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- Jul 2, 2022
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The salary for the lowest entry-level middle-class job, that of a junior clerk just starting out at a City firm, was typically £90 a year, which would steadily be increased to about £140/year after several years' experience. For comparison, the Chairman of the board (equivalent to CEO of a company today) made only 10x more i.e. £1000 a year. A clerk also had very good job security;
Working hours were either 9am-4pm or 10am-5pm, and it was common practice to rent a place no further than 3 miles from your workplace so you could walk to and back on foot everyday. An entire house in a suburb could be rented for as little as £26 a year (though the typical rent was probably closer to £33/year), or you could rent three rooms in a central London townhouse for about £37/year. Every middle-class household had at least one live-in maid, who could be hired for £6 a year.
History of income tax: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/a-short-history-of-income-tax-1577708.html
The income tax rate was a flat 3% or so, except for the one time it spiked to 6.6% during the Crimean War. Tax revenue came mainly from taxing ownership of land and property, not income.Barring accidents, his employment was safe. The hundreds of clerks in the Bank of England could stay until they dropped dead; there was no compulsory retiring age for them.
Working hours were either 9am-4pm or 10am-5pm, and it was common practice to rent a place no further than 3 miles from your workplace so you could walk to and back on foot everyday. An entire house in a suburb could be rented for as little as £26 a year (though the typical rent was probably closer to £33/year), or you could rent three rooms in a central London townhouse for about £37/year. Every middle-class household had at least one live-in maid, who could be hired for £6 a year.
A junior clerk in a City firm might have earned less than £100 a year. The chairman of the Board might have been paid £1,000. But they shared one vital distinction; they were both members of the 'great middle class'. They worked with letters and figures, wore morning coats, stiff white collars and top hats. A skilled engineering workman might earn more than a clerk, but he worked with his hands – he was irredeemably a member of the lower classes.
The lowest rung of the ladder
The boom in trade and the new sophistication of banking methods meant that every business and factory needed a small army of clerks. Every invoice, every letter, every ledger entry had to be accurately, quickly and legibly written by hand. It was estimated that the 44,000 clerks, accountants and bankers who had dispatched business in 1851 had swollen to 119,000 20 years later. Anthony Trollope, who became famous as a writer, began as a junior clerk in the Post Office, at £90 a year. Seven years later he had risen to £140.
But living could be cheap. The £100-a-year clerk and his wife could find a cottage to rent, in a suburb within walking distance of his work; three miles was thought to be reasonable, to cover on foot twice a day. He must have sometimes longed to board an omnibus as it splashed past him on a rainy day, but for his careful budget the fare – perhaps as much as six pence – was just not affordable except in a crisis.
Their suburban cottage could be furnished for less than £20. His wife might employ a ‘slavey’ or maid-of-all-work, for only £6 a year. Barring accidents, his employment was safe. The hundreds of clerks in the Bank of England could stay until they dropped dead; there was no compulsory retiring age for them
The middle class standard of living
The Victorian era was a golden age, for the middle class. The huge army of clerks worked from nine to four, or ten to five. For those without a grouse moor, a family seaside holiday in Brighton or Margate could be just as refreshing.
The days of paid annual leave had not yet arrived, but the family could take lodgings in Brighton or Margate, both easily accessible by steam boat or train, and the husband could lead a bachelor life during the week and join his family by ‘the husbands’ boat’ for the weekend.
For those at the top of the pile, life was very comfortable. Servants, of course, could be worrying (just as labour-saving machines can go wrong, in our day). A man earning the very good income of, say, £1,000 paid just under £30 income tax. He ruled his household with a rod of iron, since his wife knew that she had little chance of divorcing him no matter what he did. His children were brought up to respect and obey him. If the domestic scene became too noisy or boring for him, he could always escape to his club. It seems, in retrospect, an enviable existence.
British Library
www.bl.uk
Victorian salaries and prices: https://www.victorianlondon.org/finance/money.htmClerk salaries (per year unless otherwise stated)
SOURCE
- Bank of England Clerk, £75 to £500 (a)
- Bank Clerk, from £20 to £50 at aged 18, rising 5-10£ per year; paying-cashier receiving eg. £155 after thirteen years service (b)
- Civil Service clerk starts at £80 rising to £200 (b)
- General Office clerk, 25s. a week (b)
- Post Office clerk, £90 rising to £260; senior Post Office clerks (if vacancy arose) £350-£500 (c)
- Solicitors clerk, 18-25s. a week (b)
- Suburban bank manager £75 to £90 (b)
- Stockbrokers clerk £80 to £100 at aged 18; typically annual rise of £20 and a present of from £10 to £15 at Christmas (b)
(a) The Great Metropolis by James Grant, 1837
(b) Tempted London, 1889
(c) His Recollections and Experiences by Edmund Yates, 1885 (writing on 1840s/1850s)
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