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Lesson 5

3. MATCH GIRLS

Vacancies exist in London's East End for match girls – the heroines of unskilled labour.
Working 12-hour shifts without anywhere to sit, you'll stand by your bench and process
matches. From cutting the sticks to dipping the ends, the mind-numbing boredom of such a
job is only fit for those with the liveliest of imaginations, needed just to stay sane. A couple

of shillings a week will be all you'll earn, but you may also get a slap from the foreman if you
don't behave.

Eating is permitted on the production line, but poisoning from white phosphorus is highly
likely. There is enough of this deadly chemical in one pack of matches to kill a person, and

exposure to phosphorus vapour can lead to 'phossy-jaw', in which the jawbones actually rot
away. The only answer is disfiguring surgery or an early death.

Although this is a job of great misery and little hope, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

The new union movement is sympathetic to your plight, and you never know: an improvement
in conditions could be just around the corner.

4. HURRIER

This is one of the toughest jobs for anybody, let alone a child, to

carry out. Hurriers are all about six to eight years old. You'll be
equipped with a wide leather 'gurl' belt with a swivel chain
attached. After harnessing yourself into this, you'll attach the
free end of the chain to a sled. Then, for over a mile

underground, you'll make your way through the small tight passages of the mine, so small
that you can't stand up.

Once you reach the coal face, you'll have to fend for yourself among the adult miners as

these tough men load your sled with chunks and slabs of coal. Then you'll have to scrabble
and crawl back to the surface pulling your load. This must be completed many times during a
12-hour shift. If you're lucky, you might get an even younger child to act as your 'thruster'
and shove the sled from behind.

Danger waits around every corner in this sorry and thankless job.

Which of these jobs still exist today? (Circle those which still exist.)
Coal Miner Chimney Sweep
School Teacher Washer woman

Train Driver Street Seller
Factory Worker Nann
Governess Butler

www.channel4.com/history/microsites/W/worstjobs/victorian1.html

(Victorians) 39