Workers, Unions and Payment in Kind
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Workers, Unions and Payment in Kind Despite the dramatic expansion of consumer culture from the beginning of the eighteenth century onwards and the developments in retailing, advertising and credit relationships in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, there were a significant number of working families in Britain who were not fully free to consume as they chose. These employees were paid in truck, or in goods rather than currency. This book will explore and analyse the changing ways that truck and workplace deductions were experienced by different groups in British society, arguing that it was far more common than has previously been acknowledged. This analysis brings to light issues of class and gender; the discourse of free trade, popular politics and protest; the development of the trade union movement; and the use of the legal system as an instrument for bringing about social and legal change. Christopher Frank is Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Manitoba, Canada. Perspectives in Economic and Social History Series Editors: Andrew August and Jari Eloranta An Urban History of The Plague Socio-Economic, Political and Medical Impacts in a Scottish Community, 1500–1650 Karen Jillings Mercantilism, Account Keeping and the Periphery-Core Relationship Edited by Cheryl Susan McWatters Small and Medium Powers in Global History Trade, Conflicts, and Neutrality from the 18th to the 20th Centuries Edited by Jari Eloranta, Eric Golson, Peter Hedburg, and Maria Cristina Moreira Labor Before the Industrial Revolution Work, Technology and their Ecologies in an Age of Early Capitalism Edited by Thomas Max Safley Workers, Unions and Payment in Kind The Fight for Real Wages in Britain, 1820–1914 Christopher Frank A History of States and Economic Policies in Early Modern Europe Silvia A. Conca Messina Fiscal Policy in Early Modern Europe Portugal in Comparative Context Rodrigo da Costa Dominguez For more information about this series, please visit www.routledge.com/ series/PESH Workers, Unions and Payment in Kind The Fight for Real Wages in Britain, 1820–1914 Christopher Frank First published 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2020 Christopher Frank The right of Christopher Frank to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-12106-5 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-65128-6 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Apex CoVantage, LLC For Sarah, Naomi, Martin and Julian Contents List of abbreviations viii Table of truck and related statutes ix Acknowledgements xi Introduction 1 1 Anti-truck prosecution societies and the campaign against truck, 1831–1860 20 2 New model unions and the effort to secure anti-truck legislation, 1863–1871 47 3 Charles Bradlaugh and the 1887 Truck Act 70 4 Fines, deductions from wages and the passage of the 1896 Truck Act 115 5 The factory inspectorate and the enforcement of the Truck Acts, 1896–1906 157 6 The factory inspectorate, organized labour, and the debate over fines and deductions from wages, 1906–1914 224 Bibliography 267 Index 288 Abbreviations Archive abbreviations TNA The National Archives, Kew Reference guides ODNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online Newspapers and periodicals NBDM North British Daily Mail Law journals CP The Law Reports, Common Pleas Division JP Justice of the Peace Reports KB The Law Reports, King’s Bench Division LJ Law Journal Reports LJQB Law Journal Reports, Queen’s Bench LRQB Law Reports, Queen’s Bench Trade unions and employers’ organizations NAUSAWC National Amalgamated Union of Shop Assistants, Warehouse- men and Clerks SSCC South Scotland Chamber of Commerce TUC Trades Union Congress WIC Women’s Industrial Council WTUL Women’s Trade Union League Truck and related statutes 4 Edward I, c. 1 (1465) 3 Henry VIII, c. 6 (1512) 8 Elizabeth I, c. 7 (1566) 14 Elizabeth I, c. 12 (1572) 1 Anne, c. 18 (1703) 9 Anne, c. 30 (1711) 10 Anne, c. 16 (1712) 1 George I, c. 15 (1715) 12 George I, c. 34 (1726) 13 George I, c. 23 (1727) 13 George II, c. 8 (1740) 22 George II, c. 27 (1749) 29 George II, c. 33 (1756) 30 George II, c. 12 (1757) 31 George II, c. 76 (1758) 10 George III, c. 53 (1770) 17 George III, c. 56 (1777) 19 George III, c. 49 (1779) 43 George III, c. 134 (1803) 47 George III, c. 68 (1807) 57 George III, c. 