On 7 August 1840, the Chimney Sweepers and Chimneys Regulation Act became law. Parliament intended to stop children being used as climbing chimney sweeps, but the practice continued.

Children had been sent inside chimneys for generations. Their size allowed them to climb narrow flues that adults could not enter. Some were apprenticed to master sweeps, including children placed with employers by parish authorities. Others came from poor families.

The dangers were well known. Children could become trapped or suffocate inside flues and were repeatedly exposed to soot. Parliament had first tried to regulate the trade in 1788, setting eight as the minimum age for an apprentice chimney sweep.

The law was poorly enforced. Another Act followed in 1834, increasing the age restrictions and attempting to improve the treatment of apprentices, but children continued climbing.

Mechanical brushes offered an alternative. By 1840 they were already in use, particularly in London, although some master sweeps and householders still preferred climbing boys.

The 1840 Act went further. No child under sixteen could legally be taken on as a chimney sweep’s apprentice. It also provided that, from 1 July 1842, anyone who compelled or knowingly allowed a person under twenty-one to climb a chimney or enter a flue for cleaning could be fined between £5 and £10.

The prohibition was clear. Enforcement was not.

There was no system of inspectors routinely checking how chimneys were cleaned. Offences had to be discovered and evidence obtained before a prosecution could take place. Much of the work happened inside private buildings, making witnesses difficult to find.

Children continued climbing after the prohibition took effect. Parliament returned to the issue in 1864, strengthening the penalties and restrictions. Evidence from the period included boys who had begun the work at six or eight, with some even younger.

The 1864 legislation still did not eliminate the practice.

In 1875, chimney sweeps were required to be licensed and the police were given responsibility for enforcing the law. By then, Parliament had been trying to stop the use of climbing boys for decades. The 1875 Act finally provided a practical system for making the prohibition effective.