INVENTIONS
This 1733 invention by John Kay greatly improved weaving speed by allowing the shuttle to travel across the loom mechanically rather than by hand.
What is the flying shuttle?
The world's first intercity railway, connecting Manchester and Liverpool, opened in this year, carrying over 400,000 passengers in year one.
What is 1830?
The 1847 Factory Act is commonly known by this name, reflecting its key protection for women workers in textile mills.
What is the Ten Hours Act?
Seen as the founder of the modern factory system, this inventor-entrepreneur built the first cotton mill at Cromford, Derbyshire in 1771 and employed over 200 workers.
Who is Richard Arkwright?
In 1819, cavalry charged a crowd of over 60,000 peaceful protesters at St Peter's Fields, Manchester, killing 11. This event was sarcastically named after a famous battle.
What is the Peterloo Massacre?
James Hargreaves named this 1765 spinning device after a person, it could initially do the work of eight spinners, later rising to 120
What is the spinning jenny?
The Great Reform Act, which gave new industrial towns their first MPs and extended the vote to middle-class men, was passed in this year.
What is 1832?
This 1834 act abolished outdoor relief and made the workhouse, sarcastically nicknamed "Bastilles", the only source of state welfare.
What is the New Poor Law (Poor Law Amendment Act)?
This Birmingham entrepreneur and manufacturer partnered with James Watt to commercialize the steam engine, their firm became the most important engineering company in Britain by 1800.
Who is Matthew Boulton?
The Luddite movement of 1811–1816 saw workers smash machines in mills across the north and Midlands. These workers had previously made textiles by hand in this setting.
What is the home (cottage / domestic industry)?
This engineer built the first modern canal in Britain in 1761, using aqueducts, tunnels and locks to carry coal from Worsley to Manchester along a 14 km route.
Who is James Brindley?
Thomas Newcomen invented his atmospheric steam engine, designed to pump water out of mines, in this year.
What is 1712?
Passed in 1799, this act made trade union membership a criminal offence, on the grounds that workers' combinations were dangerous conspiracies.
What is the Combination Act?
This self-educated colliery engineer built the Stockton-to-Darlington railway in 1825 and the Liverpool-to-Manchester line in 1830.
Who is George Stephenson?
The People's Charter of 1838 demanded six political reforms. This one, that all men should be entitled to vote, was the most fundamental.
What is universal male suffrage?
James Watt's key improvement over Newcomen's steam engine was this addition, which kept the cylinder hot at all times and made the engine far more efficient.
What is the separate condenser?
Between 1750 and this year, more than seven million acres of British farmland were enclosed, transforming agricultural output.
What is 1800?
The landmark 1833 Factory Act created this many government inspectors, the first time the state could actively enforce labour protection laws.
What is four?
This lawyer-turned-reformer compiled the 1842 Royal Commission report on sanitary conditions and was instrumental in both the New Poor Law and the Public Health Act.
Who is Edwin Chadwick?
The 1830–31 rural riots were attributed to this mythical figure, whose name appeared on threatening letters sent to landowners across southern England.
Who is Captain Swing?
Eli Whitney's cotton gin, invented in the United States, made this process, previously done painstakingly by hand, mechanical, dramatically increasing the supply of cheap raw cotton available to British mills.
What is separating cotton fibers from their seeds?
Abraham Darby's breakthrough use of coke rather than charcoal to smelt iron ore took place in this year at Coalbrookdale, Shropshire.
What is 1709?
This 1815 legislation, passed by the aristocracy-dominated parliament, kept bread prices artificially high by preventing the import of cheap foreign grain.
What are the Corn Laws?
This socialist mill owner at New Lanark, Scotland introduced an eight-hour working day, provided education for child workers, and inspired the Grand National Consolidated Trade Union of 1834.
Who is Robert Owen?
Chartist activity peaked in three bursts, 1839, 1842 and 1848, each coinciding with this common economic trigger rather than any single political event.
What is high food prices / unemployment (economic hardship)?