Anachronistic Hearts

Workers in London received the following wages for a 10-hour day and six-day week:


CLERKS:
• Governor of the Bank of England… £400 annually
• clerk, Bank of England £75 to £500 (a)
• bank clerk, …. £20 to £50 at aged 18, rising 5-10 per year;
• paying-cashier… receiving eg. £155 after 13 years service
• civil service clerk … £80 rising to £200
• general office clerk, 25s. a week
• post office clerk, £90 rising to £260;
• senior post office clerks (if vacancy arose) £350-£500
• solicitors clerk, 18-25s. a week
• suburban bank manager £75 to £90
• stockbrokers clerk £80 to £100 at aged 18; typically annual rise of £20 and a present of from £10 to £15 at Christmas


LAUNDRY WORK:

"four or five days a week, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., with three-quarters of an hour for dinner and half an hour for tea."
• washers, 2s. 6d. to 2s. 8d. per day
• ironers, 3s. 6d to 4s. per day, piece-work ;
• collar-ironers, 3s. 6d. to 5s. per day, piece-work


MANUAL LABOR:
• coal-whipper (ie. specialized laborer, dealing only in shifting coal from ships) £39 6s. 6d ( continuous employment)
• sewer-flusher… £1 4s. per week 'regular' see also "A Pound a Week" by James Greenwood
• common laborers 3s. 9d.
• excavators wearing their own "long water boots" 4s. 6d.
• bricklayers, carpenters, masons, smiths 6s. 6d.
• engineers £110 pounds/year


MANUFACTURING:
• matchbox-makers, women at home, 1s. 6d per day, 1s. 3d after deductions for materials (B)
• upholsters, women, 9s. to 11s. per week (a)
• 'workshop' apprentice (male) 8-10s. per week;
• 'workshop' worker (male) 30s.+ per week
• sewing machine operator… 8-16s a week
•


SERVANTS:
• butlers, £40 to £100
• footmen, £20 to £40
• pages, £8 to £15
• cooks, £18 to £50
• house-maids, £10 to £25
• nursery governess £20 to £40
• parlour-maids £12 to £30
• maids of all work, £6 to £15.


SHOPS:
• shop keeper, female, £20 to £50 annually
• grocer's assistant, 12s. per week (c. £30 per year)
• shop worker, £25 a year, after apprenticeship, rising £10 annually, to £120;
• coffee-stall keeper (ie. selling coffee on street corner) £1 per week


TAILORS AND CLOTHING:
- note that weekly wage for piece-workers was not constant and depended on how much work came your way; many working from home also had to pay for their materials, such as the garter-maker quoted below
• garter-maker 1s. 2d. - 1s. 7d. a day;
• waistcoat maker (piece-work), 24s. per week (a)
• seamstress (skilled, employed on 'best class of work'), 22s. to 26s. per week
• seamtress (skilled) working as 'sweated labor' 7s. to 8s. per week
• shirt-finisher (East End unskilled) 3s. per week;
• shirt-machinist (East End skilled) 9s. 4d. per week
• stay-stitching, up to 7½d. per day
• tailoresses, West End - 'quickest machine hands' 20 to 22s. per week;
• hand-workers, 12 to17s. per week


TEACHER:
• school board teacher, female, £75+


TELEGRAPH CLERKS (FEMALE) wages per annum:-
• clerk of the second class £40 to £75
• clerk of the first class £80 to £100
• head-clerk £110-150
• telegraphist £25-30 (approx.)… wages per annum in private 'receiving-houses' (generally shops)
• telegraph clerk Female... 8/0


TRANSPORT:
• steamboat captain £109 5s. (two guineas a week)
• steamboat engineer £109 5s. (two guineas a week)
• steamboat mate £78 (30 shillings a week)
• steamboat crew £67 12s. (26 shillings a week)
• steamboat call-boy £18 4s. (7 shillings a week)
• Sailors ... 15/0
• Seaman on steamers ... 16/4


ODD JOBS:
• sandwich-board men (ie. men walking round with advertising boards on their backs) 1s to 1s. 8d. per day (= c.£12-£20 per year, if employed full-time, 5 days a week)
• Mail Coach Guard ... 10/0 + tips
• London artisans ... 36/0
• Army Cornet ... £200/0/0
• Indian Civil Service officer ... £300/0/0
• Farm hands ... 14/0
• milk-woman… 9s a week
• dentist charged for 2 fillings…10s 6d… false teeth… cost £21
• funeral - £4-6 each
• Anglican parson… £140 a year
• the Duke of Bedford, who saved £100,000 a year and Lord Derby, whose income was £150,000. However, the Duke of Westminster's annual income topped them all at a cool £250,000.