What was a knocker upper in the Industrial Revolution?

Answer 1

Never mind the Industrial Revolution, some of my aunts used a knocker-up in the 1930s. In Lancashire mill towns (my aunts lived in Preston) few people could afford an alarm clock; so there was a man who went round the streets early in the morning, using a long pole to knock at upstairs windows. He knocked until you were up. Further point More generally, industrialization meant that everyone had to get used to living, or at least working, by the clock. In pre-industrial societies people obviously couldn't afford to live chaotic lives, but precise punctuality was much less important.