London Labour and the London Poor, Vol. 2

by Henry Mayhew

The wages of the foreman are generally 18s. per week, but some receive 14s. and some 20s. without board and lodging. In one case, where the foreman is kept by the master, only 2s. 6d. in money is given to him weekly. The perquisites of these men average from 4s. to 5s. a week.

The work in the chimney-sweeping trade is more regular than might at first be supposed. The sweepers whose circumstances enable them to employ journeymen send them on regular rounds, and do not engage “chance” hands. If business is brisk, the men and the master, when a working man himself, work later than ordinary, and sometimes another hand is put on and paid the customary amount, by the week, until the briskness ceases; but this is a rare occurrence. There are, however, strong lads, or journeymen out of work, who are occasionally employed in “jobbing,” helping to carry the soot and such like.

The labour of the journeymen, as regards the payment by their masters, is continuous, but the men are often discharged for drunkenness, or for endeavouring to “form a connection of their own” among their employers’ customers, and new hands are then put on. “Chimneys won’t wait, you know, sir,” was said to me, “and if I quit a hand this week, there’s another in his place next. If I discharge a hand for three months in a slack time, I have two on when it’s a busy time.” Perhaps the average employment of the whole body of operatives may be taken at nine months’ work in the year. When out of employment the chief resource of these men is in night-work; some turn street-sellers and bricklayers’ labourers.

I am told that a considerable sum of money was left for the purpose of supplying every climbing-boy who called on the first of May at a certain place, with a shilling and some refreshment, but I have not been able to ascertain by whom it was left, or where it was distributed; none of the sweepers with whom I conversed knew anything about it. I also heard, that since the passing of the Act, the money has been invested in some securities or other, and is now accumulating, but to what purpose it is intended to be applied I have no means of learning.

Let us now endeavour to estimate the gross yearly income of the operative sweepers.

There are, then, 399 men employed as journeymen, and of them 147 receive a money wage weekly from their masters, and reside with their parents or at their own places. The remaining 252 are boarded and lodged. This board and lodging are generally computed, as under the old system, to represent 8s., being 1s. a day for board and 1s. a week for lodging. But, on the average, the board does not cost the masters 7s. a week, but, as I shall afterwards show, barely 6s.

The men and boys may be said to be all fully employed for nine months in the year; some, of course, are at work all the year through, but others get only six months’ employment in the twelve months; so that taking nine months as the average, we have the following table of

WAGES PAID TO THE OPERATIVE SWEEPERS OF LONDON.

Journeymen.							Money wages for nine months.
Without board and lodging.							£	s.	d.
30	Journeymen	employed by	3	masters, at	18s.	per week	1053	0	0
14	„	„	5	„	16s.	„	436	16	0
6	„	„	3	„	15s.	„	175	10	0
27	„	„	8	„	14s.	„	737	2	0
63	„	„	23	„	12s.	„	474	4	0
7	„	„	3	„	10s.	„	136	10	0
147			45				4013	2	0
										Value of board and lodging for nine months estimated at 7s. a week.
With board and lodging.										£	s.	d.
3	Journeymen	employed by	1	master, at	8s. 0d.	per week	46	16	0	40	19	0
17	„	„	5	„	6s. 0d.	„	198	18	0	232	1	0
1	„	„	1	„	5s. 0d.	„	9	15	0	13	13	0
41	„	„	14	„	4s. 0d.	„	319	16	0	559	13	0
3	„	„	1	„	3s. 6d.	„	20	9	6	40	19	0
80	„	„	39	„	3s. 0d.	„	468	0	0	1092	0	0
53	„	„	26	„	2s. 6d.	„	258	7	6	723	9	0
44	„	„	31	„	2s. 0d.	„	171	12	0	600	9	8
8	„	„	4	„	1s. 6d.	„	234	0	0	09	4	0
2	„	„	1	„	1s. 0d.	„	3	18	0	27	6	0
252			123				1731	12	0	3439	13	8
Foremen.
Without board and lodging.
2	Foremen	employed by	1	master, at	20s.	per week	78	0	0
6	„	„	4	„	18s.	„	210	12	0
1	„	„	1	„	16s.	„	31	4	0
2	„	„	2	„	14s.	„	54	12	0
11			8				374	8	0
With board and lodging.
1	„	„	1	„	2s. 6d.	„	4	17	6	13	13	0
Boys.
Without board and lodging.
2	Boys	employed by	1	master, at 10s.	per	week	39	0	0
With board and lodging.										Board and lodging estimated at 6s. a week.
1	„	„	1	„	3s. 0d.	„	5	17	0	11	14	0
1	„	„	1	„	2s. 6d.	„	4	17	6	11	14	0
9	„	„	8	„	2s. 0d.	„	35	2	0	105	6	0
14	„	„	14	„	1s. 6d.	„	40	19	0	163	16	0
30	„	„	28	„	1s. 0d.	„	58	10	0	351	0	0
1	„	„	1	„	0s. 9d.	„	1	9	3	11	14	0
4	„	„	2	„	0s. 0d.	„				46	16	0
62			54				146	14	9	702	0	0
		Total earnings					6309	14	3
		Total for board, lodging, &c.					4155	6	8
		Grand Total					10,465	0	11