BEING A CHILD IN THE 1800s

Childhood today is very different from what it was a century or more ago. Back in the 1800s, children at the age of 6 or 8 might work in a mill or factory, they might make deliveries for a store keeper or they could work as a servant. Many children worked on farms with the grown-ups. Their work day started before the sun came up and boys' would cut or carry firewood for the stove or fireplace, take care of the farm animals, carry water to the house, repair the fences, work in the gardens or fields and hunt or fish to get food for the family. Girls would cook, milk the cows or goats, collect eggs, make butter, bread and cheese, clean, do the laundry, make candles, sew clothes for the family, care for younger brothers and sisters and help elderly family members.