[This is a story about industrial corruption and the control of
workers in that time… the late 19th century was an extraordinary
period for the birth of the Union Movement and of people standing up
for their rights.]
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ENOLA HOLMES 2 AND THE REAL LIFE HISTORY OF THE MATCH GIRLS’ STRIKE
 
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Tai Gooden
November 4, 2022
Nerdist
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_ This is a story about industrial corruption and the control of
workers in that time… the late 19th century was an extraordinary
period for the birth of the Union Movement and of people standing up
for their rights. _

, Netflix

 

Enola Holmes is back in the game for her second film, which is now
streaming on Netflix. The super sleuth’s rise as a clever fixer in
her own right takes an interesting turn this time around. While the
first film
[[link removed]] leans
into the first Enola Holmes book Enola Holmes 2
[[link removed]] centers around Sarah Chapman,
a match factory worker who is missing, and the girls around her. The
Match Girls’ strike is a story director Harry Bradbeer couldn’t
wait to explore. “The first [film] was about constitutional
change,” he told Nerdist in a recent interview
[[link removed]].
“Let’s make this about industrial corruption and the control of
workers in that time… the late 19th century was an extraordinary
period for the birth of the Union Movement and of people standing up
for their rights.”

Enola discovers that Chapman’s case is far bigger than she could
imagine. However, Holmes takes it on to solidify her name among
detective greats. _Enola Holmes 2 _is quite the thrill ride and will
leave many wondering if Sarah Chapman and the Match Girls’ Strike is
a real-life event or not. While there are some creative liberties
taken for entertainment, Chapman, the Match Girls, and the big strike
are indeed a part of British history. Here’s what the Match
Girls’ Strike looked like in real life.

WHO IS THE REAL SARAH CHAPMAN, AND WHAT ROLE DOES SHE PLAY IN _ENOLA
HOLMES 2_? 

In _Enola Holmes 2_, Sarah Chapman is a dancer and matchstick worker,
also known as Match Girl, who is missing. Her found sister Bessie is
worried about her and asks Enola to help find her. And boy, is Bessie
right on time because poor Enola is two seconds from abandoning her
detective agency. As the film unwinds, Sarah Chapman reveals herself
to be quite the investigator, mistress of disguise, and collector of
evidence. Her intentions are to expose a cover-up of the unsafe (and
often deadly) working conditions for herself and the other Match Girls
in her factory. Sarah gathers a swath of information to prove her case
and gain justice for the girls who have died. This culminates
in _Enola Holmes 2_‘s version of the Match Girls’ Strike. If
Enola ever wanted to team up with another girl to solve mysteries,
Sarah Chapman would be a great choice.

The real Sarah Chapman
[[link removed]] (born in 1862) worked
at Bryant & May, a London-based matchstick-making company formed in
1843 as a matchmaking machinist. By 1888, Chapman was a long-time
employee making pretty good money. However, poor treatment of workers
and terrible working conditions led to a boycott. (More on that
later.) Annie Besant
[[link removed]], a writer, and
advocate for social reform, met with workers to discuss their
frustrations. Besant published an article about those experiences in
June 1888. Soon after, Bryant & May fired a worker after her refusal
to sign a management statement countering reports about abusive
working conditions. The day after Independence Day, around 1,400 girls
and women walked out on strike, including Chapman. This strike became
known as the Match Girls’ Strike. The next day, Chapman got together
with two other women and petitioned Besant to help form a strike
committee.

Through this committee, they held meetings and made their case further
known to the public, gaining support along the way. The Match Girls’
Strike and this committee led to a meeting with Bryant & May’s
management to discuss their demands, which the company later met.
Sarah Chapman was also vital in establishing the Union of Women Match
Makers [[link removed]].
She served as its first representative to the Trades Union Congress.

