half past eight in the morning
They were ` bound ' for three years . For the first two years they received no wages : the third year they got a shilling or eightpence a week . At the end of the third year they usually got the sack , unless they were willing to stay on as improvers at from three shillings to four and sixpence per week . They worked from half past eight in the morning till eight at night , with an interval of an hour for dinner , and at half past four they ceased work for fifteen minutes for tea . This was provided by the firm -- half a pint for each girl , but they had to bring their own milk and sugar and bread and butter . Few of the girls ever learned their trades thoroughly . Some were taught to make sleeves ; others cuffs or button-holes , and so on .