ABSTRACT
As agitation mounted in the 1880s and 1890s for improvements in industrial conditions and the debates around the need for the ‘protection’ of women continued unabated, there was a strong argument that the failure of factory legislation thus far could be attributed to a failure in its enforcement. Ensuring compliance and prosecuting offenders were the chief responsibilities of the Factory Department through its inspectorate, so the inadequacy of enforcement was placed firmly at their door. There were too few inspectors. Some people, particularly trade unionists, questioned whether the best people were being selected. They argued that inspectors should be chosen who had ‘practical’ experience of working conditions. Those who were recruited in the nineteenth century were mainly working-class men from white-collar or industrial jobs. However, the failure of inspection of women workers was seen as a result of the gender of factory inspectors and, from the 1870s, there were increasing calls for the appointment of women inspectors. In the early channelling of these demands through the TUC and women’s organizations it was thought that these women too should have ‘practical’ experience.
