When it comes to the Industrial Revolution, all the famous figures in the history books seem to be from the higher classes – engineers, entrepreneurs and social reformers. Are there any famous workers though, or a least well-documented studies of a worker’s life?
I’m working on a podcast about the history of the eight-hour work day right now, and stumbled upon Robert Owen, who coined the “eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest” slogan. But he was an entrepreneur too. I’d like to start my podcast with a detailed description of a typical day of a real person from the working class during that time. Their working hours, working conditions, living and health situation – someone who’s life would be tremendously improved by an eight-hour work day. Do you have any idea how to find something like this?
How are you planning on periodizing the IR? It's hard to pin down, especially the upper bound. Also, where in the world? Working conditions often depended on labor policies (and sometimes mandatory education policies in the US when talking about child labor). So how the IR played out in Bajio, Mexico in 1840 was different from the Northern US and definitely different from India (where their own IR was limited to what the British EIC and then the Raj allowed).