On 27 Jul 2003 at 14:17, Keith Ramsey wrote:
> 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?
G.C. Greenwell went from Radstock to Poynton Collieries in 1863 at a salary of around
£750 per annum.
In 1887 G C Greenwell junior was employed as Agent and certified Manager at Poynton
at a salary of £900 with a large house rent free, free gas, a horse kept and gardens
tended. G.C Greenwell senior was at that time consulting engineer to the Poynton
Collieries at £100 per annum. When G.C senior relinquished that post his son deftly
added the £100 to his own salary.
Also at Poynton in 1887 A.F Dunn the surveyor and assistant to G.C junior received
£104, engineer George Clayton £140 and chief underlooker Enoch Booth £180. The latter
two also had house rent and coals free.
Cheers,
--
David Kitching
http://www.brocross.com
fearrmeox adlaž bręgen
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