This is an article about a 19th century British report. It should not be confused with the Sadler Commission, an investigation into Indian University education at the end of the First World War.

The Sadler Report was a report

Report

A report is a textual work made with the specific intention of relaying information or recounting certain events in a widely presentable form....

 written in 1832 by Michael Sadler

Michael Thomas Sadler

Michael Thomas Sadler was a radical British Tory Member of Parliament , opponent of Catholic emancipation and leader of the factory reform movement...

. The document purported to expose the substandard working conditions of children working in textile factories

Factory

A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...

 as well as women.

The Report included testimonies of workers in the factory, who spoke before the Sadler committee, led by Michael Sadler. The following provides an in-depth view of the history of the report and of Michael Sadler as well as how the report was related to the labour of women and children.

The accuracy and validity of the major indications suggested by the report within the document has been directly challenged by several notable historians and authors including William Harold Hutt

William Harold Hutt

William Harold "Bill" Hutt was an English economist who described himself as a classical liberal, although some identify him more closely with the Austrian School.-Early life:...

, Robert LeFevre

Robert LeFevre

Robert LeFevre was an American libertarian businessman, radio personality, and primary theorist of autarchism.-Early life:...

 and F.A. Hayek. Their objections are based on the often ignored Supplementary Report comissioned by King William IV to investigate the claims made in the Saddler Report. This royal inquiry lasted for the better part of two years and included the expert testimony of ministers and doctors, the latter often the same doctors used by employers to treat the ailments and accidents of the workers. Its conclusion was that the worst charges of the Sadler report were either completely refuted, or placed in a context that provided a much more balanced and positive view. Contrary to charges that work was ruining the health of the workers, it was found that the health of those in the factories and mills was every bit as good as that of those not working in the factories. The children themselves were found to be in good condition, in fact flourishing as the children in pre-industrial England had never flourished.

History

On March 16, 1831, Sadler attempted to introduce legislation in order to limit a child's work day (under the age of 18) to ten hours a day. He described in his own words the suffering that many children were facing in the factories but members of the Parliament still refused to pass the bill. This bill involved the following:

• a ban on labour for children 9 years old and younger
• a ten hour work day for people age nine to 18
• time in the day included for meals
• two hours of free time on Saturday
• and a ban on working all night for children under the age of 21.

Even though this bill was rejected, it led to members agreeing to look into the issue one more time. This time around Michael Sadler formed a committee in which he was the chairman, and provided testimonies of 89 workers. This committee included men such as John Cam Hobhouse and Thomas Fowell Buxton

Thomas Fowell Buxton

Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 1st Baronet was an English Member of Parliament, brewer, abolitionist and social reformer....

 who were also reformers for labour. These testimonies later became known as The Sadler Report.

In the 1832 election

United Kingdom general election, 1832

-Seats summary:-Parties and leaders at the general election:The Earl Grey had been Prime Minister since 22 November 1830. His was the first predominantly Whig administration since the Ministry of all the Talents in 1806-1807....

, Michael went up against John Marshall

John Marshall

John Marshall was the Chief Justice of the United States whose court opinions helped lay the basis for American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches...

, who had more pull in Leeds. Sadler lost the election as well as his seat in Parliament. Though he was no longer a part of Parliament, his report was finally published in 1833. When Sadler's report was released to the public British citizens were appalled with the graphic details of factory life. Michael Sadler also eventually found out that workers who testified were being dismissed and ceased with the interview process.

This led to increased pressure on the British Parliament to protect children worker's rights. Sadler's work inspired Lord Ashley, son of the 6th Earl of Saxbury

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury

Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury KG , styled Lord Ashley from 1811 to 1851, was an English politician and philanthropist, one of the best-known of the Victorian era and one of the main proponents of Christian Zionism.-Youth:He was born in London and known informally as Lord Ashley...

to spearhead the factory reform movement.

Report

The following was an excerpt from one of the interviews held between the committee members and a young man named Matthew Crabtree.

"'What age are you?'

Twenty-two.

'What is your occupation?'

A blanket manufacturer.

'Have you ever been employed in a factory?'

Yes

'At what age did you first go to work in one?'

Eight

'How long did you continue in that occupation?'

Four years.

'Will you state the hours of labour at the period when you first went to the factory, in ordinary times?'

From 6 in the morning to 8 at night.

'Fourteen hours?'

Yes.

'With what intervals for refreshment and rest?'

An hour at noon.

'When trade was brisk what were your hours?'

From 5 in the morning to 9 in the evening.

'Sixteen hours?'

Yes.

'With what intervals at dinner?'

An hour.

'How far did you live from the mill?'

About two miles.

'Was there any time allowed for you to get your breakfast in the mill?'

No.

'Did you take it before you left your home?'

Generally.

'During those long hours of labour could you be punctual; how did you awake?'

I seldom did awake spontaneously; I was most generally awoke or lifted out of bed, sometimes asleep, by my parents.

'Were you always in time?'

No.

'What was the consequence if you had been too late?'

I was most commonly beaten.

'Severely?'

Very severely, I thought.

'In those mills is chastisement towards the latter part of the day going on perpetually?'

Perpetually.

'So that you can hardly be in a mill without hearing constant crying?'

Never an hour, I believe.

'Do you think that if the overlooker were naturally a humane person it would still be found necessary for him to beat the children, in order to keep up their attention and vigilance at the termination of those extraordinary days of labour?'

Yes; the machine turns off a regular quantity of cardings, and of course, they must keep as regularly to their work the whole of the day; they must keep with the machine, and therefore however humane the slubber may be, as he must keep up with the machine or be found fault with, he spurs the children to keep up also by various means but that which he commonly resorts to is to strap them when they become drowsy.

'At the time when you were beaten for not keeping up with your work, were you anxious to have done it if you possibly could?'

Yes; the dread of being beaten if we could not keep up with our work was a sufficient impulse to keep us to it if we could.

'When you got home at night after this labour, did you feel much fatigued?'

Very much so.

'Had you any time to be with your parents, and to receive instruction from them?'

No.

'What did you do?'

All that we did when we got home was to get the little bit of supper that was provided for us and go to bed immediately. If the supper had not been ready directly, we should have gone to sleep while it was preparing.

'Did you not, as a child, feel it a very grievous hardship to be roused so soon in the morning?'

I did.

'Were the rest of the children similarly circumstanced?'

Yes, all of them; but they were not all of them so far from their work as I was.

'And if you had been too late you were under the apprehension of being cruelly beaten?'

I generally was beaten when I happened to be too late; and when I got up in the morning the apprehension of that was so great, that I used to run, and cry all the way as I went to the mill. "