“The Society for Superseding the Necessity of Climbing Boys” makes more sense if you remember to put the emphasis on climbing, not on boys.
In 19th century Britain, chimney sweeping was a vital service; without it the country would have ground to a halt, industrially and domestically. But the only way it could be done thoroughly was by sending small children up the chimneys with brushes to dislodge the soot and put out fires. Six-year-olds were considered ideal – strong enough to do the job, but still small enough to fit through the twists and turns – though “climbing boys” as young as four were sometimes used.
It was a trade every bit as dangerous as it sounds. Many children died or were disabled through accidents, falls, cancer and other diseases, or, most horrible of all, getting stuck. Plenty of people opposed the use of climbing boys for humanitarian reasons, but the problem was that they couldn’t suggest a reasonable alternative. The technology to clean chimneys without using children just didn’t exist.
In 1802 the Society for Arts offered a prize for the invention of a mechanical means of chimney sweeping that would make climbing boys unnecessary. It wasn’t until 1828 that the leading pressure group in the field, the Society for Superseding the Necessity of Climbing Boys, found one it felt able to adopt.
The new system was invented by Joseph Glass (born 1792), a former bricklayer who was by then the reform-minded owner of a London chimney sweeping business. What made it different from all previous attempts was that the brilliant Glass had devised a way of connecting flexible rods to each other which could be inserted into a fireplace and carry the brushes through the bends of the chimney, without getting jammed, all the way to the sky. It’s a method we’re still familiar with today.
Crucially, the philanthropic Glass refused to patent his invention, meaning that anyone could copy it and manufacture it. The reforming Home Secretary, Robert Peel, made the Glass design compulsory throughout government-owned buildings, and it quickly caught on.
Not all sweep masters were ready to adopt the new tech, though; paying a skilled adult to operate machinery – not to mention the initial capital outlay – was a lot more expensive than using children, who received no wages as they were technically apprentices.
But at least now it was realistic to campaign for total abolition of climbing boys without being stumped by the inevitable question “What are we supposed to do instead?” Even so, it wasn’t until 1875 that legislation which was both comprehensive and enforceable finally put an end to the practice.
Joseph Glass had spent the rest of his life working to liberate the climbing boys, giving evidence to parliamentary inquiries and taking out private prosecutions of master sweeps who ignored safety laws. He died on 29th December 1867, admired by the nation but with final victory still several years away.
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Sources:
Dirty old London by Lee Jackson (Yale UP, 2014)
www.thersa.org/fellowship/news/rsa-history-premiums-for-chimney-brushes