Lord Shaftesbury
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Humanitarian & Peace • Historical Archive • 🇬🇧 Great Britain • 2 views

Lord Shaftesbury 🇬🇧

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury
["Philanthropist", "Reformer", "Leader of the Ten Hours Movement"]
Born Apr 28, 1801 🇬🇧 London, Great Britain
Passed Away Oct 01, 1885 Folkestone (Kent), United Kingdom
Lifespan 84 years old
2 views
Notice / Correction
"What is morally wrong can never be politically or commercially right."

Archival Overview

Foremost British social reformer of the Victorian era who dedicated fifty years in Parliament to abolishing child labor in coal mines and factories, passing the Ten Hours Act, and establishing Ragged Schools for destitute children.

Biographical Record

Anthony Ashley-Cooper (1801–1885) entered Parliament in 1826 driven by an intense evangelical social conscience. Investigating the horrific conditions of the Industrial Revolution, he led the parliamentary crusade against child chimney sweeps, factory sweatshops, and women pulling coal carts on all fours underground.

Shaftesbury secured the Mines Act of 1842 (banning women and children under ten from working underground) and the landmark Factory Act of 1847 (Ten Hours Act). As president of the Ragged School Union, he established over 150 free schools educating 300,000 homeless children; London's Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain (Eros) at Piccadilly Circus honors his compassion.

Key Life Milestones

1842

Passage of the Mines Act

Outlawed the employment of women and young children in subterranean coal mines across the United Kingdom.

1847

Passage of the Ten Hours Act

Capped industrial working hours for women and young people at ten hours daily, transforming Victorian labor.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial
St Giles Churchyard
Wimborne St Giles (Dorset), United Kingdom
GPS: 50.9069, -1.9564
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