Volume 2

The records of the Commissioners of Sewers in the Parts of Holland, 1547-1603 / edited by A. Mary Kirkus.

  • Great Britain. Courts of Sewers.
Date:
1959-
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The records of the Commissioners of Sewers in the Parts of Holland, 1547-1603 / edited by A. Mary Kirkus. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    [490.I.11d] 1Sum of all the wages and bord for one moneth Clij li. xxiij d.? And so remayneth xlvij li. xviij s. j d. Allowed to John Burton thentry of this accompte vs. William Attkynson deysyryth to be allowed for xxiiij days abowt the surveyng of the work abovesaid at xvj d. per diem xxxij s. John Gamblelyng for the lyke xxxij s. William] Wyllesby for the lyke x... [Robert] Idon for the lyke xx... [John Hy]nd for the lyke 14] s. 111] [d.] ...eSenr. for the lyke nihil ... the lyke nihil ... the said William Atkynson John Gamlyn & others...1575 xlj li, xvj d. ... Watson Alexr. Skynner‘ [The accounts cover four weeks’ work, a balance being struck weekly: the first accounting period comprises eight working days. (The time of year is not mentioned.) The entries for each week are arranged by wapentakes and parishes, the order of wapentakes in each case being Elloe, Kirton, Skirbeck; the parish order, with minor variations, is also constant and is that shown in the table below.’ The standard wage paid to a labourer was 4d. a day, with an allowance for board of 5d. a day and an extra ld. for the third and sixth days respectively, making a total board allowance of 2s. 8d. for a working week of six days. In the second week one half-day was evidently worked: labourers engaged for six days that week received a wage of only ls. 10d. instead of 2s., for five days only Is. 6d. instead of 1s. 8d. In the same week four Spalding men were each paid 6d. for “ one night watching the dam ’’, and in the following week four Cowbit men received, in addition to their day’s wage, 8d. for ‘‘ one night ”’ (for what purpose is not stated) : these are the only entries which depart from the standard form, apart from those at the very end of the account which are printed above. Assessment for the work seems to have been relatively simple, since the entire charge fell upon the Crown as owner of the fishing in the Welland (165), and a sum of £200 was made available from the Exchequer for the purpose. Perhaps the chief interest of the accounts is in the light they throw on arrangements for the provision of labour services. The information can best be presented in tabular form. 1 The beginning of this folio contains the last few entries for the fourth week of the accounts. 2 It may be noted that this total does not agree either with the sum of the figures for individual weeks as given by the original accountant, or with the sum of the corrected figures inserted below them by an auditor. * Both margins of the folio are missing at the foot. 4 These two names are signatures. _ 5 As will be seen, the order is a geographical one. In the last two weeks it is reversed in Elloe and Kirton so as to read from east to west and from north to south respectively. Cc
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