Tuesday, 25 November 2025
The University of the Third Age meeting report
The Impact of the Industrial Revolution
on the Ordinary Person
Speaker: Bob Hayter
Before the Industrial Revolution, clothing was primarily made from natural, animal, and plant fibres like wool, linen, and silk. People used hand-powered methods like spinning wheels and looms to create textiles, often through a domestic system where families would produce cloth in their homes. But most working people, around eighty-five percent, worked in agriculture as they lived in rural settings. Five percent of the population lived in London and the remainder in the very few established towns.
We saw illustrations of the type of houses the working people would have lived in. They could be quite rudimentary, with just the one living space for all the family and sometimes being shared with animals. Some houses had an upstairs room, perhaps with a window for the women to create cloth to sell to enable the family to eat. The man of the house may well have been working in agriculture, and food production – at this time with very basic tools and equipment, and with poor wages. Even today, there are examples of pre – industrial revolution housing around the country.
Food for the family would consist of wheat, or perhaps cheese and butter, possibly made at home. Fish and rabbit was also eaten, and weak beer brewed using hot, or boiling water. This was a much safer option than 'fresh' water, which could have carried disease, long before any type of antidote was available. The people may also have grown vegetables, either for themselves or to sell on. Bob mentioned the 'Black Death' a plague in the 15th century, and the 'Great Famine' the century before. The high mortality rate of working people continued due to things like poor diet, little or no sanitation, and hard labour. At the same time, many babies did not survive into childhood.
Bob described how the industrial revolution developed as the centuries continued. This was in small steps, but people began to travel further away to either find work, or perhaps sell or trade animals, food or the cloth and wool that had been made.
Travel became easier with the introduction of Turnpike Roads around 1695. These were toll roads where a fee was collected from travellers to fund construction, maintenance, and improvement of the roads.
According to many historians, the start of the industrial revolution was under way by the year 1760 – by this time some mechanisation had started. For example, looms had been improved, and the 'Flying Shuttle' was invented shortly after that, leading to cloth being created more quickly. The factories depended heavily on water power, and this was provided by the use of horses, and sometimes men working a treadmill to keep the machines going.
Factories had been developed and adapted to increase production, by putting more looms and shuttles in the same rooms. Wool began to be used to create felt – a new, hard-wearing material that was water and windproof.
Manufacturing gradually became centralised with large mills, for example those in Halifax and Todmorden – people began to move into and work in these, and similar towns in our area.
As time went on, other materials from abroad became available for weaving, and cloth making – especially cotton. The material made from cotton began to replace clothing previously made from wool. It replaced the woollen underwear previously worn by women, along with stronger and more robust clothing for men also. Pinafores and aprons made of cotton kept clothing clean for longer at a time when workers might just have had the one or two sets.
Clothing for working men had also changed with time. The breeches they wore initially were turned into trousers which provided better protection while at work. The workers also started to wear linen shirts, waistcoats and leather boots or shoes – and flat caps still worn frequently these days, and their underwear resembled boxer shorts.
For all the improvements and development for workers, there was a downside which lasted for many years afterwards – the invention of slums. All the people moving into towns needed somewhere to live. The factory owners invested in housing which they would rent out to their workers, in effect reducing the workers' pay. Bob mentioned an area visited by one of our groups only this week – Packer Street in Rochdale. This is an area where factory workers were housed during the Industrial Revolution.
Photo: The Gank during the Industrial Revolution
As the factories became bigger and more people came to live there, the houses began to be occupied by more than one family. The population increased and it became a slum area and worse. It became known as 'The Gank'. This has been described 'as an area full of lively activity, crime and suffering as people tried to make a living'. One or two houses, and a pub, still exist amongst the newer houses and other properties.
Bob then described what the workers would be eating during this time. Their bread would still be coarse – white grain and rye, and breakfast would be gruel – otherwise known as runny porridge. Lunch might have been a pint and a half of watery beef soup. Weak beer, possibly brewed from grain was drunk instead of 'fresh' or untreated water which might have caused illnesses and even deaths
But this also highlighted other positive effects brought about during the industrial revolution. Farming techniques, inventions and equipment meant that more food was being made, and available, so workers were in many cases getting more food and nourishment as time went on.
The aristocracy, not surprisingly, fared much better than the workers but over time food continued to improve for many of the 'lower class' people. The workers would have strived to live better and aspire to greater things. The wages were not generous by any means, but they were better than for those who worked in farming – factory work was available, and required, all year round.
Bob reminded us of the scope and effect of these times – mentioning that the lathes and machines had to be made, transported and fitted – creating more jobs just one example, along with building more factories, houses, roads and railways. Apprenticeships began to become available as people realised that workers and managers would be needed in future – the country truly was going through a revolution.
More 'Turnpike' roads were constructed, and regular stagecoach journeys became available for long journeys, Bob mentioned that the canal network developed quickly and were in use by 1790.
On a more negative note, the health of the nation still was adversely affected due to factors such as crowded living spreading infectious disease, industrial diseases and accidents – perhaps still remembered by some of our members – poor health and life expectancy increasing only slowly.
He concluded the presentation by describing some of the 'for' and 'against' results of the Industrial Revolution. The factory owners, their investors and merchants benefited significantly from the profits - although some would have suffered losses. But at the same time, children were sent to work, being exploited rather than educated.
Photo: Child labour in the mills
We enjoyed an absorbing and thought provoking presentation from Bob this afternoon, ending with a vote of thanks and well-deserved applause.
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Many thanks to Colin Sanson for this report
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