Scared Straight

Child Labor in Cotton Mill

It is hard to imagine what it was like to be a child in Victorian England. We live in a time where it is the norm for children to be fed, educated and nurtured until they are adults. 

When Alfred Bradley Jr. was born in 1852 in a small village called Burnlee in West Yorkshire England this was not the case. Most children worked 12-16  hour days either on the family farm, in factories, as chimney sweeps or in mines. They were given jobs that adults couldn't do because of their larger size. Children could easily fit down chimney's, or between looms in factories to repair broken thread. They were paid next to nothing for their labor, given meager amounts of food to eat and often beaten when they fell asleep from exhaustion.

How are we related to Alfred Bradley  (1852-1900)

Alfred Jr.  was the youngest child of Alfred Bradley Sr. and Amelia Crow. He was born September 4, 1854  in the small village of Burnlee,West Yorkshire, England

Children born to Alfred Bradley and Amelia Crow:

• Henry Bradley 1842
• Sam Bradley 1844
• Emma Bradley 1846
• Ann Bradley 1848
• Grace Bradley 1850
• Alfred Bradley Jr. 1852

Alfred Sr. was a wool sorter. A wool sorter was a farm hand who would sort sheep's wool into coarse and fine grades for the mills to spin.  Alfred Sr. did not live a long life. He died at 36 years of age from kidney disease and is buried in St. John's Church.

Burnlee, Kirklees, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, Photo by Richard Harvey 

St John's Church - Upperthong Lane, near to Holmfirth, Kirklees, England

Photo by Betty Longbottom, 

Sometime after Alfred Sr. died in 1857 the family moved to the neighboring village of Almondbury . I found the family in the 1861 Census. The census is remarkable because the two youngest children , Grace age 10 and Alfred age 8 are listed as scholars. Only the two oldest children ; Emma (15 year old)  and Ann ( 13 year old ) are working as "piecer's". The job of a "piecer" was to repair broken thread in the looms. You had to be nimble and quick for this work or else your hands would be crushed by moving parts. Mother Amelia was working as a "Wool Burler" removing knots, burrs and other objects from the wool.

Three years later 11 year old Alfred Bradley Jr. was arrested for stealing from his family.

Alfred Bradley(1864)

The Leeds Mercury

Newspaper Article

 

Transcription:

"Sent To A Reformatory- 

Yesterday, a boy eleven years of age, named Alfred Bradley, of Almondbury, was charged at the Police-court, Huddersfield, with stealing 2s. belonging to his grandfather, Arlon Crow. The old man, who was greatly affected when he appeared in the witness-box, resides with his daughter, the mother of the prisoner, who is a widow with three children, the prisoner being the youngest. On Tuesday night some money was taken out of the old man's pocket whilst he slept, and on Wednesday, the prisoner showed Police -Constable Wilson, who had been sent for to take him to prison, where he had hid the 2s.which he had taken. He had placed it on the top of a beam in the kitchen. The boy's mother stated that he had robbed her and his grandfather on previous occasions, and she wished him to be sent to a reformatory for a year or so. The Bench decided on sending him to Wakefield House of Correction for a month, and then to a reformatory for five years, and they made an order for his mother to pay 1s.per week towards his maintenance."

Wakefield Prison

Originally built as a house of correction in 1594

Alfred Bradley was in inmate from

September to October 1864 

 It is hard to imagine how a mother and a grandfather could send a young 11 year old child to a reformatory.  To turn to the court system for help shows a good bit of desperation. The family must of been worried about the direction young Alfred Jr was headed. What would happen to him if he kept on with a life of crime? Long prison sentences, hard labor or deportation to a penal colony?

 The grandfather Arlum Crow was very upset during the trial. I'm sure the family hoped that a short time in a reformatory would scare Alfred Jr straight! Unfortunately, the courts opted for a much longer sentence of 5 years!

Evidently Alfred harbored no ill will towards his family and after he served his time in the Reformatory, he returned home. Sadly, while he was in the Reformatory his grandfather Arlum Crow died .  His mother Amelia Bradley and sisters Ann and Grace and Ann's husband Allen Schofield continued to  live in Almondbury and  were employed by the mill. Maybe hoping for a fresh start the family immigrated to Providence, Rhode Island in October of 1871 on the ship "Calabria".

"Calabria"

 Some time in 1875 Alfred met and married Mary Emelie Brown. After they were married the couple lived with Mary's parents Samuel and Roseanne Brown in Providence. Interestingly, Alfred's occupation is listed as Gardener. I guess he had enough of the mill life.

Alfred and Mary Bradley went on to have 7 children:

• Sarah Amelia 1880
• Alice Lillian 1878
• Charles Henry 1881
• George Washington 1885
• Harry 1887
• Samuel B. 1889
• Allen Edward  1897

* Allen Edward Bradley was born when his father Alfred was 45 years old and his mother Mary was 41 years old. *

Alfred Bradley Jr. only lived for three more years after his youngest son Allen was born. He died July 1, 1900 at the  age of 47 from gastritis and malaria. His occupation was listed as "Weaver"  so evidently he returned to the life of  a mill worker to support his family. 

He is buried in North Burial Ground, Providence, RI.

Gravestone of Alfred Bradley (1852-1900)

Birth Certificate of Alfred Bradley Jr. 4 September 1852