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

[elaby.livejournal.com]

He would have still been able to make it, I think, on around £100 a year, but he would definitely be living less comfortably than he was used to. I definitely think the medical practice was an effort to make sure he had enough money to justify getting married (apparently men were expected to wait until they had a decent enough salary to marry... and I KNOW I saw a figure in one of my books but I can't find it! £100 was enough for a clerk to get married, but that would assume rising in the ranks and being pretty young, I'd think.)

I imagine he and Holmes split their fees before Watson's marriage. In whichever story Holmes deduces that Watson's been playing billiards by the chalk on his hand, he says that he keeps Watson's checkbook in his desk and Watson hasn't asked for the key... so I can only assume Holmes controlled their money. Later on, though, post-Hiatus, Watson says he spends half his pension on the races, and if he's not in practice, Holmes must be paying for most of their needs. But then again it seems to indicate that Holmes is pretty rich later on.

*LOVES this stuff!*

[kcscribbler]

Well the cheque-book and chalk bit was post-Hiatus, in DANC. But still that brings up the interesting ploy bunny of when did Holmes decide to split fees with him? :)

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Oh, it was? Whoops! Granada confuses me like that XD

That would be fun to explore!