A page about George Brewster - The Last Climbing Boy
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This is my story: I went to a local pub quiz a while back and one of the questions was about a law that was made over 140 years ago that - due to the death of an 11 year old boy at a local mental asylum that changed the lives of thousands of children all over England. I was particularly intrigued because not only do I live near the village of Fulbourn, but I also work at the original Asylum which has now been converted into offices. I wanted to know more…
https://www.justgiving.com/…/george-brewster-the-last-climb…
To cut a long story very short. The boy was George Brewster – an 11-year-old Chimney Sweep’s ‘apprentice’ sent up one of the boiler chimney’s at the asylum by his master. The boy suffocated and they had to knock down the walls to get him out. The inquest made the British press and the Times newspaper, when Lord Shaftsbury read about it, he vowed to make a change. The death of George Brewster in a chimney flue in Fulbourn Hospital in 1875 was the catalyst for a law criminalizing the practice of using child labour in the chimney sweeping industry. George Brewster was the last child to die in England from such a practice but his death was part of a much greater transformation of British industrial society that saw the end of child labour practices in all industries – mining, farming and in factories amongst others and began the introduction of compulsory education.
The best part of this story is that its hardly known. I live 5 miles from Fulbourn and I recently visited the parish council telling them about this story which I think is of great historical significance – especially for the small Cambridgeshire village. They knew nothing of the story and there is nothing on the village website or anywhere in the village. I would like a blue plaque dedicated to George and his story on the original entrance to the Asylum, my next plan is to get a statue of a boy chimney sweep to be erected in Fulbourn village or Cambridge city where he lived. George and his story – all in honour of this one boy, - his death was a catalyst for change and saved the lives of hundreds maybe thousands of other children.
