Prices of food, materials and labour in old England

These books were a help to me in understanding more about ancestors, right back to my 10x great grandfather and how he lived in the late 1500s. 

A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, Vol.III

George Taytt (Tait) was a bowyer (and a burgess of Perth) in Scotland in 1570.  Although these are prices in England, it gives me a rough idea, and also how it compared to other craftsmen. Turning to the pages for Prices of Labour and 1570-71, and the cities were all the same, a bowyer gets 1/- (or 1 shilling) for a day's work.

Prices of Labour 1570-1571

There are indexes in the back, one for names of places and a general index. Also information on currency and weights and measures. The beginning of each section tells you how to read the charts. 

This is an example of yearly wages, set down by the justices of peace in 1610 at Rutland, Oakham (between Nottingham and Peterborough)...

Wages at Rutland, 1610, mark 715

Relevant links

A history of agriculture and prices in England 1259-1793

Labour Day

When I was growing up Labour Day had nothing to do with work for me. It meant the last weekend at the cottage, closing it up for the harsh winter to come. The time for corn roasts and bonfires at the neighbours. The last weekend before school started.

According to wikipedia...  "Labour Day has its origins in the Labour Union Movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement, which advocated 8 hours for work, 8 hours for recreation and 8 hours for rest."

Actually my first job was in a factory where I started at 7 in the morning and worked 9 hours a day, not counting the 1/2 hour for lunch and the 2 breaks of 15 minutes. It was a literal sweat shop as the machines heated to hot enough to quickly melt plastic sheets over the molds, and the only windows were way up near the high ceiling. I got paid $1 an hour or $45 a week.  It was a summer job and I never went back, but I did have an appreciation for people that worked these kinds of jobs and hours.

Canada and the United States celebrate Labour Day the first Monday in September. Other countries celebrate on May 1st and it is called Eight-Hour Day or International Worker's Day, and some on another day.



Relevant Links


Souvenir programme: Labour Day 1902, the union forever, San Francisco

The Labour Gazette, Canada

Annual Dept of Labour report 1920-1983: wage rates, salaries and hours of labour

The New South Wales Industrial Gazette, 2 volumes

Proceedings of American Federation of Labor

Louisville Industrial and Commercial Gazette

Labor Union Directory, Chicago 1939

Official directory of the Toronto Trades and Labour Council 1896

Directory of labor organizations in Massachusetts, various years

Directory of labor organizations in Montana, various years

Labour Day souvenir: Willows Park, Monday Sept 4th 1916, Victoria, BC

Labour Day souvenir: Allied Trades and Labour Association, 1898 Ottawa

Historical Labour Day 1898 souvenir: official programme Toronto

Official programme and souvenir of the Labour Day demonstration held at Dundurn Park, Hamilton, Ont., September 6th, 1897

Rules of the Labour Day Anniversary and Industrial Union, Toowoomba, 1943

Report of the Royal Commission on the Relations of Capital and Labor in Canada, 1889;Part II (includes names of people and companies that were fined)

Royal Commission on Labour (commissioner names in back) - UK 1894

Other Reports of the Royal Commission on Labour

Industrial Edinburgh, 1921

Related Posts:  Occupations and Wages

Flour and Grain Millers

My ancestors on my mothers side were millers in Loddiswell, Devon.

When my 2x great grandfather came to Canada he found work right away at one of the mills in Montreal.

I wonder if perhaps he worked at the Montreal Glenora (Ogilvie) Flour Mill in August 1874 when there was a fire - one of many fires that broke out in flour mills. 

In doing some research I came across some info and lists of mills.




Relevant Links


Database of Mills

Directory of the milling industry in Canada: containing alphabetical lists of flour mills, cereal mills, grist mills, and chopping mills, indexed as to provinces, towns 1915

Milling and Grain News, USA

Report of the Board of commissioners of the first Millers' international exhibition, held in Cincinnati, 1881

About Canadian wheat facts and figures : with a directory of millers, shippers and buyers of flour, grain and produce, 1899

Flour Mills in Buffalo NY 1948

The technics of flour milling. A handbook for millers, 1904

Report on the operations of flour-milling companies in Canada,1918