PALGRAVE STUDIES IN ECONOMIC HISTORY CONTRACTS AND PAY Work in London Construction 1660–1785 Judy Z. Stephenson Palgrave Studies in Economic History Series editor Kent Deng London School of Economics London, UK Palgrave Studies in Economic History is designed to illuminate and enrich our understanding of economies and economic phenomena of the past. Te series covers a vast range of topics including fnancial his- tory, labour history, development economics, commercialisation, urban- isation, industrialisation, modernisation, globalisation, and changes in world economic orders. More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14632 Judy Z. Stephenson Contracts and Pay Work in London Construction 1660–1785 Judy Z. Stephenson Bartlett, University College London London, UK ISSN 2662-6497 ISSN 2662-6500 (electronic) Palgrave Studies in Economic History ISBN 978-3-319-57507-0 ISBN 978-3-319-57508-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57508-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017943661 © Te Editor(s) (if applicable) and Te Author(s) 2020 Tis work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifcally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microflms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. 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Tis Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG Te registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Acknowledgements Tis book was researched during my doctoral studies in the Department of Economic History at the London School of Economics and Political Science 2012–2015. If it were not for the intellectual generosity and loyal stewardship of Patrick Wallis, my supervisor and mentor, the evidence and ideas within would not have got very far. Overturning established ideas in scholarship is arduous and anxiety inducing at the best of times. Trough some quite hard ones his disciplined support made it possible. Gerben Bakker, Chris Minns, Oliver Volckart, Max Stefan Schulze, Michael Aldous, Tobias Vogelsang, John Gent, Pat Hudson, Stephen Broadberry, Kent Deng, Peter Sims, Tim Leunig, and Linda Sampson all provided mentorship, encouragement, cama- raderie, or advice that helped a controversial idea become reality, and I am very grateful for all their help. Bruno Blonde, Heidi Deneweth, James Campbell, and my longsufering examiners, Jane Humphries and Jeremy Boulton, did much to improve the arguments and presentation. All errors, typos and misconceptions are mine. I thank the staf of the London Metropolitan Archive, Te National Archives, Christine Reynolds at Westminster Abbey, Lesley Whitelaw at Middle Temple and Jennifer Torp at New College, Oxford for v vi Acknowledgements their time and insight, and the privilege of viewing and handling their immaculately maintained and, often, very beautiful records. I am indebted to the Economic History Society who provided me with a badly needed Ph.D. bursary in 2013 and a wonderful fellowship at the IHR in 2015–2016. Colleagues at the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure helped me improve some of the context and arguments, whilst those at Wadham College, Oxford provided a happy intellectual home in the latter stages, and I thank Carol Richards and her family for endowing the David Richards fel- lowship in economic history there. My children, Belle and Arthur, pro- vided the best discipline and distraction any author could ask for. It is, of course, dedicated to them, with the wish that they may one day fnd as much professional fulflment and support as I have in researching and writing it. Contents 1 A Short History of Builders’ Wages in Economic History 1 2 Te Market for Building 35 3 Contractors 65 4 Contracts and Ways of Working in the Building Trades 79 5 What did Bosses (in London Construction) do? 107 6 Contracts and Pay at St Paul’s Cathedral, and at the Ofce of the King’s Works 141 7 Pay at Bridge House, Westminster Bridge, and Middle Temple 173 8 Contracts and Pay in Construction in the Long Run 201 