why is dr. ward being interviewed by the house of lords committee?

Dr. Ward is being interviewed by the House of Lords Committee to give medical evidence about how work in cotton textile factories is harming workers’ health, especially children, and to inform potential factory safety laws.

Quick Scoop: What’s Going On?

In the context usually discussed in history classes, “Dr. Ward” refers to Michael Ward, a Manchester doctor during the Industrial Revolution. He treated many factory workers and children, so the committee called him to explain what conditions inside the mills were doing to people’s bodies and lives.

In short: he’s there as a frontline medical witness, not a politician or factory owner, because he sees the health damage up close.

Why This Committee Cares About Him

The House of Lords Committee at that time was investigating the state of children in cotton factories and considering whether stronger regulations were needed. They needed specific, credible testimony on health, injuries, and mortality among workers, especially minors.

Key reasons they chose Dr. Ward:

• He had long experience as a doctor in Manchester, a major textile center.

• He had personally treated children and adults injured or made sick by factory work.

• He could compare factory children’s health to that of children in other jobs, giving the committee a clear before/after and with/without-factory picture.

What He Tells Them About Factories

In the surviving excerpts used in school materials, Dr. Ward describes cotton factories as “nurseries of disease and vice,” meaning they breed both illness and moral problems. He reports that:

• Factory air is so bad that visitors “could not remain ten minutes in the factory without gasping and coughing for breath.”

• Children in cotton factories are in “much worse” health than children in other employments.

• A large share of factory children he saw at a local school had been injured by machinery (nearly half, in one example).

All of this gives the Lords concrete evidence that factory work is not just tiring but deeply damaging.

How This Connects to Laws and Reforms

The committee is not just collecting stories; it is gathering evidence for possible reforms of factory conditions, especially for children. Testimony like Dr. Ward’s feeds into debates over limiting hours, improving ventilation, and making machinery safer in cotton mills.

So when you see the question “Why is Dr. Ward being interviewed by the House of Lords Committee?” in worksheets or forums, the best concise answer is:

• He is being interviewed to provide expert medical testimony about the unhealthy and dangerous conditions faced by children and other workers in cotton factories, so the committee can decide whether to support new protective factory laws.

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Learn why Dr. Ward is being interviewed by the House of Lords Committee: a key historical moment where a Manchester doctor’s testimony on factory conditions helped shape debates on child labor, health, and industrial reform.

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