What year did the British Parliament pass the Ten Hours Act limiting factory work? 1847. The measure was formally the Factories Act 1847 and limited the working hours of women and young people aged 13 to 18 in textile mills.
The Act grew out of the Ten Hours Movement, a long campaign against exhausting factory schedules in Britain’s industrial towns. Supporters included the mill owner and MP John Fielden, the reformer Richard Oastler and Lord Ashley, later the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. They argued that Parliament should protect children and working women from the health and social damage caused by excessive hours.
The legislation received royal assent on 8 June 1847 and came into force on 1 July. It set a ten-hour daily limit on five weekdays and eight hours on Saturday. Although adult men were not directly covered, the practical structure of textile production helped make the shorter day influential across the workforce.
A common mix-up is the Factory Act of 1833, which introduced important restrictions on child labour and factory inspection but did not establish the ten-hour limit. The later Factories Act 1850 adjusted working hours and factory schedules.