One of the best movies ever made was "Mary Poppins." Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews were the main characters in the show, and I remember going with my siblings and parents to see the show years ago.
Do you remember the part when Van Dyke is dancing on the rooftops with the other chimney sweeps? I remember seeing a smattering of smokestacks and chimneys with billowing black smoke pluming into the sky all over London.
In reality, I wonder if the sky ever went completely black from all the smoke.
The chimney sweep was in high demand in those days, mostly in the residential areas where the people lived, near or in the cities. Their objective was to find soot in the chimneys and clean it out. Some chimney sweeps had small children go into the chimneys and attempt to clean out chimney flues. Some children died in the process because they caught fire, others fell or got caught in the chimney flue and could not get out, or could not breathe. Eventually, the Parliament in Britain passed laws which outlawed the use of children doing this very dangerous work. Whether or not any chimney sweeps ever danced on roofs remains to be accounted for.
Laborers in the factories worked very long hours and under some of the most difficult and unhealthy circumstances. By today’s standards, the workers were underpaid, overworked and put in jeopardy many times for their safety and health.
Of course, London was not the only city in England that saw this type of environmental enigma. There were other big cities such as Birmingham and Newcastle in north England, not to mention all the other cities throughout Europe. As the revolution expanded, larger cities in Germany began to experience the same thing.
Back in Britain, household fireplaces were burning coal for heat. There was black billowing smoke coming out of chimneys of homes as well as smokestacks from the factories. Soot became a major by-product of the burning coal. It went everywhere because most people were burning it.
Coal was a major fuel resource being mined out of Wales and Scotland. Sometimes, coal was sent all around Britain on ships to port cities which then delivered to factories as well as homes that bought it for use. Mostly coal was transported from the yards by train to some for the factories which were inland. The coal was sold to homes from carts with "criers" walking down the street announcing their prices for people to buy.
As for textile mills, burning coal is what kept the steam engines running. Many factories used the newly designed and developed steam engines by burning the coal to power up their machines which mass-produced articles such as clothing and other things. This was done to keep up with the demand of the ever-growing population in those days.
One major characteristic about the Industrial Revolution, is it was a time where many jobs and occupations were located in and around the big cities. Many families migrated from the country areas of Britain to the cities for employment. Some of these country folk were farmers or "agricultural laborers."
Some gardens were dwindling and were taken over by the newly established factories. Others "fell by the wayside," as some landowners and landholders sought and found greater employment opportunities near and in the cities. Some of them changed occupation to factory and mill workers.
Because of this, the state churches found greater concentrations of their members in the cities than they did in the rural parts of England. Conversely, nonconformist churches tended to have greater numbers of members in the rural areas, particularly in the north of England.
To learn what occupations your ancestors had during the Industrial Revolution, a visit to the LDS Family History Library may be in order. If you find one who was a chimney sweep, look on your roof to see if they are dancing.
Genealogy graduate Russell Bangerter is president of Ancestral Connections, Inc. at www.ancestralconnect.com. He is a professional genealogist, author and speaker; and he is advisor to Treasured Souls To Keep, at www.treasuredsoulstokeep.com.