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Essay on Poor Health in Boarding Schools
England had many orphanages but places were usually given to orphans who had come from wealthy or respectable families. Many poor children whose parents had died were forced to live on the streets or in workhouses where conditions were extremely hard. By the end of the 19th century, poor orphans were beginning to enjoy an improved lifestyle. By this time many were living in special children's homes.
Hordes of dirty, ragged children roamed the streets with no regular money and no home to got to. The children of the streets were often orphans with no-one to care for them. They stole or picked pockets to buy food and slept in outhouses or doorways.Some street children did jobs to earn money. They could work as crossing-sweepers, sweeping a way through the mud and horse dung of the main paths to make way for ladies and gentlemen. Others sold lace, flowers, matches or muffins etc out in the streets.
Poor children were forced to work from a very young age. Many earned a few pennies by becoming chimney-sweeps or working on the streets running errands, calling cabs, sweeping roads, selling toys or flowers and helping the market porters. Other children worked alongside their parents at home or in small, dark and dirty workshops sewing clothes, sacks or shoes. The industrial revolution had resulted in many children being employed in large factories. They were often responsible for operating dangerous machinery. Children who worked in factories suffered a hard life.
The young girls who worked in the match factories run by Bryant and May endured long hours and poor pay. They worked with dangerous materials such as phosphorous that could cause a disease known as 'phossy jaw' that rotted their lower jaw.In the 1830s children worked as pieces, joining together pieces of broken thread on spinning machines. These kids made about 2 to 3 shillings per week......
