Synopsis

Using animation and actual recorded testimony, historian Jane Humphries tells the story of the child workers whose exploitation was key to the success of the Industrial Revolution.

Further Information

More resources about The Industrial Revolution

Why the Industrial Revolution Happened Here

BBC HD | 2013 | 57'55''

Professor Jeremy Black explains the unique economic, social and political factors that helped Britain transform itself almost ent...

S2E3: The Worst Industrial Jobs in History | The Worst Jobs In History

Channel 4 | 2006 | 48'51''

Among the Worst Industrial Jobs in History are: Bridge builders, Canal leggers, bone cleaner to make b...

2: Crime and Punishment | History File

BBC Two | 2000 | 18'51''

Compilation of secondary schools programme on British History 1750-1900. Looks at how industrialisation changed the day-to-day lives o...

6: 1900-1909 - Britain at its peak? | History File

BBC Two | 2000 | 23'35''

Compilation of secondary schools programme on British History 1750-1900. Looks at how industrialisation changed the day-to...

7: Age of Industry | Andrew Marr's History of the World

BBC One | 2012 | 59'14''

In this episode, Andrew Marr tells how Britain's Industrial Revolution created the modern world.

3: Health and Housing | History File

BBC Two | 2000 | 19'01''

Compilation of secondary schools programme on British History 1750-1900. Looks at how industrialisation changed the day-to-day lives of ...

1: Migration and Emigration | History File

BBC Two | 2000 | 18'54''

Compilation of secondary schools programme on British History 1750-1900. Looks at how industrialisation changed the day-to-day liv...

Full Steam Ahead

BBC Two | 2016 | 59'13''

Historians Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn explore how the introduction of steam railways in the early 19th century changed Britain.

Episode 4 | Full Steam Ahead

BBC Two | 2016 | 59'17''

Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn help get the most famous locomotive in the world, the Flying Scotsman, into steam.

S01E01: Victorian | Turn Back Time

BBC One | 2010 | 59'05''

A group of modern shopkeepers and their families live and trade through six key eras of history. They begin their journey in the 1870s, wh...

5: Henry VIII to the Industrial Revolution | Michael Wood's Story of England

BBC Four | 2010 | 59'05''

A portrait of one village through the whole of English history sees 17th-century dissenters, an ...

Canals | Learning Zone

BBC Two | 2013 | 3'40''

In the 1770s canals linked the country, carrying goods cheaply and efficiently. Without them it is hard to see how the Industrial Revolution could hav...

Episode 5 | Full Steam Ahead

BBC Two | 2016 | 59'07''

The team visit the South Devon Railway to explore the life of the branch line before the Beeching cuts of the 60s.

Episode 6 | Full Steam Ahead

BBC Two | 2016 | 59'07''

The team find out how more leisure time and cheap rail transport meant more freedom for working-class Victorians.

Industry and factories | Learning Zone

BBC Two | 2013 | 3'49''

Today we take factories for granted but in the 1700s they represented a completely new way of working. Until this time most work was d...

Knowledge | Learning Zone

BBC Two | 2013 | 2'25''

A key factor in the Industrial Revolution was knowledge. Britain's political system encouraged scientific thought and freedom to try out scientific...