Money, money, money

[elaby]

Victorian currency (shillings, crowns, guineas, etc) appeals to me immensely. I'm not sure why; the decimal system seems much easier to remember. There's just something about the pre-decimalization terms that sound lyrical to me. Anyway, because I'm a geek and the idea fascinates me that in the 1860's you could buy an umbrella for twice what a milk-woman made in a week, I wanted to figure out how much Watson's pension is at the beginning of A Study in Scarlet.

I've done some math here; beware.

Watson's pension in 1881 is 11s 6d* a day, which comes out to 3£ 17s weekly. In around 1860, his weekly income would buy a frock coat, or a water-closet (without the installation fees, I can only assume). The disparity between these in comparison to today boggles me.

So, if I did the math right, that means Watson makes 209£ 14s 8d a year. Not bad, but not great; that's within the second lowest middle-class bracket (the middle bracket, in fact - between "under £100" and "£300-1,000") in the 1861 census, exactly 20 years earlier. There were tons of middle class people making less than 100£ a year, but all working class people were classified as making less than 100£ a year as well. This would mean that Watson was making, every year, a bit more than twice as much as a junior clerk second class in the Post Office would make, and if I recall correctly, about as much as a Scotland Yard detective could be expected to make. Not bad, for a pension. And since he was a doctor, it would put him solidly in the middle class, even though you could be a skilled worker (or a policeman) and be making more than that while still be considered working class. Not that we ever doubted Watson was middle-class.


*For those on my f'list not familiar with the abbreviations, s=shilling and d=pence. I was completely flummoxed by this in the Moomintroll books when I was little, no less by the 8/- meaning eight shillings and no pence. I thought they'd made up the currency *laughs*

Comments

[kcscribbler]

I love you for doing that math. I knew it was a pretty decent pension compared to salaries of different occupations, but not how good.

So then, whenever it was that he became only half-pensioning, that would have been a problem financially. Probably hence the medical practice in Paddington when he married? (or before that...did Holmes split his fees with him or what?)

[janeturenne.livejournal.com]

Yay for poking into Canonical corners! Thank you so much for working out Watson's income. There's a fair bit of speculation in the Klinger annotated about how much the lodgings at Baker Street must have cost (I think £4 a week for room and board, split between the two of them, was the posited figure), but somehow Mr. Klinger never really dug into where that put Watson on the income spectrum. Now you've got me wanting to compare...

*tries to remember all the monetary references in the whole Canon all at once and falls on face*

One bit on money in the stories that always sticks with me is the discussion in IDEN of Miss Mary Sutherland's income. She says that she had £2500 willed to her and that it brings in 4.5% interest, which works out to £112.5 per annum, plus approximately 1/- per day for typing (another £18 a year). Holmes mentions that a single woman can live very comfortably on £60 a year, and Miss Sutherland replies that she "could do with much less than that." If a single woman of the middle class could make do on £50 a year, Watson is doing fairly well for himself on four times that sum, although presumably he has a few expenses that a young lady wouldn't (most notably alcohol and tobacco). Not so hot compared to Neville St.-Clair, though, who makes £700 a year by begging!

The other numbers that this post brought to the front of my mind were some of the sums that Holmes gets as commissions and rewards. The King of Bohemia throws a thousand pounds on the table, and the reward for the Blue Carbuncle is the same (though whether that's ever claimed and, if so, by whom is unclear), there's another £1000 reward in BERY, and then of course there's the staggering £6000 check from the Duke in PRIO. I mean, I knew that wasn't pocket change, but when compared to Watson's pension it's almost unbelievable-- that's 30 times W's annual income! Even the £500 from Von Bork in LAST is nothing to sneeze at. Our Mr. Holmes comes quite a long way from the man who needs someone to share the rent in STUD in the course of his career, no?

I could clearly go on like this all night, but I won't subject you to that :) But, since you've been looking into it, I don't suppose you have any idea what Mary's six pearls would have been worth (I do always seem to end up back on Mary these days)? She was probably making somewhere between £60 and £90 a year as a governess, if COPP is anything to go by, so hardly an heiress that way, but those pearls are beginning to worry me. The Canon is awfully contradictory on gems. Sir George sells the peerless emeralds in BERY for £200 apiece, and Holmes buys them back at £1000 each, but the equally matchless Blue Carbuncle is worth £20,000...

Definitely have to stop now before I get into Mr. Hatherley's £27 10d takings in two years, followed by 50 guineas for a night's work (almost). And the quarter-million pound robbery in GLOR. And Mycroft's £450 a year for being the British government...

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

well done on doing the maths on this. Pre-decimal currency makes my brain hurt. :-)

[the-arethusa.livejournal.com]

I applaud your maths! Pre-decimal makes me scream and run away. I suppose it is more attractive sounding that mere pounds and pence, but it makes my brain numb just thinking about it.

I'm very impressed with you XD

What you said about the middle classes is interesting. Watson would be considered middle class mostly because of his profession. This is when you get into the argument about blue collar and white collar jobs, which have less to do with how much you earn and more to do with how much education you've received to get that job.

I'm gonna stop now before I start to display my full socialist colours ;)

[missprinty.livejournal.com]

I loved doing the sums in old money, I felt cheated when we got new maths books with ridiculous things called "new pence" to add up and everything was done in tens. Far too simple for sums.

And a big old penny made you feel properly rich when you went to spend it on sweeties on a Saturday. And who could not love a sixpence.

[zelkovaserrata.livejournal.com]

hi, can i just say something? your journal layout? i kind of love it. pretty Anshii is pretty.