Does anyone know if anything has been published on the salaries of
nineteenth-century colliery managers?
When George Greenwell was appointed manager of the Radstock collieries in
1853 his salary was set at "£500 a year with a horse and gig... and a house
rent free with free coal and grass for a cow". On top of this he was also
paid commission if sales exceeded £10,000 per year.
Greenwell's successor, James McMurtrie, seems to have worked under the same
conditions, but in 1874 , for instance, his commission was £751, giving a
total of £1,251 (on top of this he also received £200 as manager of the
Waldegrave estates in Somerset). Bearing in mind that the pits employed some
600-700 men who earned a total of £35,000 to £40,000 in 1874, he was clearly
very well off by the standards of the time.
There were four pits at Radstock which operated as a single concern and
probably produced 90,000-100,000 tons in 1874. Although this was one of the
largest businesses in the Bristol and Somerset coalfield it was at best
medium-sized by the standards of the larger UK coalfields. In view of this,
how does McMurtrie's pay compare with that of other colliery managers?
Keith Ramsey
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