Michael Thomas Sadler

Michael Thomas Sadler.

Michael Thomas Sadler (3 January 1780 – 29 July 1835) was a radical British Tory Member of Parliament (MP), opponent of Catholic emancipation and leader of the factory reform movement. In the British House of Commons he led the movement for a work-day restricted to 10 hours or less for individuals under 18 years of age.

Early years

Michael Sadler, the son of James Sadler, was born in Snelston, Derbyshire, on 3 January 1780. According to tradition his family came from Warwickshire and was descended from Sir Ralph Sadler. His family practiced the religion of the Church of England but he later rejected their views and became sympathetic of the Methodist Church or Methodism. One of his earliest publications was An Apology for Methodists written in 1797. In 1800 he moved to Leeds and began to work with his father and in 1810 he started a company with his brother selling Irish linen. During this period of his life he became less interested in business and more interested in the experience of the poor which stayed with him for the rest of his days.^[1]

In Parliament

In 1829 Sadler was offered the seat of Newark in the House of Commons, and appointed a part of Parliament by the Duke of Newcastle. He accepted and was elected with a majority of the votes, 214 to be exact. He quickly established himself as a motivational speaker and at the 1831 election moved to the seat of Aldborough in Yorkshire.^[2] Though he had moved up in the societal ladder, his interest in the poor remained. While in office Sadler wrote a series of pamphlets to inform the public such as On Poor Laws for Ireland reflecting the Irish Poor Laws being enforced in Ireland and, The Factories Girl's Last Day in 1830.^[1]

On 16 March 1832, Sadler attempted to introduce legislation in order to limit a child's work day (under the age of 18) to ten hours a day. He described in his own words the suffering that many children were facing in the factories but members of the Parliament still refused to pass the bill. This bill involved the following:

• a ban on labour for children 9 years old and younger
• a ten hour work day for people age nine to 18
• time in the day included for meals
• two hours of free time on Saturday
• and a ban on working all night for children under the age of 21.^[3]

Even though this bill was rejected, it led to members agreeing to look into the issue one more time. This time around Sadler formed a committee in which he was the chairman, and provided testimonies of 89 workers, including Elizabeth Bentley who started work at a flax mill at age 6.^[4] This committee included men such as John Cam Hobhouse and Thomas Fowell Buxton who were also reformers for labor. These testimonies later became known as The Sadler Report.^[1]

Aldborough was disenfranchised under the Great Reform Act, and at the 1832 election Sadler stood in the newly-enfranchised seat of Leeds. There he went up against John Marshall a man who had more pull in Leeds. Sadler lost the election and his seat in Parliament.^[5] Though he was no longer a part of Parliament, his report was finally published in 1833. When Sadler's report was released to the public British citizens were appalled with the graphic details of factory life. Sadler also eventually found out that workers who testified were being dismissed and ceased with the interview process.^[1] The report led to increased pressure on the British Parliament to protect children worker's rights. Lord Ashley, son of the 6th Earl of Saxbury, took his place as the leader of the factory reform movement.^[1]

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in June 1832. ^[6]

He died in New Lodge, Belfast in 1835 and was buried in Ballylesson churchyard.

Family

His mother's father, Michael Ferrebee, who served as rector of Rolleston, Staffordshire, was the son of a Huguenot father.

Views

He opposed Malthus's population doctrine, arguing that fertility actually declines with rising income. He was famously attacked in the Edinburgh Review by Thomas Macaulay. He is generally seen as one of the opponents of the Classical school in economics.

He also authored the work Law of Population.

Major works

• Ireland, Its Evils and their Remedies, 1828
• The Law of Population, 1832
• Sadler report, 1832

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Michael Sadler's Early Life and Reforms
2. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 1)
3. ^ Michael Sadler's Bill: Details of the bill, his life and Sadler's other reforms
4. ^ The Industrial Revolution on the Continent: Germany, France, Russia 1800-1914‎. 2006. ISBN 0415382025. http://books.google.com/books?id=WiFLtu1U3w4C&pg=PA121&dq=%22Elizabeth+Bentley%22+-spy#v=onepage&q=%22Elizabeth%20Bentley%22%20-spy&f=false. "Elizabeth Bentley, age 23, lives at Leeds, began work at the age of six ..." 
5. ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 177. ISBN 0-900178-26-4. 
6. ^ "Library and Archive Catalogue". The Royal Society. http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27sadler%27%29. Retrieved 11 October 2010. 

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Michael Sadler
• British Anti-classical economists at the History of Economic Thought website.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Sir William Henry Clinton Henry Willoughby	Member of Parliament for Newark 1829 – 1831 With: Henry Willoughby to Feb 1831 William Farnworth Handley from Feb 1831	Succeeded by Thomas Wilde William Farnworth Handley
Preceded by Viscount Stormont Clinton Clinton	Member of Parliament for Aldborough 1831 – 1832 With: Clinton Clinton	Constituency abolished

Persondata
Name	Sadler, Michael Thomas
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	3 January 1780
Place of birth
Date of death	29 July 1835
Place of death