Joseph Glass (1791/2 – 29 December 1867) was the inventor of a successful chimney-sweeping apparatus, and a campaigner against boys being employed in sweeping chimneys.
Life
He was born in
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colc ...
, in Essex, England; after early years in
Manningtree
Manningtree is a town and civil parish in the Tendring district of Essex, England, which lies on the River Stour. It is part of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Natural Beauty.
Smallest town claim
Manningtree has traditionally claimed to ...
, he moved to London, working as a builder. By the 1820s he had a
chimney-sweeping business.
During this period there was a movement to prevent boys being employed in cleaning chimneys. The Society for Superseding the Necessity of Climbing Boys (SSNCB) was founded in 1803 under the patronage of
the Duchess of Gloucester. The SSNCB and the
promoted a competition for an effective apparatus for cleaning chimneys. Several systems were invented; one invented by
George Smart was awarded a gold medal by the Society of Arts in 1805. However it had little effect on the campaign.
[Jackson, Lee (2014)]
''Dirty Old London: The Victorian Fight Against Filth''
Yale University Press, p. 218.
Glass invented an apparatus in which cane rods were connected with brass screw joints, creating a flexible rod which coped with bends in the chimney. A wheel was fixed to the top of the stock, to prevent jamming.
Glass's system, introduced in 1828, was considered superior to Smart's apparatus. It was approved by the SSNCB, and from 1829 the Home Secretary
Robert Peel
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Excheque ...
ordered the apparatus to be used in government offices. In 1834 there was a committee of the House of Lords to which Glass gave evidence, resulting in the
Chimney Sweepers Act 1834
The Chimney Sweepers Act 1834 was a British Act of Parliament passed to try to stop child labour. Many boys as young as six were being used as chimney sweeps.
This act stated that an apprentice must express himself in front of a magistrate that ...
.
He did not patent his invention. He was active in the campaign against the employment of "climbing boys", prosecuting those who tried to evade the provisions of the Act. Since many sweeps still employed boys, there were further Acts of Parliament: the
Chimney Sweepers and Chimneys Regulation Act 1840 and the
Chimney Sweepers Regulation Act 1864.
Glass died at his home in
Brixton
Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th centu ...
on 29 December 1867, in his seventy-sixth year; his death was noticed in the
Court Circular
The Court Circular (CC) is the official record that lists the engagements carried out by the monarch of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms; the Royal Family; and appointments to their staff and to the court. It is issued by St J ...
, since Queen Victoria was interested in the campaign. His son Henry became a newspaper editor, and another son Joseph became a Congregational minister.
References
Cited sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Glass, Joseph
1791 births
1867 deaths
People from Colchester
19th-century British inventors
English philanthropists
19th-century British philanthropists