Manor Farm’s ‘Labour Book’ (c.1908) records the following comparisons of pay rates:
Table of wages given to the Board of the trade labour department for day men exclusive of extra payments for piece work, overtime, etc:
| 1902 | 12/- per week |
| 1903 | 12/- per week |
| 1904 | 12/- per week |
| 1905 | 12/- per week |
| 1906 | 12/- per week |
| 1907 | 12/- per week |
| 1908 | 12/- per week |
| 1909 | 12/- per week |
| 1910 | 12/- per week |
Allowances in kind – Beer allowed when threshing.
Piece Work
More piece work is given and more can be earned at it now than in 1850. The rates being higher thus:-
1/- to 1/6 per acre more is paid for hoeing roots, etc, and from
3/- to 4/- per acre more for chopping corn than was paid formerly.
Harvest
Both at Hay harvest and corn harvest the wages have been considerably increased.
In 1850 at hay harvest £1-16/0 per month was paid and beer free. In 1902 £3-18/0 per month was paid and no beer. At corn harvest in 1850 the wages were £2-14/0 per month plus beer. In 1902 they were £4-10/0 per month and no beer.
In 1909 £4-8/4 was paid for the haymaking month including beer, and the corn harvest month £4-16/3 including beer (averaged over 4 mens wages).
Prices paid for piece work 1908/9 (examples)
11/- per acre pitting swedes
8 or 9d per acre for setting up oats (light crop)
10d per acre for setting up barley (good crop)
5/6 for singling turnips thick in rows and stormy weather
13/- per acre for flat hoeing and singling mangel. Very weedy.
14/- to 16/- an acre for chopping wheat down badly. No beer.
Paid woman 1/3 a day whilst sheep shearing
Paid Mrs Hyde 1/- per score for mending corn sacks, 1d each for mending chaff bags rather bad.
Cost of pulling and filling mangel into carts not including boys or man stacking, Wellington, good crop (rather better than the lot above – East Farm) also covering up with straw at night (used 2 carts, boy to drive in and boy and man stacking) 22/- per acre.
Here is an example of Manor Farm’s Labour Book at the turn of the last century shows.
| Anthony Clifford | November/December 1899 | 10 ¼ days day work 5 days swede pitting 8 days absent ¾ day lost |
| December 1899/January 1900 | 17 ½ days day work (inc Xmas day as paid holiday?) 2 ½ days lost due to rain 4 days absent | |
| Plus 1/- for foddering cattle one Sunday | ||
| Samuel Hornblow | November/December 1899 | 19 days day work 4 days swede pitting 1 day absent Foddering cattle once every Sunday |
| December 1899/January 1900 | 15 ½ days day work 11 ½ days swede pitting 6 days absent 1 day lost | |
| Wages settled partly in cash, partly in kind (rent). |
Below are several employment contracts for farm workers from the late 19th century. A house and garden comes with the job but the contracts are only for one year and so if the workers contract was not renewed he and his family would become homeless. Interestingly other perks in some of the contracts are things like free coal and faggots!
Below is a timesheet for one of the farm workers. It is interesting to note the long hours that they were contracted to work.
