In 1840 Parliament set up the Children’s Employment Commission. The aim of the Commission was to investigate the working conditions of children under the age of 18. The first report included the commission’s findings on the state of child employment in mines, the second in other industries, and the third in factories. The commission was set up by Lord Ashley, Earl of Shaftesbury. He also campaigned for improved conditions and education for children working in factories and for the banning of chimney sweeps. 

The commission employed inspectors who were responsible for a region of the country. The inspectors gave out forms for owners to fill in about their employees (see Wylam Colliery form), but also talked to children and other adults involved in the industry. For example, the “surgeon” or doctor in Seaton Sluice was interviewed when the inspector went to Hartley Bottle Works. 

Hartley Bottle Works was opened in 1763 by the Delaval family. The Delavals invested in the industries around Seaton Sluice, including the colliery, salt pans and the bottle works. Their industries all depended on the harbour at Seaton Sluice for shipping that could then transport the goods and materials. The harbour was created in 1764 by the Delaval family by cutting through solid rock. 

The Bottle Works was sometimes referred to as “The City” because it was self-contained. It included a marketplace, brewery, and granary, while its workers lived in housing built by the Delavals. There was even a company doctor who was paid for from “deductions” from the workers’ wages – the money was taken out of their pay before they received it.  

It has been said that no man could earn money at Seaton Sluice and spend it elsewhere. This might be because they had everything that they needed where they worked and lived, or it might have been that they couldn’t spend their “money” elsewhere. In the late eighteenth century, some industrialists took advantage of a shortage of coinage in the country. Rather than paying their workers in legal coinage, they used their own tokens. These tokens could only be used in local shops, which were often owned by the factory owners.

Arch – oven heated to a high temperature. Semi-finished bottles put here for “annealing” – they are allowed to cool slowly in a uniform way so that they don’t shatter  

Hole – in the furnace. Pipes are placed in the holes to heat and remove molten glass 

Journey – the contents of one furnace. Usually 10-15 hours work to process 

Metal – molten glass 

Pipe – long metal pipe used to get molten glass from furnace 

Putter-up – boy who assists the men who work the glass into their finished shapes