The Songs and Poems

This category includes the earliest songs about the application of steam power (other than in coal or textiles which are dealt with in separate menu items).

Main Themes and Motifs

- Unemployment caused by the adoption of steam power
- The social impact of steam power.

Chronology

1790-99  508; 004
1800-09
1810-19
1820-29  019; 038* 558
1830-39  292; 316; 373
1840-49
1850-59
1860-69
1870-79
1880-89

Uncertain: 540

* The earliest and latest dates for this item extend across decades. See item more information.

Historical Background

Not ready for publication

3 across Articles in this Category: click a link

Washerwoman's Lament

bar558: Dates ----~1826|

A washer woman laments the loss of her business to the Steam Washing Company. 

Albion Mills On Fire

bar004: Dates 1791~1791|

The burning of the steam powered Albion flour mill in 1791.

Steam Engine Coffee Grinder

bar540: Dates ----~1902|

A grocer buys a steam powered coffee grinder as a show of wealth despite the fact that he is in debt

Baker's Glory, or The Conflagration, The

bar508: Dates 1791~1791|

The burning of the Albion Mills

Good Old Days of Adam & Eve (1824)

bar019: Dates 1824~1824|

Includes a verse on hatching chickens by steam.

Oldham Workshops

bar292: Dates 1835~0|

A description of a young man's first experience of an industrial town. Contains a reference to a stationary engine.

Present Condition of British Workmen

bar316: Dates 1834~1840|

Machinery and steam-power are among the factors blamed for hard times.

Scenes of Manchester

bar373c: Dates 1839~1840|

Air polluted by factory engines. Child labour

State of the Times

bar038: Dates ----~1832|

Parliamentary reform proposed as a remedy for unemployment caused by the adoption of machinery.

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