10 August 1842
Mines and Collieries Act

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Following a report from the government-appointed Mines Commission, the Act bans women and girls, and boys under ten, from working underground. This is done partly out of concern for their well-being and partly out of fear of a deterioration in public morals – the commissioners have been scandalised to discover that, in some parts of the mines, men, women and children strip off until they are half-naked in order to endure the heat. In 1843, inspectors are appointed to check that the law is enforced.

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