Support for Shop Workers

Concern for working conditions runs deep in Portsmouth. No, not the dockyard workers or the terrible conditions of the stay workers, in the 1840s it was the plight of the shop workers which was troubling the ruling classes. Commonly expected to work from early morning until late in the evening, standing for hours on end, snatching meals in short breaks and living in cramped conditions under their employer’s roof, their lives were hard. The Hampshire Telegraph was moved to comment: ‘Is it just that a class of respectable and deserving young men should be deprived of the time so necessary for air and exercise to say nothing of improvement that is enjoyed by mechanics of every good grade, because these who wish to purchase goods procrastinate the time for doing so to an unreasonably late hour in the evening.’ A Dr Meadows, in a speech to concerned inhabitants at the Beneficial Hall, went further by stating that they were at risk of a premature grave and that not one of them would qualify by insurance. In order to remedy this situation the snappily named ‘Borough of Portsmouth Association for Shortening the Hours of Business’ was formed. This was followed by the ‘Portsea Island Assistant Tradesmen’s Early Closing Association’ under the august patronage of the Bishop of Winchester in 1846. Although several resolutions were put forward, the struggle for better working conditions continued throughout the rest of the century with limited success.