factories. Streets could be dirty, with poor drainage, limited clean water, and a higher risk of disease such as cholera and typhus.

Why were working conditions in factories and mines so harsh?

Employers wanted to keep costs low and output high. Long hours, low wages, poor ventilation, and little protection from machinery or dust meant workers’ health and safety were often ignored.

What do I need to revise for living and working conditions GCSE History?

Revise industrial growth, housing and health problems, conditions in factories and mines, key reform laws, the role of inspectors, and how workers and campaigners pushed for change.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

Who invented the safety lamp of 1816, which was - at least for a time - useful in enhancing safety in mines?

Lord Shaftesbury

Sir Humphry Davy

Robert Owen

Jeremy Bentham

Conditions in coal mines were poor: explosions were a regular threat as was poisonous air. The safety lamp seemed to be an important improvement in raising standards of safety and visibility

2 .

A close associate of Karl Marx wrote a comprehensive study in 1844 called "The Condition of the Working Class in England", based on his extensive research in the Manchester area. Who was he?

Friedrich Engels

Louis Blanc

Earl Grey

Feargus O'Connor

This work influenced the young Karl Marx, who believed that working conditions would steadily worsen, leading to the increasing alienation of the industrial working class

3 .

A second pandemic of which disease, spread by infected water, erupted in Britain from 1831?

Cholera

Typhus

Paratyphoid

Yellow Fever

Insanitary conditions, aggravated by poor and dense housing, encouraged the spread of certain diseases

4 .

Which disease, sometimes also referred to as consumption, was common in Britain where dwellings were congested?

Smallpox

Typhoid

Tuberculosis

Pleurisy

Poor housing conditions clearly provided the conditions for the spread of contagious diseases

5 .

In the early nineteenth century a group of workers began to destroy industrial machinery, arguing that increasing mechanisation would put jobs at risk. What name was given to this group?

Vandals

Luddites

Smashers

Breakers

This movement is best seen as a conservative reaction to rapid industrialisation

6 .

The New Poor Law of 1834 discouraged the provision of poor relief to anyone who refused to enter which kind of residential institution?

Workhouse

Penitentiary

Poverty Clinic

Foundling Hospital

These institutions provided extremely basic shelter and care to families, whose members were usually segregated

7 .

In 1834 a group of Dorset farm labourers was sentenced to transportation for attempting to organise a trade union. By what name were they known?

The Dorchester Three

The Tolpuddle Martyrs

The Dorset Heroes

The Dorsetshire Victims

Local landowners reacted harshly to the formation of this group and pressed for their transportation to Australia. Eventually the group was able to return to England, to find that they had become heroes of the labour movement

8 .

Which businessman and philanthropist set up New Lanark Mills in Scotland, where an efficient business accompanied a regime of welfare for the workforce?

Robert Owen

William Hudson

Henry Chadwick

The Duke of Bridgewater

New Lanark Mills showed that it was possible to run a competitive business operation, while providing housing, medical care and education for the workforce

9 .

Between 1832 and 1844 a series of acts regulated the use of child labour. What name was given to these measures?

Child Employment acts

Child Labour acts

Factory acts

Child Worker acts

Restrictions were placed mainly on the hours that children were expected to work in certain types of employment

10 .

From 1831 a series of acts of Parliament dealt with those employers who compelled their employees to purchase goods in their own shops using tokens supplied by them. What name was given to these measures?

Retail acts

Shop Provision acts

Truck acts

Workers' Purchase acts

Before this legislation was passed employers could compel their workers to make basic purchases in factory outlets, to the profit of the employer

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Industrial Britain and the people's health, c.1750-c.1900

Author: Edward Towne