Robert Owen was a town called Newtown in Wales. He was born on the 14th of May 1771. His father sent him to work in a large draper, even though he was a good student. Then Robert changed locations and moved to London at the age of 16. He later found work at a wholesale drapery business in Manchester. Robert was very adventurous; at the age of 19 he burrowed money and later started his own spinning mule factory modeled after Richard Arkwright. His partner was John Jones, there business ended and Owen found work as a manger of a spinning mule factory in Manchester. .
With support Owen bought four textile factories in New Lanark. Owen made a lot of profit but was more interested in developing a strong community. Owen created a community where over 2,000 people lived nearby. He also made a strong educational tie to his community because he believed that education was essential for good workers. Owen observed how horrible young children were being treated in the factories; he wanted to put an end to this. Owen then only would employ children over the age of ten and up and changed the work hours from thirteen to ten. Young children were provided with a nursery and infant schools so families didn't have to quit their jobs to watch the children. Even older children were required to go to school during some parts of the day. .
People had never seen a factory run the way Owen did it. Owen's partners were afraid that the business would lose to much profit, so he bought there share of the business from them. He then resold them to people of were in favor of his methods. .
Owen was a strong supporter of treating children respectfully. He hoped Britain would support his methods. He wrote letter, reforms, and gave speeches around the country for people to follow his ways. He showed people that they could run a successful business (like New Lanark) without jeopardizing children's future. .
Owen then developed a community in America, and sold his factory in New Lanark due to no response from the government.