New Lanark Institute for the Formation of Character – now the Visitor Centre.
A new display on New Lanark and Robert Owen is currently available on Level 7 near the enquiry desk.
The village of New Lanark once housed the largest cotton mill in Scotland and was run by industrialist and socialist Robert Owen from 1800.
Owen believed that the key to a harmonious society lay in better employment conditions and in education. He felt when provided with the correct tools, society would improve itself, and crime, poverty and ignorance would naturally decrease. Establishing the first infant schools, and ensuring that young children were educated instead of working in the New Lanark mills is one act for which he is remembered.
Owen presented his ideas for the betterment of society many times before Parliament. Level 7 houses these motions and subsequent Parliamentary debates
Staff on Level 7 are happy to help with using the Parliamentary Collections, which contain a wealth of primary source materials on Robert Owen, New Lanark, industrial practices, and employment laws of the period.
Extract from the Parliamentary Collection illustrating the ‘great difference opinion’ towards Robert Owen, and that he ‘was the founder of infant schools’.
Categories: Library, Official Publications
Tags: children, Cotton Mills, education, Employment Rights, Hansard, Industrial Revolution, New Lanark, Owen, Parliamentary Debates, Robert Owen, Social Reform, Socialism
Calling all students! Fancy winning a £200 cash prize? 
Vox Populi – The Referendum of 1997 
Blogathon: “Biblio-archaelogy”: Digging through Special Collections 
