Chimney Sweeps 1800 S England

Some were as young as 3 years old.

Chimney sweeps 1800 s england.

Child chimney sweeps are remembered and honored every year in england in early may. In the year 1841 the number of chimney sweeps in britain totaled 5028. There were eight hundred chimney sweeps in and around london and those tradesmen employed four hundred journeymen and sixty two boys. In early 1800 england immediately after the industrial revolution and during the victorian era child chimney sweeps faced a hellish task.

How chimney sweeps lived in the 1800s. The design is still used today. Joseph glass an engineer from bristol england invented the original brushes and rods used to clean chimneys. Their tiny size made them a popular choice for going down the narrow chimney stacks.

In england during the 1700 s and 1800 s master sweeps would buy young children from orphanages and take in young homeless children from the streets and turn them into indentured servants. In september of 1875 a bill was pushed through which put a stop to the practice of using children as chimney sweeps. These were usually small boys between the ages of 5 and 10 although most were under the age of seven and some were even as young as four. Then in february of 1875 a 12 year old chimney sweep named george brewster became stuck in fulbourn hospital chimneys where he was sent by william wyer his master.

They were lowered into narrow chimneys by their owner and forced to clean soot grime and creosote from the chimney flue. A victorian child chimney sweep may have been the most dangerous job for children in the 1800 s especially when the child first started doing the job.