Robert Owen
Robert Owen was born in Wales in 1771.
At the age of ten he went to work.
His employer had a large private library so Owen was able to educate himself.
He read a lot in his spare time and at nineteen he was given the job of superintendent(監工) at a Manchester cotton mill.
He was so successful there that he persuaded his employer to buy the New Lanark mill in Scotland.
When he arrived at New Lanark it was a dirty little town with a population of 2,000 people.
Nobody paid any attention to the workers' houses or their children's education.
The conditions in the factories were very bad.
There was a lot of crime and the men spent most of their wages on alcoholic drinks.
Owen improved the houses. He encouraged people to be clean and save money.
He opened a shop and sold the workers cheap, well-made goods to help them.
He limited the sale of alcoholic drinks. Above all, he fixed his mind on the children's education.
In 1816 he opened the first free primary school in Britain.