How did people keep track of their working hours during the industrial revolution?
I read history as a hobby, and I have read from a number of sources that households only started measuring time down to the minute with the advent of trains. Clocks became widespread because everyone had to be on time.
However, as far as I know, some factories existed well before common people had access to trains. Especially in the UK where the industrial revolution started. Trains were used to transport goods and rich people used them, but it would take decades before most people had access to them. No?
My question is: if clocks were not widespread yet; how did working people know when their workday started / ended? How did they get up in time without alarms?
Or is it just not true that clocks became widely used mainly because of trains?
u/Nindele — 3 days ago