YORK scientists have helped uncover a forgotten story of child labour after excavating a North Yorkshire graveyard.

A team from the University of York in collaboration with the Durham University and volunteer researchers at Washburn Heritage Centre, examined human remains from a rural churchyard cemetery in the village of Fewston, near Harrogate.

Their analysis discovered the skeletal remains of more than 150 people, including an unusually large proportion of children aged between eight and 20 years.


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It led to the first direct evidence of the lives of early nineteenth-century ‘pauper apprentices’ after early analysis immediately identified the children as being distinctive from the locals, showing signs of stunted growth and malnutrition, as well as evidence of diseases associated with hazardous labour.

The team of scientists, working together with local historians, have been able to piece together the story of these forgotten children, transported from workhouses in London and indentured to work long hours in the mills of the North of England. They were used as an expendable and cheap source of labour.

The scientific analysis combined many different approaches and provides a direct and compelling testimony of the impact of poverty and factory labour on children’s growth, health and mortality in the past.

Professor Michelle Alexander, from the department of archaeology at the University of York, who was a senior author of the study, said: “We undertook chemical analysis of the bones to study diet and found that the apprentices had a lack of animal protein in the diet compared to the locals, more on a level with the victims of the Great Irish Famine.”

Examination of the bones and teeth also highlighted the large numbers of pathologies, including tuberculosis and respiratory disease associated with millwork, diseases of deprivation, such as rickets, and the delayed growth of the children.

York Press: One of the team of scientists analysing hair under the microscopeOne of the team of scientists analysing hair under the microscope (Image: University of York)

The remains have now been reburied in a ceremony that involved contributions from the local community, volunteer researchers, scientists and descendants of those excavated.

Sally Robinson from the Washburn Heritage Centre, Yorkshire, who led the team of local volunteers said: “It's easy to forget that the Washburn valley had an industrial past given the beauty of the reservoirs that visitors see today.

“It was important to us to find out about the children who worked in the mills. They were overlooked in life and treated as a commodity - but we hope we have done them some justice by telling their stories and creating a lasting commemoration.”

Artwork inspired by the analysis and an exhibition are now on permanent display at the Washburn Heritage Centre.

Malin Holst, from the University of York’s department of archaeology, said: "We worked closely with the Fewston community and descendants of the dead from the initial excavation.

“We researched the named individuals in depth and obtained photos, birth and death certificates, psychiatric records and personal diaries.

“This, together with our scientific research provided an insight into the daily lives of this cemetery population - the stone masons, farmers, housewives, labourers and the pauper apprentices who worked in the mills.”

The research was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.