vii viii Contents 9 Conclusions and Further Notes on Understanding Early Modern Contracts and Pay 223 Bibliography 239 Index 253 List of Figures Fig. 1.1 Gilboy’s wage series for London 1700–1787 11 Fig. 1.2 Schwarz’s craft and labour wage series for London 1700–1800 13 Fig. 1.3 Boulton’s wage series for London 1661–1721 16 Fig. 1.4 Comparison of three series, craft d. per day 16 Fig. 1.5 Comparison of three series, labourers d. per day 17 Fig. 1.6 Allen and Gilboy, London craftsman’s d. per day 24 Fig. 1.7 Allen and Schwarz, London craftsman’s d. per day 25 Fig. 1.8 Allen and Boulton, London craftsman’s d. per day 25 Fig. 1.9 Allen and Gilboy, London labourer’s d. per day 26 Fig. 1.10 Allen and Schwarz, London labourer’s d. per day 26 Fig. 1.11 Allen and Boulton, London labourer’s d. per day 27 Fig. 2.1 Middlesex deeds registered by year 48 Fig. 5.1 Likely roles under large mason contractor of-site 117 Fig. 5.2 Likely roles under large mason contractor on-site 117 Fig. 5.3 Discount of Edward Strong’s Bills Greenwich Hospital 1698–1708 showing actual percentage discount on each bill and 10 bill MAV 133 Fig. 6.1 Amount of day bills and task/measure/other bills at Westminster Abbey 1713–1715 in £ 164 ix x List of Figures Fig. 7.1 Wrought with the gin, frst team number of men and tides worked October 1745–January 1749 187 Fig. 7.2 Wrought with the gin, second team, number of men and tides worked October 1745–January 1749 187 Fig. 7.3a ‘Gin men’s team’s tide work at Bridge House April 1755–April 1766 189 Fig. 7.3b ‘Gin mens’s tide work at Bridge House April 1755–April 1756 189 Fig. 7.3c ‘Gin mens’s tide work at Bridge House April 1755–April 1756 190 List of Tables Table 1.1 Eighteenth century London sources for wages in London 8 Table 3.1 Mason’s contracts at St Paul’s Cathedral 69 Table 5.1 Calculation of operating margin for ‘extraordinary’ day work 136 Table 5.2 Operating margin for contractors supplying weekly labour at Bridge House—ordinary work 138 Table 6.1 St Paul’s charge out rates for day work in d. 146 Table 6.2 Day rates Kempster team St Paul’s 1700–1702 150 Table 6.3 Day rates 1708, Kempster team, by hierarchy found in books 152 Table 6.4 Mason’s day rates on the columns (from “An account of masons time it was at the columns”) 153 Table 6.5 Levels of skill and ranges of day rates paid in Kempster team 154 Table 6.6 Percentage diference between Boulton series and Kempster pay per day for craftsmen 157 Table 6.7 Carpenters on day work, quarterly accounts, St Paul’s, 1696–1700 (quarterly averages of total numbers of men observed and modal days worked) 160 Table 6.8 Average number of days worked for all men 160 xi xii List of Tables Table 6.9 Average number of days worked per annum by day rate paid 161 Table 6.10 Average number of days worked by craftsmen in a week when on site 161 Table 6.11 Average numbers of days worked by length of employment with Kempster 162 Table 6.12 Labourers days worked per week 52 weeks Sept 1712–1713, and 40 weeks March 1714–January 1715 164 Table 6.13 Ofce of King’s works, charge out rate ranges for craft and labour in d. per day 168 Table 7.1 Pay at Bridge House in 1661 177 Table 7.2 Land Carpenter’s bill for 3rd October 1685 180 Table 7.3 Tomas Wise, Mason’s bill for 3rd October 1685 181 Table 7.4 Sample of Sparruck’s summer and winter bills 1722 185 Table 7.5 Mason’s team day rates found in Jelfe letter book, May 1734–March 1735 197 Table 8.1 Nominal annual wage income in £ based on pay per day or other unit of measurement and varying units per annum 218 Table 8.2 Craftsmen’s revised Welfare ratio’s London, where the nominal wage is defated by 20% 220 Table 8.3 Labourer’s revised Welfare ratios for London, where the nominal wage has been defated by 30% 220 1 A Short History of Builders’ Wages in Economic History Troughout history, construction workers have not only built many of the landmarks of modern day London but, unknowingly, given us the building blocks for the methods most widely used to evaluate the eco- nomic performance of the past.