The University of Hertfordshire Press have provided inforation about a new publication which may be of interest to SFHS members but is not currently avaliable from our bookstall..
The Industrious Child Worker
Child labour and childhood in Birmingham and the West Midlands, 1750–1900
Author: Mary Nejedly
At the moment the price is £13.59 (free p&p), ordered direct from www.uhpress.co.uk Full price will be £16.99.
This book deals with the child workers in the industries in Birmingham and the West Midlands from the mid eighteenth century to the end of the nineteenth century. Children made a valuable contribution to the family finances and families were encouraged to move from rural areas so that their children could work from an early age. Mary Nejedly's book also emphasises the important role played by child workers in industrialisation itself. Both children's education and health could and did suffer. Her research sheds fresh light on the life of working children and increases our knowledge of an important aspect of social and economic history.