While we don’t know many details about her later life, we do know
she married Charles Dearman, a cabinet maker. Together they had six
children. Sarah Chapman died on November 27, 1945, and was buried in
an unmarked grave, which later became a point of contention when plans
were made to mound over it. (Thankfully, this did not happen.) In
2022, the Match Girls’ Strike got a commemorative blue plaque at the
site where Bryant & May used to stand. Chapman’s
great-granddaughter Sam Johnson is a trustee of The Match Girls
Memorial, the collective that lobbied for the plaque.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF MATCH STICK GIRLS IN LONDON

Not surprisingly, women and girls in 19th-century London didn’t have
a ton of work options. Those who didn’t have the benefits of
financial and social privilege often worked in factories for small
wages in hopes of providing for their families. Or in some cases,
young girls did not have a family and were trying to survive.

Some of these factories made matches, hence the name Match Girls.
Sulfur and other dangerous chemicals like white phosphorus and
potassium chloride [[link removed]] were chief
matchmaking ingredients. (Red phosphorus also came into the mix as a
more stable ingredient over sulfur. But importing it drove up overall
costs.) Male factory workers were overwhelmingly the ones involved in
that part of the process. As we saw in _Enola Holmes 2_’s accurate
assembly depiction of Match Girls’ lives, the women and girls would
gather finished matchsticks with bare hands and place them into boxes.

Netflix

Of course, working closely with chemicals led to some nasty side
effects and diseases tied directly to this occupation. In the film,
Enola goes undercover at the factory and discovers that there is a
mouth check for typhus [[link removed]], an
infectious disease. She notices one woman walking by her with a
swollen jaw. It’s the briefest scene in _Enola Holmes 2_ but, in
reality, a reason why the Match Girls’ Strike began.

Phossy jaw
[[link removed].] was
a disease stemming from white phosphorus exposure with initial
flu-like symptoms and mouth/toothaches. These symptoms are not
uncommon for typhus fever, which could be deadly. Death by typhus
became a scapegoat for Lord McIntyre and company to cover up the Match
Girls’ deaths at the factory. As phossy jaw manifests, it leads to a
swelling of the gums and jaw area. Facial disfigurement and even fatal
brain damage were often the results of this occupational disease.

THE MATCH GIRLS’ STRIKE FROM _ENOLA HOLMES 2_ IN REAL LIFE

Unfortunately, factories like Bryant & May swept these serious health
concerns under the rug. According to workers’ accounts, either you
fixed the problem on your own (removing teeth, etc.) or you would be
out of a job. There were also frequent complaints about foremen
docking pay from the Match Girls for minor infractions like talking,
dropping matches, and a “dirty” workspace. Combining the health
hazards with strict environments and fourteen-hour workdays, things
came to a head in 1888 with women having enough. And, this resulted in
the events of the Match Girls’ Strike—an unprecedented event led
by women—and the work of Sarah Chapman.

Netflix

We get a fictional depiction of this triumphant moment towards the end
of _Enola Holmes 2_. Sarah Chapman, Bessie, and Enola rally the girls
to advocate for themselves and walk out. And so, we see the fictional
take on the Match Girls’ Strike in _Enola Holmes 2._ In reality,
meanwhile, the workers’ actions would lead to the ban of white
phosphorus in the manufacture of matches. This ban began in the UK and
spread throughout the western world in subsequent years. It sparked
people in other industries to use their collective voices to push for
more humane working conditions. 

In 1901, Bryant & May stopped using white phosphorus, but it proved to
be an expensive venture for them. After a series of mergers to keep a
foothold in the industry, the original factory in Bow shut down in
1979 with less than 300 workers at the time.

_Enola Holmes 2 _bringing the history of the Match Girls’ Strike
and Sarah Chapman into the fold while maintaining the wit and
cleverness we expect in this franchise is a brilliant marriage. And,
in a world where many are still binding together, whether through
unions or protests, to fight for their rights, it reminds us that we
are stronger together as a collective. Even if we have the brilliance
of Enola Holmes.

_Enola Holmes 2 _is currently streaming on Netflix.

_Editor’s Note: Nerdist is a subsidiary of Legendary Digital
Networks._

_TAI GOODEN is currently the Features Editor for NERDIST, covering a
wide range of geek culture including Doctor Who, The Walking Dead, and
the American Horror Story universe. When she's not writing, she can be
found on Twitter (@taigooden) or waiting for the TARDIS to take her
away._

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