ABSTRACT
How people spent their time when not at work was a matter of increased interest in early and mid-Victorian Britain. There are several reasons why this should have been so. An industrial society sharpens the distinction between work and leisure. Timed work in a factory, for example, is a selfcontained operation. Work in the fields or even in a workshop can incorporate elements both of work and leisure. In the latter drink is usually available; work is often divided between members of the family and is done to complete a particular task or assignment. The worker is in much greater control of time (Ch. 14). Because industrial work was rigidly timed the nonworking portion of the day was in consequence more clearly delimited. By the 1850s, hours of work especially for skilled men were beginning to be set alongside prescribed holidays and half-day working on Saturday, a development facilitated by the Factory Acts [C.i]. The Inspector of Factories reported in 1859 that a greater clarity obtained 'between the worker's own time and his master's. The worker now knows when that which he sells [his labour] is ended and when his own begins'. (317, 150) It is probable that skilled workers fortunate enough to have the choice were choosing to forgo additional income by opting for increased leisure.
