Owen, Robert

Owen, Robert (1771-1858), social reformer, b. Newtown, Montgomeryshire, Wales.

Robert Owen was the son of a saddler.

He started work at the age of nine and later went to Manchester to work in a cotton mill.

As a young man, he was made manager of the mill and he later became part-owner of this and other mills.

In 1799, he married the daughter of a rich mill owner of New Lanark, near Glasgow, and he settled in New Lanark to run cotton mills there.

For some time Owen had been concerned about the way workers in cotton mills lived and worked. At New Lanark he tried to make conditions better for them. He would not allow children under ten to work in his mills and he cut down the working day to lO hours.

He built an attractive village for the workers to live in and he opened a store charging fair prices for reliable goods.

He started schools for the children and one of his rules was that no child should be beaten by the teachers. At this time, beating in schools was a common practice.

New Lanark soon became famous and Owen wrote a book, A New View Of Society. He wanted other people to copy his ideas.

One result of his work was the Factory Act of 1819. This cut down the number of hours children were allowed to work in mills.

In later life, he became interested in the idea of workers sharing in the profits of industries and started a trade union.