New Lanark Attractions

Many people who met the textile merchant were impressed by both his sense of humor and inventiveness. He was born in Stewarton (Ayrshire) and later joined forces with Richard Arkwright, an English expert in mechanized weaving. In 1783 the two realized that the power of the Clyde as it descended into the Central Lowlands could be harnessed to operate Arkwright's new cotton weaving machinery. Two years later the factory was working. The children who made up almost 70% of the workforce had been brought by Dale from orphanages in Glasgow and Edinburgh and they were accommodated in what at that time were exemplary conditions.

After marrying Dale's daughter Caroline, Robert Owen took over the running of the mills and by then the New Lanark cotton factory was one of the most famous in Britain. Owen was Welsh and came from a humble origins, but by the age of 19 he was involved in the management of a textiles factory in Manchester, the citadel of early industrial capitalism. This reform-minded entrepreneur was convinced that it was in a company's interests to look after its workforce. In his opinion, good living and working conditions and a proper education boosted not only the worker's health and welfare but also the efficiency of the factory and this in turn improved the profitability of the company. For Owen social costs such as the construction of workers' homes and improvements to conditions in the workplace were an important element of investment. He saw the need for close monitoring of each worker's productivity as well as the importance of offering welfare provisions. Health insurance, free medical care and shops selling goods at cost price were just some of the innovative approaches that Owen provided for his workers.

But education was as important. Owen set up a privately-financed school system known as the Institute for the Formation of Character. The premises were used both as a school and also as a cultural center. By 1816 it employed 14 teachers who cared for 300 children. Dancing, music and nature study were part of the broad curriculum and corporal punishment was banned.

The working day was restricted by Owen to 10 hours 30 minutes and he decreed that no child below the age of 10 should work in the factory. Owen's commitment to worker welfare also included involvement in the movement to reform factory legislation and he played a vital part in the first British laws on protecting workers. His reformist ideas won support elsewhere and other model industrial villages were established. Success in New Lanark encouraged Owen to attempt a similar experiment with "New Harmony" in the American state of Indiana but political and religious disputes led to failure after four years. As a consequence Owen was obliged to sell his shares in the New Lanark venture.