Agricultural Children Act 1873 Explained

Short Title:	Agricultural Children Act 1873^[1]
Type:	Act
Parliament:	Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long Title:	An Act to regulate the Employment of Children in Agriculture.
Year:	1873
Citation:	36 & 37 Vict. c. 67
Territorial Extent:	England and Wales^[2]
Royal Assent:	5 August 1873
Commencement:	1 January 1875^[3]
Repealing Legislation:	Elementary Education Act 1876 (39 & 40 Vict. c. 79), s 52 & Sch 4

The Agricultural Children Act 1873 (36 & 37 Vict. c. 67) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which prohibited the agricultural employment of children under the age of eight^[4] and also provided for the education of children involved in farm labour. As part of this, the act stated that children could not be employed in agricultural work without parental confirmation that they had attended school a certain number of times in the preceding twelve months, specifically 250 times for children aged eight to ten and 150 times for individuals over the age of ten.^[5]

Ultimately, the act was ineffective,^{[4] [5]} and its provisions were replaced by those of the Elementary Education Act 1876 (39 & 40 Vict. c. 70) and the Elementary Education Act 1880 (43 & 44 Vict. c. 23).^{[6] [7]}

See also

• Agricultural Gangs Act 1867

References

• Chambers, George Frederick. The Agricultural Children Act, 1873, and the Agricultural Gangs Act, 1867. Knight & Co. Fleet Street, London. 1873. Scan at the Internet Archive.
• Owen, Hugh. "Agricultural Children Act, 1873". The Elementary Education Acts, 1870, 1873, 1874, and Agricultural Children Act, 1873. Tenth Edition. Knight & Co. Fleet Street, London. 1875. Page 228 et seq.

Notes and References

1. This short title was conferred on this act by section 1 of this act.
2. Did not extend to Scotland or Ireland: The Agricultural Children Act 1873, section 2
3. The Agricultural Children Act 1873, section 3
4. Book: Kirkby, Peter. Child Labour in Britain, 1750-1870. 2003. Palgrave Macmillan. 60.
5. Book: Bourdillon, Michael F. C.. Rights and Wrongs of Children's Work. 2010. Rutgers University Press. Levison . Deborah . Myers . William E. . White . Ben . 46.
6. Horn. P. L. R.. The Agricultural Children Act of 1873. History of Education. 1974. 3. 2. 27–39. 10.1080/0046760740030203 .
7. Web site: Agricultural Children Act, 1873. 1873 .