*Please note- This site search does not include the Vic. & Tas. BMD's, Lots o' Links & Worth a Look Books
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GEORGE BREWSTER
LAST CLIMBING BOY to die on the job
1863-1875
George Brewster was born ca 1863. His parents lived in London when his mother became ill, so his married brother William, adopted him & subsequently passed him on to another married brother John, who allowed him to be illegally apprenticed to the master Chimney sweep, named William Wyer.
Wyer had a contract to sweep the flues of 3 boilers, 3 times a year at Fulbourn Hospital Cambridge. In Feb 1875, after young George (about 12 years old) took off his coat & put on a cap covering his face, he was sent by Wyer up into a flue of which the door was 12"x 6" & the flue, over 11' long.
About 15 mins later, George became stuck & couldn't breath. The entire wall had to be pulled down to get him out. Barely alive & in an exhausted state, a doctor was called. The Doctor removed the soot from his mouth, gave him brandy, then put him in a warm bath, but he died soon after.
The cause of death given as suffocation & a post-mortem examination, revealed that the arms were abraded, the head congested & there was a lot of black powder in the lungs & windpipe. The Coroner's Inquest returned a verdict of manslaughter & Wyer was sentenced to 6 months in prison, with hard labour.
The Boys that survived to live into Adulthood, must have been very lucky indeed, as the mortality rate of climbing boys (& girls) was very high indeed & two previous acts had been passed, to prevent these deaths, so Lord Shaftesbury wrote a series of letters to 'The Times' & In Sept. 1875 & a 'Chimney Sweepers Act' was passed, requiring chimney sweepers to be authorised by the police to carry on their business in the district, this providing the legal means to enforce all previous legislation. This 'Act' finally stopped the practice of sending boys up chimneys.
Because of these new Acts, George Brewster was one of the last Climbing Boys to die on the job.
Reference
http://emoglen.law.columbia.edu/twiki/pub/EngLegalHist/ArmorieDelamirie/
Wyer had a contract to sweep the flues of 3 boilers, 3 times a year at Fulbourn Hospital Cambridge. In Feb 1875, after young George (about 12 years old) took off his coat & put on a cap covering his face, he was sent by Wyer up into a flue of which the door was 12"x 6" & the flue, over 11' long.
About 15 mins later, George became stuck & couldn't breath. The entire wall had to be pulled down to get him out. Barely alive & in an exhausted state, a doctor was called. The Doctor removed the soot from his mouth, gave him brandy, then put him in a warm bath, but he died soon after.
The cause of death given as suffocation & a post-mortem examination, revealed that the arms were abraded, the head congested & there was a lot of black powder in the lungs & windpipe. The Coroner's Inquest returned a verdict of manslaughter & Wyer was sentenced to 6 months in prison, with hard labour.
The Boys that survived to live into Adulthood, must have been very lucky indeed, as the mortality rate of climbing boys (& girls) was very high indeed & two previous acts had been passed, to prevent these deaths, so Lord Shaftesbury wrote a series of letters to 'The Times' & In Sept. 1875 & a 'Chimney Sweepers Act' was passed, requiring chimney sweepers to be authorised by the police to carry on their business in the district, this providing the legal means to enforce all previous legislation. This 'Act' finally stopped the practice of sending boys up chimneys.
Because of these new Acts, George Brewster was one of the last Climbing Boys to die on the job.
Reference
http://emoglen.law.columbia.edu/twiki/pub/EngLegalHist/ArmorieDelamirie/
1. Climbing Boy facts
2. The Water babies & other books
3. Fulbourn Hospital
4. Chimney Sweeps Christmas
5. Chimney Sweep's Complaint
6. First Day of May- Chimney Sweep's Day
2. The Water babies & other books
3. Fulbourn Hospital
4. Chimney Sweeps Christmas
5. Chimney Sweep's Complaint
6. First Day of May- Chimney Sweep's Day
Facts about Climbing Boys
*In 1795 a baby of three and a half years was apprentice in a
public house to a master-sweep.
