Genealogy Chat

Does anyone know if there was ever any compensation for cotton mill accidents? Or any sort of register of accidents? I have a relative who was a cotton mill weaver in 1881 ( aged 18), in 1891 she was listed as 'living on interest on money', in 1891 she was a draper/dressmaker-working from home. By this time she was 38- the only child at home with her parents and i have never found a marriage for her, although i have found a possible death in the same name. Both her parents were still alive when she was listed as 'living on interest'- so i cant see it was a form of inheritance. I have a rather vivid imagination- so i wonder if she was disfigured in a cotton mill accident, was paid compensation which she lived off for a while until she found work from home,perhaps she never left her parents or married if she was disfigured in some way. Am i away with the fairys on this one?

How very interesting, Nicola. Sorry I have no suggestions to offer but I think your theory sounds very plausible. Margaret

Hiya, this is an interesting thread, I wondered what her parents work was, could the daughter have been living on some sort of trust fund that they or a relation had setup, have you looked at the Wills section on the PRO web site, just a thought.....Lilly ps I wouldn't have thought the Mills had any sort of Accidents/Compensation pay out....try googling, that might give you an idea...

Her father was a slater- on the 61/71/81 census- then on the 91 census he is registered as 'living on own means' so perhaps there was some money saved up or inherited. I checked the census details for all her siblings- none of them were ever unemployed ( except those looking after the children at home)or 'living by own means/on interest. I wouldve thought if there was some inheritance or allowance all the kids wouldve got some. then again- the other siblings all married/had kids- so they may have needed to top up any income by working. As for mill compensation- i tried googling it but it only comes up with recent cases for payment awards for people who worked in the mills more recently. I know coal mines paid out for accidents resulting in death, but i dont know about injury- i just wondered if the same applied to cotton mills.

Hi My Grandmother was born in 1894 and she worked in the Cotton Mills in Halifax. When she was eighteen her hair caught in the machinery and she was scalped. She spent the next two years in the Infirmary, having skin grafts, and she got next to nothing by way of compensation. She did recover and went on to get married and have a family, although she always had a shiny forehead and no eyebrows! She also had to arrange her hair in a certain fashion as the accident and subsequent grafts left her with no hair on half of her head. So I suspect your ancestor may have had an income from another source, maybe a small inheritence of some kind. Hope this helps Louise

Thanks Louise, ive read some terrible things about cotton mills recently. I dont think there was such a thing as 'Health and safety'. The only cotton mill stories ive had first hand are from people who worked in them in the 1950's/60's and it sounds terrible even then.

Interesting.... Type into google 'an english family history' with quotation marks and one result comes up. Too long a link to post! One paragraph caught my attention.... 'Warning signs nailed to the walls told workers that they would receive no compensation for injuries. Mill owners blamed terrible accidents on workers’ carelessness, and refused to fence off the sharp, moving parts of machines. Workers severed fingers, or were ‘scalped’, when their hair became entangled. The moving parts of machines glowed red hot. Many workers suffered burns, and a number of mills were burnt to the ground by sparks' Chris

Even those who escaped serious injury were left with the long term problems of deafness and lung problems. My Nan started in the mills at 12/13 and left when she was 18 to have my mum- even after only 5/6 years she was almost deaf in both ears. One thing she learned in the mill was how to lip read- talking over the machinery was impossible. So we could never say anything'under our breath' without getting caught out. That got us into trouble a few times- and my grandad wouldnt dare mutter a bad word. Another legacy of the mill- My Nan only drinks cold cups of Tea- she says if you were lucky enough to get a brew it was always stone cold by the time you got to have it. Now she brews tea and leaves it to chill.At least she hasnt developed the habit of adding the fluff that used to collect on the top of it thoguh!

My Auntie Annie lost a finger to the middle knuckle of her ring finger left hand. I remember her telling me how she sat with her hand on her lap and they put a bucket under her skirt to catch the dripping blood I know she got no compensation. This was early in the last centuary.When I was small I was fasinated when she knitted gloves and knitted a small finger! Patricia