1888 Matchgirls Strike Register Source: Family History Monthly Magazine No. 28 of January 1998 The poverty of Victorian London probably provides the most significant images to describe life at that time. The workpeople of Messrs Bryant and May who, on the previous day had left work on strike, would hold a meeting in the thoroughfare outside the works and that meeting would be addressed by Mrs Besant. She said, "These female hands eat their food in the rooms in which they work so that the fumes of the phosphorous mix with their poor meal and they eat disease as seasoning to their bread." (The Times, 7th July 1888). The occupation for many risked illness (phossy jaw) leading to a disintegration of the jaw bone as a result of ingesting the phosphorous particles in their food. The girls, having formed this Matchmakers' Union, risked loosing the pittance they earned in pay. There were about 1,300 of the matchworkers in employment, the two girls below would have worked on their feet from 6:30am up until 6pm (although in winter they might start later at 8am). They probably had two breaks for breakfast and dinner. They may have been fined pay for trivial offences. Perhaps Annie below was caught talking 3 pence of here 2 shillings and 8 pence for talking or having dirty feet. If she was late she was locked out for the morning and fined 5 pence. The girls may have had to pay for their own tools or brushes to clean the machines. Bryant & May, still a making matches today, started in 1861 and suffered difficulties with quality of work. The matchgirls staged an unsuccessful strike in 1885 but were effectively bullied back to work by the management. Mrs Besant highlighted the company as paying workers starvation wages and paying shareholders huge profits. She called for a boycott of production in her article "White Slavery in London" in "The Link". On the 5 July, despite threats, the workers including our two girls below downed tools and walked out. "Clad in old, worn-out, faded jackets, or in ragged shawls and bedraggled skirts with their heads covered with old brown or black straw hats" (The Star). The girls bravely resisted coercion and attempts to denounce Mrs Besant's claims. Press coverage built up and public sympathy and charity leaned towards the girls. The company lied about returns to work in interviews to newspapers but eventually relented on the 17th July and agreed major improvements to conditions of service and a removal of unfair practices. This included a separate room for eating. While there were some eighty boys in the union the whole action was seen as a significant step in achieving fairness for women in the workplace. Name Residence Married Occupation Factory Location Wages last week Dependent or Independent M. Dooley 20 Powis Road, Bromley Single Box Hand Centre and Top Centre 3/8 Lodgings 6/- per week Annie Dowling 503 Old Ford Road Single Bowler Bowlers Top Centre 2/10 At Home The whole register of strikers is kept in the Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives, Bancroft Library, 277 Bancroft Road, London E1 4DQ. Back to Top Copyright © 1998 Brian Dowling. All rights reserved.