*They would often climb 'Naked', because clothes were often
restricting or they needed to buff the inside of the flue.
*A lot of boys when they hit Puberty, developed warts which
later progressed into Scrotum Cancer. This is the first
industrial caused cancer to ever be recognised.
*Some girls were used as well.
*The boys would clean the inside wall with their bare hands or
scrapers and would scrape their fingers, elbows and knees on
the brickwork.
*On their first few experiences as a climbing boy, Master
Sweeps would scrape their knees and elbows with a wire brush
and brine to toughen them up.
*Often they had to be forced the chimney that was narrow, also
being still sore from other climbs. The master sweep sometimes
lit a fire in the fireplace to force them all the way to the top.
*They would have 1 day a year off- May day and would sleep on
bags full of soot. Some would only wash once a year, but others
once a week to go to Church on Sunday.
*If a boy got stuck, another boy was often sent up to prick
the boys feet, to get him moving, sometimes they both
became stuck and died.
*Chimney sweeps came to be seen as good luck and are still hired today
for weddings (I guess, lucky 'cause your house won't burn down)
Hence the words in the song 'Chim-Chiminey' from
'Mary Poppins'-
"good luck will rub off, when I shake 'ands with you"
*In 1795 a baby of three and a half years was apprentice in a
public house to a master-sweep.
*They would often climb 'Naked', because clothes were often
restricting or they needed to buff the inside of the flue.
*A lot of boys when they hit Puberty, developed warts which
later progressed into Scrotum Cancer. This is the first
industrial caused cancer to ever be recognised.
*Some girls were used as well.
*The boys would clean the inside wall with their bare hands or
scrapers and would scrape their fingers, elbows and knees on
the brickwork.
*On their first few experiences as a climbing boy, Master
Sweeps would scrape their knees and elbows with a wire brush
and brine to toughen them up.
*Often they had to be forced the chimney that was narrow, also
being still sore from other climbs. The master sweep sometimes
lit a fire in the fireplace to force them all the way to the top.
*They would have 1 day a year off- May day and would sleep on
bags full of soot. Some would only wash once a year, but others
once a week to go to Church on Sunday.
*If a boy got stuck, another boy was often sent up to prick
the boys feet, to get him moving, sometimes they both
became stuck and died.
*Chimney sweeps came to be seen as good luck and are still hired today
for weddings (I guess, lucky 'cause your house won't burn down)
Hence the words in the song 'Chim-Chiminey' from
'Mary Poppins'-
"good luck will rub off, when I shake 'ands with you"
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Cross-section of a seven flue stack in a four storey house with cellars.
An 1834 illustration from the 'Mechanics' Magazine, designed to show the contrast between mechanical sweeping and children sweeping chimneys.
* A- is a hearth served by vertical flue, a horizontal flue, and then a vertical rise having two right-angled bends that were difficult for brushes.
* B- is a long straight flue (14in by 9in) being climbed by a boy using back elbows and knees.
* C- is a short flue from a second floor hearth. The climbing boy has reached the chimney pot, which has a diameter too small for him to exit that way.
* E- shows a disaster. The climbing boy is stuck in the flue, his knees jammed against his chin.
* G- How a flue could be straightened to make it sweepable by mechanical means
* H- A dead climbing boy, suffocated in a fall of soot that accumulated at the cant of the flue
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimney_sweep
An 1834 illustration from the 'Mechanics' Magazine, designed to show the contrast between mechanical sweeping and children sweeping chimneys.
* A- is a hearth served by vertical flue, a horizontal flue, and then a vertical rise having two right-angled bends that were difficult for brushes.
* B- is a long straight flue (14in by 9in) being climbed by a boy using back elbows and knees.
* C- is a short flue from a second floor hearth. The climbing boy has reached the chimney pot, which has a diameter too small for him to exit that way.
* E- shows a disaster. The climbing boy is stuck in the flue, his knees jammed against his chin.
