‘A Memoir of Robert Blincoe’ published in 1828 was influential in improving the working conditions of children in factories. It is also believed that Charles Dickens based his character Oliver Twist on Robert Blincoe. This book contains the original full 1828 text of the. A memoir of Robert Blincoe, an orphan boy sent from the workhouse of St. Pancras, London, at seven years of age, to endure the horrors of a cotton-mill, through his infancy and youth: with a minute detail of his sufferings, being the first memoir of the kind published / by: Brown, John, d. Robert Blincoe (c. 1792–1860) was an English author and former child labourer. Enfora lp driver download. He became famous during the 1830s for his popular autobiography, A Memoir of Robert Blincoe, an account of his childhood spent in a workhouse.
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Meanwhile, as soon as Blincoefound himself outside the hated walls, he set of again up Slack, a verysteep hill close to the mill, and made the best of his way to Litton ..
Much has been writtenabout the cruelty and poor workingconditions atLitton Mill in particular with reference to apprentice deaths. Much ofthe evidence against Litton Mill stems from the book 'A Memoir ofRobert Blincoe'. The book contains great detail of the punishment andsuffering Blincoe, and others, experienced whilst at Litton Mill. Forexample ..
'Palfrey, the Smith, had the task ofriveting irons upon any of the apprentices, whom the masters ordered,and those were much like the irons usually put upon felons. Even youngwomen, if suspected of intending to run away, had irons riveted ontheir ankles, and reaching by long links and rings up to the hips, andin these they were compelled to walk to and from the mill to work andto sleep. Blincoe asserts, he has known many girls served in thismanner. A handsome-looking girl, about the age of twenty years, whocame from the neighbourhood of Cromford, whose name was Phebe Rag,being driven to desperation by ill-treatment, took the opportunity, onedinner-time, when she was alone, and when she sup-posed no one saw her,to take off her shoes and throw herself into the dam, at the end of thebridge, next the apprentice house. Someone passing along, and seeing: apair of shoes, stopped. The poor girl had sunk once, and just as sherose above the water he seized her by the hair. Blincoe thinks it wasThomas Fox, the governor, who succeeded Milner, who rescued her. Shewas nearly gone, and it was with some difficulty her life was saved.When Mr. Needham heard of this, and being afraid the example might becontagious, he ordered James Durant [Note Durant was shown livingLittonslack in 1811 and 1813], a journeyman-spinner who had beenapprenticed there, to take her away to her relations at Cromford, andthus she escaped.'
The book may be truthful, but it has also received criticism as beingwritten primarily for the campaign for factory legislation.
Unsurprisingly Littonslack has connections with this suffering. JamesDurant (see above) lived at Littonslack. He had 2 children Mary andMargaret, born in 1811 and 1813 respectively. RobertWoodward (an overlooker at the mill) lived at Littonslack. He had 2children whilst living there, Robert and Mary in 1804 and 1807respectively. Robert Woodward was oneof the villains cited many times in the Blincoe Memoir ..
'Robert Woodward once kicked and beatRobert Blincoe, till his body was covered with wheals and bruises.Being tired, or desirous of affording his young master the luxury ofamusing himself on the same subject, he took Blincoe to thecounting-house, and accused him of wilfully spoiling his work. Withoutwaiting to hear what Blincoe, might to have to urge in his defence,young Needham eagerly looked about for a stick; not finding one athand, he sent Woodward to an adjacent coppice called the Twitchell, tocut a supply, and laughingly made Blincoe strip naked, and preparehimself for a good flanking.'
Also William Ma
ce, who lived at Littonslack, was buriedin 1811.Normally the register show basic information. However on this occasionthe registrar added a small comment . The entry read 'William Mace ofLitton Mill Slack; killed yesterday at Litton Cotton Mill'.The Memoir of Robert Blincoeis still available from secondhand bookshops (as it wasreprinted in 1977). Much of the book is available to read online viaGoogle Books in FactoryLives. Also available is The Real Oliver Twist whichreprints much of the book and argues that the Memoir was Dickens' basisfor TheAdventures of Oliver Twist.
Robert Blincoe died in December 1860. His grave, and what remains ofhis gravestone is at St Christopher's Church, Pott Shrigley, Cheshire.The inscription reads [AFFECTI]ONATE REMEMBRANCE OF ROBERT BLINCOE[..] MANCHESTER AGED 68. His wife and other members of the family areburied there. Click on the pictures below for higher resolutionversions.
December 2011 saw 2 books published about Robert Blincoe. Thefirst is a novel 'Blincoe's Progress', the second a factual book,'Robert Blincoe and the Cotton Trade.'
Blincoe's Progress byStuart Courtman
Parson Brown is the newly appointed local rector of Tideswell inDerbyshire. He is involved in a shady deal with the London workhousewardens, resulting in children, including Blincoe, being moved into hisparish. Blincoe is apprenticed to Ellis Needham, a friend of Brown’sand the owner of nearby Litton cotton mill.
Due to their immaturity, both Brown and Blincoe make mistakes, and theystruggle with the consequences. Eventually, they each fall in love withlocal girls. But can they have the ones they love, or will therepercussions of their mistakes prevent them realising their dreams?
This is the story of the harsh life surrounding the cotton industry; alife that proves to be difficult and complicated for apprentices,workers, mill owners, and even the local parson.
Stuart moved to the Peak District in 2002 to live in a hamletestablished in the eighteenth century industrial revolution. In 1865,the hamlet was described as “a small row of cottages, standing on ableak and wild looking moor-like prominence, as if the buildings hadbeen lifted out of the adjoining valley to look about them.” Thatvalley is dominated by Litton and Cressbrook cotton mills and Stuartwas drawn into the fascinating history of the area. The research threwup many interesting facts but also left unanswered questions.
Stuart’s first novel Blincoe’s Progress fills those gaps with a fictionset in the eighteenth century centred around local characters,including: Molly Baker, Landlady of the Red Lion at Litton; EllisNeedham, owner of Litton cotton mill; William Newton, manager ofCressbrook mill, Parson Brown and his maid, who live in the vicarage atTideswell, Woodward, the brutal overlooker from Litton mill, and manyill-treated apprentices and mill workers.
Robert Blincoe and theCotton Trade byStuart Courtman
‘A Memoir of Robert Blincoe’ published in 1828 wasinfluential in improving the working conditions of children infactories. It is also believed that Charles Dickens based his characterOliver Twist on Robert Blincoe. This book contains the original full1828 text of the memoir and historical notes by Stuart Courtman.
The historical notes explore the influences that led to the developmentof mechanised cotton production and discuss the political and economicchanges that shaped the industry. There is examination of the treatmentof children in workhouses and mills, and discussion of how the relativeconditions at Litton and Cressbrook mills have been perceived over thecenturies. There are notes on the wider global forces that contributedto the anti-slavery movements and the demise of cotton manufacturing inIndia. There are chapters which account for the historical agency ofindividuals such as Ellis Needham, owner of Litton mill, WilliamNewton, manager of nearby Cressbrook mill and Parson Brown, the localTideswell vicar.
The text of the memoir has been reproduced, unchanged from the 1828publication. Spellings are retained with some archaic spelling ofwords, possibly some misspellings and many inconsistencies of spelling.Similarly the punctuation has been reproduced from this version; againwith its oddities. No attempt has been made to modernise the words orlanguage.
It is hoped that the notes here will enhance the reading of both the1828 memoir, and the novel, Blincoe’s Progress.
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Each book retails at £8.99. Formore information CLICK HERE