115 (1817) 58 George III, c. 51 (1818) 1 George IV, c. 93 (1820) 1 & 2 William IV, c. 36 (1831) 1 & 2 William IV, c. 37 (1831) 37 & 38 Victoria, c. 48 (1874) 46 & 47 Victoria, c. 31 (1883) 50 & 51 Victoria, c. 46 (1887) 50 & 51 Victoria, c. 58 (1887) 51 & 52 Victoria, c. 43 (1887) 57 & 58 Victoria, c. 52 (1894) 59 & 60 Victoria, c. 44 (1896) 2 Edward VII, c. 21 (1902) x Truck and related statutes 5 Edward VII, c. 9 (1905) 9 & 10 George V, c. 51 (1919) 1 Edward VIII/ 1 George VI, c. 67 (1937) 3 & 4 George VI, c. 38 (1940) 2 & 3 Elizabeth II, c. 70 (1954) 7 & 8 Elizabeth II, c. 69 (1959) 8 & 9 Elizabeth II, c. 37 (1960) 34 Elizabeth II, c. 48 (1986) Acknowledgements At the end of this long project I am deeply indebted to many friends for their invaluable assistance and suggestions. My dear friends and respected colleagues Jamie Bronstein, Greg Smith, James Muir and Lynn MacKay have read and edited drafts, listened to presentations and discussed this project with me many times. Their thoughtful advice and useful insights have helped me often dur- ing the nine years of research and writing this book. I am a part of a vibrant and close-knit Department of History at the University of Manitoba that has an active colloquium committee, which has served as a sounding board for different parts of this monograph. I am grateful to Tina Chen, Roisin Cos- sar, Len Kuffert, David Churchill, Erik Thomson, Jorge Nállim, Mark Gabbert, Adele Perry, Julie Guard, James Hanley, Jennifer Dueck, Julie Gibbings, Jarvis Brownlie, Ben Baader, Joy Chadya, Barry Ferguson, Henry Heller, Esyllt Jones, Todd Scarth, Francis Carrol, Michael Kinnear and Mary Kinnear for being such supportive and kind colleagues. The research for this book was generously funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, as well as the Rh Foundation, the Faculty of Arts, the Department of History, and the Institute for the Humanities at the University of Manitoba. I have also benefited from the expertise and knowledge of the community of scholars who make up the Western Conference of British Studies, where this book has grown and developed for many years. Andy Muldoon, Marjorie- Levine Clark, Padraic Kennedy, Justin Olmstead, Jessica Sheetz-Nguyen, Thomas Prasch, Jodie Kreider, Derek Blakeley, Richard Follett, Robin Ganev, Timothy Jenks, Stephen Heathorn, Robin Ganev, Allison Abra, James Rosenheim, Robin Hermann, Jeanine Hurl-Eamon, Mark Klobas, and Michael Rutz have provided wonderful encouragement and constructive criticism. I am continually thank- ful to Douglas Hay, Nicholas Rogers and Paul Craven for their friendship and mentorship. Some material in Chapter 1 was used previously in “Truck or Trade: Anti- Truck Societies and the Campaign Against the Payment of Wages in Goods in Mid-Nineteenth Century Britain.” Historical Studies in Industrial Relations 27/28 (Spring/Autumn 2009): 1–40. My thanks to the publisher of this article for granting me permission to use these materials. I would also like to thank xii Acknowledgements Lisa Lavelle at Taylor & Francis for all of her assistance in the publication of this book. This book was written during a very happy period of my life because of the love and support of a large family. I am appreciative of the encouragement of Marty and Janet Frank, Wayne and Naomi Elvins, and Julie, Bill, Stephen and Christopher Feighery. I owe so much in the completion of this project to my wonderful wife, Sarah Elvins. I am very blessed to be married to an accomplished historian who has given so much help and guidance to me while writing this book. It is much easier to hear and accept “Chris, you do not need a fourth example in this paragraph” from someone you love. Life while work- ing on this book has been made joyful by the presence of my three children: Naomi, Martin and Julian. Introduction During the nineteenth century changes in retailing, advertising and credit rela- tionships dramatically altered the way British people acquired, experienced and thought about material goods. Yet a significant number of working families, sometimes employed in leading sectors of the British economy, were not fully free to consume as they chose. Many of these employees were paid in “truck,” or in goods or services rather than currency. Truck often took the form of employees being compelled, under the threat of dismissal, to receive and spend their wages at a company-owned store.