* G- How a flue could be straightened to make it sweepable by mechanical means
* H- A dead climbing boy, suffocated in a fall of soot that accumulated at the cant of the flue
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimney_sweep
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1871 Census & The Brewsters
What a life those poor children had. Chimney sweeps either used their own children, or hired, bought or snatched boys from poor families; only the most desperate families sold their children. The puzzling thing about George Brewster's story is that, why was he pushed around from one brother to another then finally sold?, when the 3 Brewster brothers- Bernard, William and John (no George) appear in the 1871 Census, as pupils at St. John's College in Sussex (which would've cost a bit of money) what happened there?
What a life those poor children had. Chimney sweeps either used their own children, or hired, bought or snatched boys from poor families; only the most desperate families sold their children. The puzzling thing about George Brewster's story is that, why was he pushed around from one brother to another then finally sold?, when the 3 Brewster brothers- Bernard, William and John (no George) appear in the 1871 Census, as pupils at St. John's College in Sussex (which would've cost a bit of money) what happened there?
THE BLACKNESS OF THE LITTLE SWEEP
http://dejavu.hypotheses.org/1538 |
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The Water Babies
'The Erosion of childhood' by Lionel Rose (not the boxer) is a fantastic book about child labour in Victorian times. Unfortunately, this is only a preview & not all pages are available. Luckily, the pages relating to climbing boys, can be read online.
https://books.google.com.au/book |
James Seaward Born in 1863 at Wokingham, Berkshire, became a climbing boy for whatever reason at an early age and the story is, that he climbed the chimneys for Rev. Charles Kingsley's (author of the Water Babies) at Eversley, Hampshire, and that James was the model for Tom in the above mentioned fairytale.
James Seaward was elected to Town Council of Wokingham in 1892, he became an alderman and remained so until just before he died in 1921. Read Online http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Charles_Kingsley/The_Water_Bab
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Fulbourn Hospital
THE STORY OF A MENTAL HOSPITAL: FULBOURN
The Lunacy Act 1845 and County Asylums Act 1845 mandated that all rate-levying authorities must provide a public asylum. In 1848 there was an agreement to set up a pauper lunatic asylum between Fulbourn and Cherry Hinton. On 30 September 1856 Admiral The Earl of Hardwicke, the Lord Lieutenant of the county and a member of the Visitors committee, laid the foundation stone and builder William Webster completed the construction. The asylum opened on 6 November 1858. (wiki) http://human-nature.com/free-associations Listen to these BBC audio tracks.
Chimney sweeps - Climbing boys http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/schoolradio Up the Chimneys: Dr Barnardo http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/schoolradio |
Dr. BARNARDO
Thomas John Barnardo was an Irish philanthropist and founder and director of homes for poor children. |
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Very interesting PDF file you can save.
This goes way back with individual incidents of climbing boys. http://emoglen.law.colu |
Other climbing boy true stories
Death of a Climbing Boy http://www.futilitycloset.com/2005/03/27/death-of-a-climbing-boy/ Britain's child slaves http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1312764/Britains-child-slaves ENGLAND'S CLIMBING-BOYS (61 pp.) George L. Phillips Baker Library, Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration-
To the Englishman of the 18th & 19th Centuries, who dearly loved his comforts, one of the most highly prized boons was a coal-burning fireplace in every room. Many fireplaces meant many flues and a nasty job cleaning them. But then, most Englishmen reflected, there were people who did that sort of thing. The people who did that sort of thing were children, some of them only four years old. |
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A lighthearted look at a very serious problem, showing a modern slant on how the Victorians viewed Children used in Cleaning Chimneys
Horrible Histories- Victorian Chimney Sweeps 4:26 |
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William Wyer wasn't the only Master Sweep in trouble for abusing Children
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The Chimney Sweeps Christmas
1. The icy wind, big snowflakes
fall everywhere in thick swirls; I, poor chimney sweep, I'm cold! Oh ! why did not I like all children, a coat that protects Instead rags light? 3. Odieu just powerful! am, O good father!
