Items related to The Quarry Bank Runaways: The Journey to London of...
The Quarry Bank Runaways: The Journey to London of Thomas Priestley & Joseph Sefton in 1806 (Quarry Bank Tales) - Softcover
In the early 19th century, when it was the policy of many of the poorhouses and workhouses to deter paupers from applying by making the conditions inside harsh and unpleasant, two boys set out on a journey to Hackney Workhouse in London. Their starting point was in the pleasant Cheshire countryside, where they were apprenticed to the cotton mill built by Samuel Greg in 1784. Children as young as 9 would be employed there, as scavengers, piecers, mule doffers or can tenters. These jobs could be just as unpleasant and difficult for a poor child as those we may have heard of, such as chimney sweeps and match girls.Quarry Bank Mill was some 200 miles north of London and the boys had to sneak out unnoticed and then attempt to walk all the way. It was likely that these enterprising travellers took advantage of the drovers’ roads and the newly developed “motorways” of the times – the canals. Perhaps they were lucky enough some days to hitch a lift; their general direction of travel taking them to Beartown, the Potteries, Dunstable Downs and eventually to London. Whatever challenges they encountered along the way archive evidence shows that they made it.Runaway apprentices had become a problem for society during the years of the Industrial Revolution – so what had prompted Thomas and Joseph to do such a hazardous thing? What happened to them on their long journey? Did they receive any help? Or were they chased relentlessly wherever they ran, since what they were doing was illegal in the eyes of the authorities?This is the story of their adventure and it concludes with the events in the Middlesex courthouse, known then as the Old Sessions.
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About the Author:
G J Griffiths is a UK baby-boomer who worked in the Photographic industry before becoming a Science teacher. When not reading science or history, walking in the countryside, or birdwatching, he enjoys being a grandad. Having retired he thought he would like to write a novel, which later became eight books in three different genres. G J Griffiths has now completed three novels in the “So What! Stories” series of books. He attempts to write each novel in a series so that each may be read as a stand-alone book, but with characters from previous books re-appearing to intrigue the reader in a new plot. His children’s Sci-fi books, Ants In Space and They're Recycling Aliens, are illustrated adventure stories. These new and exciting books are attracting much younger fans keen on exciting extra-terrestrial tales. His historical novels are based around real-life 19th century events when two boy apprentices ran away from a cotton mill in order to see their mothers. They who were in a paupers’ workhouse, some 200 miles away in London. The next novel is about the boys in later life when, as adults, their ambitions are confronted by the realities of events taking place during 19th century Britain.
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- PublisherCreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
- Publication date2017
- ISBN 10 1543241360
- ISBN 13 9781543241365
- BindingPaperback
- Edition number1
- Number of pages196
- Rating
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