your little Christmas in passing on my roof do not forget to go the child who worships you and to contain all the toys, hope That the fire will be too narrow |
2. But bah! I laugh cold, because it is that same night the little Christmas comes to visit me,
And he will bring me the beautiful toys that I like; Also in the hearth off, I put, O great joy! My two shoes without hesitation. 4. Then the child fell asleep soon sweetest dream
the little sweep came lulled to sleep: the most beautiful toys succeeded without Truce! .. How many came too early awakening! |
5. Still amazed at what he saw in a dream
The little sweep short soon hoof. Alas! dream misleading, you were a lie! .. No toys! .. So, the grief that gnaws The fact burst into tears. |
6. And his pain is exhaled in a bitter complaint:
For other children, it is a day of happiness, I alone, abandoned, I cry, poor devil, will I be always the child of misery! Poor little chimney sweep! By Marcel Houjan |
A Chimney Sweep's Complaint
A chimney-sweeper's boy am I: Pity my wretched fate! Ah, turn your eyes; 'twoud draw a tear, Knew you my helpless state. Far from my home, no parents I Am ever doomed to see; My master, should I sue to him, He'd flog the skin from me. Ah, dearest madam, dearest sir, Have pity on my youth; Though black, and covered o'er with rags, I tell you naught but truth. My feeble limbs, benumbed with cold, Totter beneath the sack, Which ere the morning dawn appears Is loaded on my back. My legs you see are burnt and bruised, My feet are galled by stones, My flesh for lack of food is gone, I'm little else but bones. Yet still my master makes me work, Not spares me day or night; His 'prentice boy he says I am, And he will have his right. 'Up to the highest top', he cries, 'There all out, chimney-sweep!' With panting heart and weeping eyes, Trembling I upwards creep. But stop! no more -- I see him come; Kind sir, remember me! Oh, could I hide me underground, How thankful should I be! By MARY ALCOCK ca.1742-1798 |
Mary Alcock was the daughter of Dr. Denison Cumberland, an Englishman who became Bishop of Clonfert & of Kilmore. Her brother, Richard Cumberland (1732-1811), was a prolific dramatist, Mary published only two volumes of poetry, which showed her to be sensitive to the plight of the oppressed & also offended by the bigotry that she encountered in Ireland.
Her Niece affixed a biographical memoir of her, to the posthumous (1799) edition of her poetry, which has an enormous subscription list, including four members of the British Royal Family.
The Chimney Sweep's Complaint
https://ia600404.us.archive.org/35/items/chimneysweepers00hollgoog/chimneysweepers00hollgoog.pdf
Her Niece affixed a biographical memoir of her, to the posthumous (1799) edition of her poetry, which has an enormous subscription list, including four members of the British Royal Family.
The Chimney Sweep's Complaint
https://ia600404.us.archive.org/35/items/chimneysweepers00hollgoog/chimneysweepers00hollgoog.pdf
The First of May –
Chimney Sweeps’ Day
Chimney Sweeps’ Day
May Day used to be celebrated as a festival by chimney sweeps. Newspapers reported the carnival proceedings: ‘the ludicrous caperings of the sooty tribe, who fantastically attire themselves on such occasions, with their faces smeared with brick-dust, by way of paint, and with gilt and coloured paper ornaments in profusion’ (Sussex Advertiser 14 May 1827). For some years before her death in 1800, Mrs Elizabeth Montague entertained sweeps every May Day in the courtyard of her house in Portman Square in the west end of London. Roast beef and plum pudding were served, followed by merry dancing. Each guest was handed a shilling by the lady of the house as he left (Alnwick Mercury 6 May 1876)
The First of May – Chimney Sweeps’ Day
http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/untoldlives/2013/04/the-first-of-may-chimney-sweeps-day.html
http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/untoldlives/2013/04/the-first-of-may-chimney-sweeps-day.html